CONCLUSION

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." - Greg Anderson

The climax of Chopstick Chowdown Challenge was more of an anti-climax. We turned up ready for the last restaurant only to realise we had already been to the last restaurant. So we went back for a third helping of chilli fish.

Now when I walk back along Victoria St, I see new restaurants have sprung up. Others have disappeared. But this is the kaleidoscopic nature of this vibrant strip which we have had the pleasure to thoroughly sample.

It only took about 16 months but we did it! We completed the challenge of eating at every Asian restaurant on Victoria St between Church and Hoddle Streets. And what an epic experience it was. We delighted our palates, we tried foods we never thought we'd try, we made some wonderful discoveries. My mouth waters again as I go through the blog and am reminded of our culinary experiences. It has also been a portrait of friendships (some transient, some enduring), social experiences and the banter that comes with a group of people sharing a meal. People may come and go but true friendships and good food remain!

However, for those who like their conclusions less philosophical and more mathematical, here are the stats.

THE STATISTICS

Participants: 29
Restaurants: 36
Dishes eaten: 196
Number of bowls of pho consumed: 19

BEST RESTAURANT

I performed two types of statistical analysis on the ratings I had from participants for each restaurants:
i) the mean of the top 3 rated dishes
ii) the mean of all the dishes minus the top and bottom ranked.

In both cases, the top ranking resturant came out the same. Drumroll please...

#1 YU XIANG LAPOPO

It seems we just couldn't get enough of that chilli fish. But Victoria St is known for its Vietnamese restaraunts, right? The runner up (or best Vietnamese restaurant) according to the first analysis was...

#2 (i) THANH HA

And according to the second analysis

#2 (ii) THANH THANH

The bronze medal winner was the same...

#3 QUAN 88

Other restaurants making up the top 10 were...

Ying Thai
Vinh Vinh
Tom Toon Noodle House
Binh Minh
Oriental Spirit
Saigon Rose
Thy Thy

Although I have allocated winners, it is only according to the results of this little experiment where ranking were often very close and scores affected by variables (such as who attended, how generous they were with their ratings, personal tastes, experiences on the day, etc). At the end of the day it is a matter of personal preference but hopefully I have managed to capture a sample of the best picks on Victoria St.

BEST DISHES

Overall the dishes which scored the highest (the mean participant rating on the night) over the course of the challenge were:

#1 Vietnamese Salad - Vi'em Cafe (9.1/10)
#2 Pad Kee Mao - Tom Toon Noodle House (9/10)
Chilli Fish Bowl - YuXiang Lapopo (9/10)
Coconut Beef - Quan 88 (9/10)
#3 Peking Duck - Binh Minh (8.9/10)

At the start of this challenge I promised to find you the best pho and a list of other dishes. Here are the results.

Best Pho
#1 Thy Thy
#2 Thanh Ma

Best Ricepaper Rolls
# 1 Tran Tran
#2 Vinh Vinh

Best Spring Rolls
#1 Binh Minh
#1 Thanh Ha
(Special mention for Quan 88's duck spring roll special)

Best Peking Duck
#1 Binh Minh
#2 Pacific BBQ House

Best Green Curry
Tom Toon

Best Satay Skewers
Oriental Spirit

Personally there are some dishes that stand out in my mind, that I continued thinking about for days after. So here are my special mentions:

• Soft shell crab - Thanh Thanh
• Peking duck - Pacific BBQ House
• BBQ pork with Chinese broccoli - I Spicy
• Whole fish with spicy sour sauce - Ying Thai
• Szechaun mud crab - Xiao Ting Box
• Chilli fish - YuXiang Lapopo

Thanks again everyone who participated, especially Steph (for saying "let's do this" and putting in the most ChChCh appearances) and Craig (for being our most enthusiastic and consistent participant once recruited from England).

There is a gap on Sunday nights now - a time when you want to savour the last moments of the weekend and not think about the impending working week. Maybe we can begin a new challenge...the mission to find the best Indian food in Melbourne...Curry Chowdown Challenge?!?

#36 YuXiang Lapopo (395-397 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Steph, Craig

The twists and turns of the Chopstick Chowdown Challenge continue. Just as we thought we had reached the last restaurant, it seems a new one has popped up. The rules of the challenge state that we will eat at every restaurant we pass going forward (without back-tracking to new restaurants). So in we go to Lapopo.

Steph thinks she saw a 50% special here a few weeks ago. I didn’t even notice the restaurant until we saw people standing outside when we were leaving Vinh Vinh at the last instalment. It certainly looks brand spanking new. Spacious, white, shiny surfaces – it reminds Craig of a car showroom. The décor is minimalist and seems carefully designed. White dragon statutes at the door, a golden ornament here, a wall of wooden boxes there. This place has class.

The staff have walkie talkies and ear pieces and are apologising that it is Christmas season and the place is a bit hectic.

Craig said earlier in the day that he feels like chilli. Luckily the signature dish seems to be a massive bowl of chillis. Our motto: when in doubt get what everyone around you is ordering. We ask the waitress and she says it is fish in chilli.

During our culinary odyssey there have been some dishes that I keep tasting and thinking about long after we have left the restaurant. This is one of those! We feel like we are fishing as we rescue delicious little morsels out of a volcano of chillis. My first impression is that it is not that hot (as long as you avoid munching down on the chillis and szechaun pepper seeds). But the dish seems to get hotter, as though the infusion of chillis is accumulative. It is lip tingling good. Crunching down on a peppercorn releases an aniseed flavour and gets the saliva flowing. I enjoy this szechaun speciality immensely.

We love our xiao long bao, so take any opportunity to order it. Lapopo's are very good - delicate skins and a filling bursting with hot, flavoursome soup.

We also order salt and pepper prawns from a specials menu. The batter on the prawns is so light it reminds me of Japanese tempura and doesn't have any oily, deep-fried feeling to it. The seasoning is delicate yet tasty. Another lovely dish!

This new restaurant cannot be faulted in the dishes we try and leaves us with mouth-watering memories of a giant bowl of chillis and fish. We will definitely be back again.

Ratings
Szechaun chilli fish 9/10

Salt and pepper prawns 8.6/10

Xiao long bao 8/10


Addendum

We return to Lapopo soon after to give Annabel a dose of chilli fish. They seem to have refined their service (or perhaps for the benefit of our Anglo tastebuds) taking the time to scoop out the chillis and peppers from the bowl after serving. It shows just how many chillis go into this dish as we are left with moutain of chillis in a bowl and a slotted spoon to continue the task if needs be. Despite the removal of the chillis, the dish seems hotter than last time. We persist with sweaty brows, tearful eyes and runny noses. It makes you feel alive and is still delicious.

Waiting for our dishes a young man dining by himself at the table next to us starts up a conversation. He tells us there is a deal going on where if you order the chilli fish, you can get chilli prawns for only $1.99. It is advertised in Chinese at the door. Craig, never one to forgo a good deal, orders the prawns (even though the chilli fish in itself is enough to feed us). The prawns come out (you guessed it!) covered in chilli and, in an inspired move, on a bed of chips. It is the size of a main and an incredible deal for $1.99! The prawns are complete with heads and shells, which makes it a bit fiddly (don't accidentally rub your eyes!) but still absorb the wonderful chilli flavours (more watery eyes). I love the chips which soak up the chilli oil and are a great accompaniment to the prawns.

And just in case you haven't had enough chilli, the kind people at Lapopo give you a container of chilli oil to take with you!

Thumbs up again for Lapopo and a special thanks to our friend at the table next-door for altering us to their special offer.

#35 Vinh Vinh (387 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Craig, Steph, Mark, Lauren

Another Victoria St special – a Vietnamese restaurant with a name that contains the same two words. Better not get our Vinh Vinhs and Minh Minhs and Thanh Thanhs mixed up! Another restaurant with tablecloth-less hard tables and chairs. But this is not just another Victoria St restaurant.

The palm trees on the front sign are particularly inviting. The specials are on brightly lit boards and there is much to tickle our taste buds. So much so that we can’t decide, hence much of the order comes off the specials board.

The cuisine is mainly Vietnamese with a touch of Chinese. We have the obligatory rice paper rolls which are of an excellent standard. We also get one of Steph's favourites, satay skewers and the dim sims off the specials boards to round out a tasty and extensive entree.

Number 27 lands us on crab and asparagus soup (and a conversation about the effects of asparagus on the scent of future discharge). It another one of those soups that it is difficult to get excited about as I feel the same effect could come from a tin.

There has been a lot of pho eaten on our way up and down Victoria St and Vinh Vinh's stands up strongly.

The peking duck comes out with all the pieces to build your own wrap. It is fantastic. Delicate morsels of duck with a bright, crispy skin, crunchy vegetables and the delicious hoisin sauce which goes quickly.
The most unique item we get off the specials is the BBQ scallops. They look impressive. A massive tray of slightly charred scallops in their shells, floating in a shiny sauce. I can't quite get a taste for the sauce but the scallops are evidently fresh.

Without having done the statistical analysis, I would say this is one of the best overall restaurants. Whereas at other restaurants we might have one or two outstanding dishes and the rest being average, at Vinh Vinh everything is very good.


Ratings
Rice paper rolls 8.2/10
#27 (crab and asparagus soup) 6.4/10
Pho 7.4/10
Dim sims 7.1/10
Satay skewers 7.5/10
Special (BBQ scallops) 7.3/10
Peking duck 8.7/10
Salt and pepper squid 8/10

#34 Xiao Ting Box (371 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Annabel, Steph, Rob

When I tell Annabel where we are going, she says "is it immature of me that I find that funny?" I don't get it. "Xiao-ting box...shouting box," explains Annabel. Ah, I see. Sort of.

I've been here before. In fact, a bit over a year ago this is where Steph and I made the decision to do the Chopstick Chowdown Challenge. And it has taken 33 restaurants to get back here. I remember us marvelling about the delicious dumplings and how they were almost as good as Camy Shanghai ("dodgy dumplings"). It is nowhere near as good as I remember.

We practically have to yell to get the attention of one of the three staff just standing around at the back so we can place our order. We are excited. A vertiable feast of dumplings coming up!

Number 27 comes out first. It is chicken with wafer thin discs of garlic on a sizzling plate. The sauce is very tasty. Unfortunately we have no rice to soak up the sauce with. When we finally get it, we have no spoon to get the sauce onto our rice. Fail.

The highlight of the night is the szechaun crab. A whole mud crab, roughly hacked up into a few pieces, still in its shell which has taken on a red tinge from the mound of chillies on top. As do our hands, which are the only devices we have to crack open the shell and get to the meat. It is grand fun. The flavour is terrific and even if you don't get much meat it is satisfying enough to lick the chilli flavours off the shell. Yum and fun!

First up from the dumplings are the vegetable dumplings. They are stuffed with an indiscernable mush that has a nuclear green tinge to it. There is tang to them that no one can put their finger on and Annabel categorically says she doesn't like them. The fried pork dumpling are a bit of mess and one looks half eaten before we have even touched them. The xiao long bao, which are supposed to be full of aromatic juices, lack flavour.

Ah well, the dumplings may not have lived up to expectations but wow that crab was good. And at $16 - a bargain!


Ratings
Sizzling chicken with garlic 7.5/10
Special (szechaun-style crab) 7.9/10
Fried pork dumplings 6.1/10
Vegetable dumplings 4.8/10
Xiao long bao 6/10

#33 Vi'em Cafe (345 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Craig, Steph, Annabel

The weather has turned in Melbourne (making our Pom very happy) and the next restaurant on the route has an open coutryard-like area facing onto the street.

We've seen some novel decor but I'd say this one takes the cake. Most striking is the feature wall of fake rock with cascading water that makes you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones film. The lighting casts a green tinge over everything. It is like being in a Vietnamese restaurant theme park.

Even the drinks menu is fun. Unfortunately for Annabel they won't give her the three colour drink so she has to settle for the two colour. Don't ask us what was in it. Coconut milk seems to be the base and little balls of green and red make up the colour. At the bottom are chunks of...something. Maybe cream, maybe lard, maybe something else...

Perhaps the waitress has been staring at the green lights for too long because two minutes after taking our order she returns to take our order. Uh yeah, we just did that.

The spring rolls are quite tasty and and rice paper rolls are good. We substitute pho with a beef soup, which is highly disappointing. It has all the ingredients to make a successful dish (chunks of beef, plump noodles and a colourful broth) but it is tasteless bordering on wrong tasting.

For #27 we have a Vietnamese salad, which is light, tasty and refreshing. Steph being a massive fan of these salads doesn't hold back on giving it a 10 in her ratings. We also have calamari with XO sauce (not bad but not as flavoursome as it could be).

And then kang kong. We order this partly because of the name (I'm have flashes of gorillas on tall buildings) and partly to get our nutrients. This green veggie (it seems to be variation of bok choy) turns out to be stringy and chewy and it doesn't go down like hoped.

But it all doesn't matter because Craig is just happy to eat all the rice he likes under the pretext of 'carbo-loaing' for the Melbourne marathon.


Ratings
Rice paper rolls 6.8/10
Spring rolls 7.4/10
Beef soup 4.1/10
#27 (Vietnamese salad) 9.1/10
Calamari with XO sauce 6.4/10
Kang kong 5.9/10

#32 Beijing Little Restaurant (309 Victoria St)

Attendees: Steph, Beata, Craig

Beijing Little Restaurant appears authentically Chinese. By authentic I mean it has dishes that Westerners wouldn’t usually eat, such as gizzards and intestines. Plus we seem to be the only white people there. The specials are handwritten on bits of paper and stuck on the walls. Although it say restaurant out the front, the table number welcomes us to their ‘hotel’. Identity crisis?

Please let it be gizzards, I say as we count down the menu to 27. And so it is! Stir fry gizzards. They don’t look too bad from the photo. The waiter doesn’t want to give them to us.

“You know what this is?”
“Yes.”
“Insides of the chicken.”
“Yes.”
“You know organs...intestines...”

Yes, yes just gives us our gizzards! He comes back regularly to check on us. He says the stir fry method is one of the best for cooking gizzards so we are lucky. The taste is not too bad, per se, it is more the hard, chewy texture that is off-putting. Steph speculates that perhaps this is one of the joys of eating gizzards and our waiter confirms that this what the Chinese like about them. It is better if you crunch down hard from the beginning, instead of treating it like chewing gum.

We order some pork, celery and water chestnut dumplings. Pan fried. They are too salty for my liking. The vegetable dumplings are better.

The dish of the night is the tofu with szechaun sauce. “This is how all food should be,” says Steph. “Spicy and tangy and with lots of sauce.” Morsels of tofu float in a colourful sauce with specks of chilli and it is delicious.

From the specials we get the beef and cabbage stew. It is the biggest bowl of stew I’ve ever seen. I realise we have over-catered for the three of us. Lucky that we aren’t full from the gizzards. The stew has chunks of beef and cabbage with cellophane noodles (that are virtually impossible to dish out) in deep brown broth. The broth is also on the salty side and has a bit of curry flavour to it (or satay according to Steph).

So we mark down another weird and wonderful Victoria St dining experience. If you’re feeling adventurous, I think there could be some discoveries to be made at Beijing Little Restaurant. Or hotel.

Ratings

Tofu with szechaun sauce 8/10

#27 Gizzard stirfy 6.2/10

Vegetarian dumplings 6.3/10

Pork and celery dumplings 6.5/10

Special (stewed beef with cabbage) 6.8/10

#31 Tom Toon Noodle House (241 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Steph, Craig, Rob


This little eatery is hidden away near the big Hoddle St intersection. Unless you purposely venture this far you are unlikely to accidentally stumble upon it. It has a warm glow amongst the closed stores. The shopfront is non-descript aside from a handwritten board of curry specials. In fact for awhile I am convinced it is nameless. We deduce it is Thai from the flag on the back wall. I finally find the name when I stand outside staring as we are leaving. Tom Toon Noodle House.

The décor consists of wooden shelving with an assortment of knick-knacks (assumedly from Thailand) including vases, jars and children’s toys. Beside our table is a bookshelf filled with books which gives it a homely atmosphere. As does the odd ant parading along the shelving. Maybe.

We are presented with two menus. An A2 laminated page and the extended flip menu. I’m assuming the one-pager is some sort of house speciality menu as it doesn’t match up with the other menu. Of course, if there is no logical thought behind it, that would make sense too. Just in case you don’t have enough menus there are photographs of selected dishes behind the counter and a specials board.
I’m having language difficulties with the waiter. We are trying to order satay sticks, not believing the lack of entrees on the plethora of menus. He is offering us something akin to satay but not quite satay. We agree.

The result is skewered chicken, grilled in spices with a watery, tangy satay-like sauce. On the end of each skewer is a piece of pork. Of course. Whatever they are called, it’s light and tangy. The spring rolls are also good with a light crispness and juicy filing.

Number 27 (on the laminated menu) is described as "rice noodles, meat with spicy flavour". It is outstanding and we demolish it within moments. It’s full of flavours (chilli, sweet soy, ginger) accompanied by a lovely chargrilled flavour.

The green curry is exceptionally creamy and given the thumbs by Rob, who claims he only like Indian curries. Perhaps the language barriers come into the play again because after asking for a prawn curry we clearly receive chicken.

From the specials we have the duck with lemongrass. The lemongrass is a bit overpowering with crunchy slices throughout the dish. The duck itself is well cooked but without the crispy skin of Chinese BBQ duck.

We are still hungry so order another Thai classic – Pad Thai. We make a second attempt at ordering prawns and speculate whether this one too will come out with chicken. But this time they get it right. For me the Pad Thai is not flavoursome enough and I feel there are too many crunchy beanshoots in it.

As the name 'noodle house' suggests, it should be famous for its noodle dishes and if you ever come here, try the Pad Kee Mao. Although the portion sizes are disappointingly small, the flavour and cheap price makes up for this.


Ratings
Spring rolls 6.5/10
Chicken skewers with satay-like sauce 6.5/10
#27 Pad Kee Mao (rice noodles, meat with spicy flavour) 9/10
Green curry (chicken) 8.5/10
Special (duck with lemongrass) 7.6/10
Pad thai 7.4/10