Sofia Levin reviews: The Mongkok Teahouse, Camberwell
In a sentence: a contemporary Hong Kong teahouse with fine-dining flare
The damage: starters $6-19; mains $30-52; desserts $10-12
Top tip: $85 set dinner menu or visit for bottomless brunch ($55)
Quench your thirst: original cocktails with extra sparkle
If you like this: Plus 852 Hong Kong Cafe (CBD), TuanTuan (Carlton), Hong Kong Best Food (Box Hill)
We need to talk about the duck at Mongkok Teahouse, but before we do, a little history lesson. Mongkok Teahouse is a new-age interpretation of a cha chaan teng, also known as a teahouse in Hong Kong.
During British rule, western food started creeping into small establishments as a way to make English teatime affordable for the working class (Hong Kong was under British rule between 1841 and 1997 with the exception of a short stint during the 1940s when Japan was in charge). By the 1960s, cha chaan tengs were in full swing serving an amalgamation of Western and Chinese cuisine.
At these teahouses there’s usually some form of all-day breakfast set that features noodles, toast, eggs, processed meat and milk tea. There’s HK french toast, which can be stuffed with red bean or peanut butter and comes with a slab of melting butter on top. You’ll always see pineapple buns, named for their crackled tops with no trace of the actual fruit.
At Mongkok Teahouse, which opened in February last year, the focus is on food as well as cocktails. It’s a gorgeous space with colonial-influence cane chairs and tiled floors, red leather banquettes and posters of movie stars from Hong Kong on the walls. There’s a neon sign above the bar, which is decorated with a dried flower arrangement and built from emerald green marble. Even the loo is gorgeous, with the same imported tiles and a Hollywood mirror (selfie obligatory).
Chef Jack Tsai is in the kitchen. He’s worked at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, which is regularly dubbed the best restaurant in the world, as well as Lee Ho Fook and Attica. He’s a brilliant chef and it shows. Jack’s pineapple buns are made with sourdough and come with a side dish of char siu roast pork butter topped with pork floss. Other starters include a delicious marriage of prawn toast with a scotch egg; the spongy, sweet exterior wrapped around an oozy egg and speckled with sesame seeds. Cured kingfish arrives layered with pickled white radish and snow pea shoots, presented in an eggshell-blue, half vase-shaped bowl that looks like it was pinched from a museum.
But the main even and must-order at dinnertime is Jack’s duck. There’s a limited amount available as it’s a weeklong process to prepare. First it’s aged for a week, which brings out the flavour and reduces moisture for crisper skin. Then it’s lathered in honey and spices and cooked in a roaring hot oven, before being finished off in the pan. It’s sticky on the outside and pink in the middle – perfectly cooked.
There are other dishes such as white cut chicken with chilli and black vinegar, Murray cod poached in goji wine and wagyu steak with black pepper truffle sauce – but you can also visit for brunch. You’ll find those pineapple buns stuffed with spam, chilli jam and scrambled egg, along with prawn toast topped with avocado and sweet chilli jam. Confit smoked salmon benedict comes with curry hollandaise, while the wagyu steak resurfaces with eggs on house sourdough. Sweet tooths should order the Hong Kong-style bubble waffle served with milk tea parfait, coffee and the ubiquitous condensed milk. Bottomless brunch is $55 per person, which includes a dish off the brunch menu plus limitless cocktails.
Speaking of cocktails, they’re good here. Really good. They’re made to order and come in cloches filled with smoke, have dry ice poured over them and are garnished with blooms picked from a vase on the bar. The big one is called Van Gogh’s Sweet Dream. At $35, it’s shaken with absinthe, egg white, gin, St Germain elderflower liqueur, lemon juice and passionfruit syrup. It’s the one to order if you’re iPhone camera is poised to shoot.
Details…
Where? 734 Burke Road, Camberwell.
Brunch available Friday to Sunday 11am to 3pm.
Dinner available Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm to late.