Inside Melbourne institution Shark Fin Inn.

Shark Fin Inn

Chinese

$$$$

Address

50 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Opening hours

Saturday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, 5:30 – 10:00 pm

Phone

(03) 9662 2681

Website

http://www.sharkfin.com.au/

It would be hard to overstate the importance of Shark Fin Inn to Melbourne. The double-storey Cantonese institution has been a consistent drawcard up the top of Little Bourke Street since 1982, its red frontage and octagonal windows gleaming with the promise of prawn dumplings.

Hong Kong-born owner Gabriel Chan, now 66, has been here from the beginning, joined in 1989 by his siblings Martin and Vanessa. Many staff members have been here for decades too, in some cases looking after the great-grandchildren of customers from the early days.

The mission has been clear from day one: bring traditional Hong Kong dining to Melbourne, yum cha on trolleys at lunchtime, live seafood on display, and a long menu of roasted, wok-tossed and braised dishes day or night.

A Keysborough branch opened in 1985, there was one in Burwood East for a time, and many will remember Shark Fin House down the hill, which closed in 2020. This place is the heartland, an ongoing wonder, serving up to 400 people a day. It’s also one of those rare, reliable restaurants open for lunch and dinner every day of the year.

Trolleys laden with yum cha favourites roam the room.

It’s a restaurant where “yes” is usually the answer. “Our booking for eight people is now 14, can you fit us?” Yes. Out comes a larger plywood disc for the tabletop. “Can we celebrate with a suckling pig next weekend in the private room?” Yes. Arrangements will be made. “Would you help me with the lobster claws?” Yes. Here comes the sharpest kitchen scissors to perfectly extract the sweet meat from the antennae.

And even if nothing’s asked, there are gestures of hospitality. Dirty plates are adeptly swapped for clean ones. Dropped chopsticks are replaced. Containers are offered for leftovers. Brusque service is not unknown – as a diner, you’re definitely part of Shark Fin’s machine – but sincerity is met with the same here.

Chinatown icon Shark Fin Inn on Little Bourke Street.

Fresh eyes may notice the stack of plastic buckets near the entrance, ready to ferry fish to meet their fate in the kitchen. The lighting could be called moody only if your mood is “ready for interrogation”. The worn edges and scuff marks are like favourite slippers: comfortable, reliable, ready when you are.

Chefs Yong Quan Feng, Wai Hong Hoh and Wei Sen Chen have all been here for about 20 years, leading teams that make everything from scratch, from the wrappers for the dumplings to the XO crafted according to a recipe brought from Hong Kong.

Some dishes are quite simple, relying on produce and deft technique, such as the pipis stir-fried with that gently spicy XO, then served with snipped youtiao doughnuts to soak up the juices.

Others take hours of work, including the deboned and slow-braised duck feet, combined with minced prawn, wrapped in bean curd skin, then deep fried. These golden rolls, served with mushroom and oyster sauce, are the epitome of a succulent Chinese meal.

Lobster is the ultimate treat: I like it simple, with ginger and shallot over flat wheat e-fu noodles, which stay springy.

Yum cha favourites include prawn har gau, sprightly and sweet in translucent pastry. The salted-egg custard bun is a lovely segue between savoury and sweet, and the wibbly-wobbly multicoloured jelly actually tastes of the fruits used to make it: strawberry, pineapple and lime.

When Shark Fin Inn opened in 1982, there were two pavement cafes in the CBD, zero laneway bars and about 700 residents. The city is almost unrecognisable, but not so much here. The restaurant is an everyday miracle, a daily feat of logistics and care, driven by a belief in gathering around good food – a steadfast gift to ever-morphing Melbourne.

Three more Victorian classics to try

Monarch

Baking for 90 years, this St Kilda stayer certainly knows how to make life a little sweeter, using real ingredients and traditional recipes. The chocolate kooglhoupf is a personal favourite, but others travel far for the Polish cheesecake, plum cake and anything with poppyseeds.

103 Acland Street, St Kilda, monarchcakes.com.au

Thornbury Espresso Bar

Local nonnos have been gathering here since 1956, which means this retro coffee lounge turns 70 this year. It’s still open Monday to Wednesday for continental coffee, card playing and catch-ups, but the bread-and-butter income is functions – this is a cool venue for shindigs of all types.

792 High Street, Thornbury, thornburyespressobar.com.au

Lake House

Luxe country lunching has come a long way since Lake House opened in 1984. The Daylesford queen is still at the forefront, with elegant dining, exquisite accommodation and a commitment to warm hospitality.

King Street, Daylesford, lakehouse.com.au

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

Dani Valent

‘The epitome of a succulent Chinese meal’: This yum cha institution is a steadfast gift