Flower Drum

17 Market Ln
Melbourne, VIC 3000


03 9662 3655

After years of wanting, I finally had the chance to dine at Flower Drum. A restaurant which has for the last 36 years been a constant in the Melbourne food scene. Truth is, I have wanted to eat there for as long as I can remember. Like most Melburnians(if not all) it is a restaurant that I have always known about. So imagine my joy when my husband asked if I wanted to eat there for our weekly night out. 

We are greeted on the ground floor by an extremely professional host and shown to the ye'olde looking lift. My excitement is growing as is my anticipation. How will the food be? Is the service as good as everyone claims? Most importantly, what will the dining room look like? Then the doors open and there in front of me is the scene that I had pictured in my mind. The plush fabrics, the rich colour palette, the stained wood and the beautifully set tables with immaculately white table cloths. All that was missing was Bruce Lee bursting in and having a fight with many a bad guy, just like in all those Kung Fu movies I loved so much as a child.
Bernie is presented as the man who will take care of us on this night. I am extremely nosey, so through conversation I discover that he has been a waiter here at Flower Drum for over 20 years. A story I totally believe as the man looks past retirement age, but boy is he sprightly. We are in good hands.

Hot and Sour Soup

Baked Crab Shell

Deep Fried Prawns

Stir Fried Crayfish

Peking Duck

+25 for Blackmore's Wagyu Beef

Special Fried Rice

Selection of Desserts

2008 Heathcote Estate Shiraz

We choose the banquet menu for our special evening and this will set you back $185 per person. We decide against the matching wines however. Our drink of choice is the 2008 Heathcote Estate Shiraz at $90 a bottle.
As a starter we are given the choice of the Hot and Sour soup or the Spinach and Crab. I chose the first but wished I hadn't, as I felt that my soup was neither hot nor sour, however I did sneak a taste of the Spinach and Crab from one of my dinner companions and it was lovely and fragrant.
We were next presented with a Baked Crab Shell that held delicate crab meat mixed with turmeric, garlic and onion. it was lovely with subtle flavours.
I was looking forward to the Deep Fried Prawns as the crab was so delicious, but the truth is they weren't great. Don't get me wrong they weren't bad tasting in anyway, just dull. All in all it was an underwhelming dish of 3 prawns on a saucer with snap peas.
Sadly the Stir Fried Crayfish with ginger was also an average dish and it looked so similar to the prawns. it was as though no creativity had gone into the taste or presentation.
It is said that apart form the impeccable service, one should dine at the Flower Drum for the Peking Duck. Perfectly cooked pieces of duck prepared and wrapped at your table. It is quiet obvious that Bernie has done this at least 1000 times and his expertise did not go unnoticed. Oh and that Hoisin sauce...classic.
If possible pay extra for the Blackmore's Wagyu Beef, it is worth every dollar. It truly is a beautiful piece of meat. However is seems a wasted opportunity to come up with something amazing. Great meat but sadly an uninspired dish with a boring vegetable side.
I enjoy Special Fried Rice, always have, but for $185 per person I expect something truly special. Nice enough but like with the other dishes something was missing.
For dessert we shared Deep Fried Ice cream, Deep Fried Banana and some sort of Deep Fried Dumplings. A sickly sweet way to end a meal, but when you are having Chinese it just seems to be the done thing. Although if we had been offered an alternative to Deep Fried things with ice cream, we probably would have chosen it.
The service here really is some of the best I've had in  Melbourne. If I didn't steer my sight away from my table, I would have sworn we were dining in the restaurant alone. Glasses filled and wine bottles replenished seamlessly. Which may account for how 5 of us went through 8 bottles.
I was unfortunately disappointed with the food. There were a couple of courses that I really enjoyed, but the rest were lacking, not so much in taste, but in imagination. For the prices you are being charged you expect more than just nice and OK, You expect to have your socks blown off, not unlike that magical restaurant scene from 'When Harry Met Sally' (you know the one I mean).
I was wondering whether I was expecting too much from Flower Drum, after all it is an institution that was at one stage voted in the top 20 restaurants in the world. Is it that their standards have dropped or  have our tastes developed and moved ahead? All the while they have decided to cling to former glory by standing still. But like a middle aged woman trying to squeeze into her year 12 formal dress, there comes a time when they must realise that what was once fabulous may not be so great today.

Ratings out of 10
Food 6.75/10
Service 8.75/10

Atmosphere 7/10

Value 3/10

Flower Drum  6.3/10

Would I return? No