Review: Barilla Dumpling, Balmoral

Fried Scampi with Spicy Salt. Photo / Janna Dixon

Address: 571 Dominion Rd, Balmoral
Phone: (09) 638 8032
Rating out of 10: Food: 7, Service: 8, Value: 10, Ambience: 6

Almost every time we're looking for a cheap and cheerful place to meet and eat, we head for Barilla Dumpling on Dominion Rd. And every time we've walked out feeling happy, healthy, well fed and impressed by how little the meal cost us.

This visit was no different. Once we were there, in that crashing cacophony of raised voices, clinking plates, bright lights, lurid walls (lime green and burnt orange), caution flew out the window.

For once we weren't eating with our dumpling expert who normally keeps us under control, and I was looking forward to the challenge of ordering for our group. Although Barilla's not licensed, they serve copious amounts of fresh Chinese tea, which arrives immediately. Ours came in a beautiful white pot decorated with a blue fish. We sipped while perusing the massive menu. I ordered a plate of scampi with spicy salt, which at $28 was the most expensive dish on the menu, but given that it's the first time we've seen scampi offered anywhere in the past few years, there was no argument.

The rest of our choices were more restrained. We started with Barilla's famous freshly cooked peanuts in aged sauce, which are always a delight. The difference between packaged salted peanuts and these is like the difference between night and day. These nuts are served warm, crisp and crunchy and taste like peanuts used to.

I tried them with the green beans with spicy salt, which are flash-fried and coated with some concoction that contained a good slug of horseradish. Although this concentrated the bean flavour beautifully, the peanuts added another interesting dimension. They also worked well with the fish and chives steamed dumplings (20 dumplings for $12 plus $1 extra for being steamed rather than boiled) and would have been marvellous with a plate of bright green bok choy, had I remembered to order it.

But we did remember plenty and, Chinese style, all our dishes arrived at once. Fried pork dumplings with onion (20 for $15); crisp fresh cucumber, again with horseradish; shredded potato with vinegar, which had been so lightly braised we thought it was raw; sweet and savoury pancakes - marvellous too - and the piece de resistance, the scampi. They arrived, about 12 of them, on a bed of caramelised onion, their tails curled up, feelers still sharp as needles, black eyes staring reproachfully in my direction. And they tasted amazing. After all this we couldn't face dessert - we never can when we're here - and called for the bill. We also walked away with four of Barilla's takeaway boxes containing at least another meal's worth of dumplings, peanuts, beans - and
four fat scampi.

So, although Barilla is a no-frills restaurant, it has its moments, making it hard to judge alongside places like Sidart, Clooney and the like. The food is fresh, expertly cooked with clever thought for flavours that really work together. It's family-run, very friendly and most of the staff speak English. In fact my only complaint is that no matter how many dishes you order, they all arrive at the same time. Next time I'm going to order just three things, then re-order when we're finished. It may take a while, but that way each minor masterpiece will get the attention it deserves.

Our meal: $106 for endless cups of tea, 20 fish and chive dumplings, 20 pork and fennel dumplings plus dishes of peanuts in aged sauce, spicy french beans, cucumber with vinegar and horseradish, around 12 salted scampi, marinated shredded potato, scallion pancake, egg pancake, vegetarian rice.

Verdict: Barilla Dumpling is a clear winner in the "best Chinese dumpling cafe" category. There's a massive array of dumplings and fillings and they come boiled, fried or steamed to suit your taste. There are dozens of other dishes too. We particularly like the fried french beans and peanuts in aged sauce and were delighted to find fried scampi on the menu - and what's more at a relatively affordable price.