Two days as an official Melburnian and my Uncle has already whisked me away to his favourite little haunt in Melbourne's east, perhaps in a bid to cure my big city blues. After a spontaneous geographical leap from the sweltering sunshine state of Queensland, to the AFL-crazed cultural capital of Victoria, the reality of spending a Friday night alone in an unfamiliar city seemed depressing to say the least. We arrived at the Vietnamese district of Abbotsford - Victoria Street - and dodged peak hour traffic as we crossed the street to an unassuming little corner shop called Xiao-Ting Box, which my Uncle affectionately nicknames, "Shouting Box".
The Xiao - Ting Box is quite literally a "shouting box". A cosy yet comfortable restaurant that was packed and noisy - thanks to some great acoustics - but the atmosphere was festive and enjoyable. The interior was plain, yet its extensive selection of mouthwatering delights was anything but. We ordered a few plates to share amongst the four of us and each was sensational in its own right. We devoured the crispy fried duck, the five-spiced beef and the lightly battered tofu with chilli and spring onions. The real stand-out of the night was the simple yet succulent prawn and vegetable stir fry with crispy noodles. It may be the seafood-lover's bias coming out in me, but it was the most fresh and flavoursome asian dish I have had in my twenty-four restaurant-hopping years.
Xiao - Ting Box
371 Victoria St
Abbotsford
VIC
Ph: 94289588
The Xiao - Ting Box is quite literally a "shouting box". A cosy yet comfortable restaurant that was packed and noisy - thanks to some great acoustics - but the atmosphere was festive and enjoyable. The interior was plain, yet its extensive selection of mouthwatering delights was anything but. We ordered a few plates to share amongst the four of us and each was sensational in its own right. We devoured the crispy fried duck, the five-spiced beef and the lightly battered tofu with chilli and spring onions. The real stand-out of the night was the simple yet succulent prawn and vegetable stir fry with crispy noodles. It may be the seafood-lover's bias coming out in me, but it was the most fresh and flavoursome asian dish I have had in my twenty-four restaurant-hopping years.
Xiao - Ting Box
371 Victoria St
Abbotsford
VIC
Ph: 94289588
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