Shandong Mama

No stranger to the Melbourne dumpling scene, Shandong Mama is currently one of the most talked about dumpling houses in Melbourne. They take their dumplings very seriously here, with Mama and daughter, Meiyan Wang and Ying Hou serving up traditional recipes from the coastal city of Yantai in the Shandong Province.

Every dumpling is unique and crafted with creative fillings by Mama herself. Choose from dumplings tailored just for Melbourne or dumplings inspired by family and happiness - ‘Little Rachel’ Dumplings, named after her newborn granddaughter.

Melbourne Fried Dumplings

A contemporary recipe inspired by Australia's multicultural scene, the Melbourne Fried Dumplings are a combination of dried seafood (prawn, calamari, mussel, fish) and chicken mince, zesty lemon rind, olive oil, garlic and parsley. Certainly, very interesting flavours to find in a dumpling. These weren't my fave, but were easily fixed up with lashings of vinegar and chilli oil.

Boiled Fish Dumplings

The Boiled Fish Dumplings housed a mousse like mince of fresh mackerel fillet, coriander, ginger and chives, all encased in a thin dumpling skin. What I really enjoyed about these massively juicy parcels was how light and bouncy-like they were.

DILL-licious Pork Fried Dumplings

Lastly, we had the DILL-licious Pork Fried Dumplings which was a blend of pork, dried shrimps, spring onions, dill, garlic and sesame oil. Just like the Melbourne Fried Dumplings, each dumpling was crispy and chewy.

Looking inside, Shandong Mama looks just like your typical Chinese dumpling house. But take a peek at their menu and you'll be able to see that it offers dumplings you cannot find anywhere else in Melbourne. Personally, I prefer the traditional Beijing pork dumplings, but I would still recommend checking out Shandong Mama's dumplings with a twist and let your own tastebuds decide if they're worth the hype.

Shandong Mama

Shop 7, 200 Bourke Street  

Melbourne, VIC