Congee at Supper Inn
Phone (03) 9663 4759
Supper Inn is to Chinese food what the Waiters Restaurant is to Italian. Honest, hearty and super authentic in a very excellent kind of way. You don’t go to either place for a delicate dining experience. For starters, you probably have to line up and wait for a table (the queue for both normally runs out the door and down the stairs). The service can be lackadaisical or snappy at times, and you’ll feel the brunt of it when you’ve finished your meal and they want to move you out the door for the next table. Don’t be offended - others are just waiting every so unpatiently to come on in and eat 
And the decor - well hmm, let’s just say wood veneer is still very fashionable at both venues.
Once again though - it’s all about the food. And the other stuff just adds to the whole dining experience.
On this visit I decided to break my congee cherry at the recommendation of EG, especially as Supper Inn apparently does one of the better ones in Melbourne.
Congee is a type of rice porridge, traditionally eaten by many Asian cultures for breakfast or supper. The rice is cooked in water or broth until it breaks down to a gloopy porridge. A choice of protein can be added; meat, century egg, fish, chicken etc. And it is usually garnished with sliced green onions and sometimes fine slithers of ginger. You can season further to taste (as it can tend towards blandness) with a generous whack of white pepper, salt or soy.
On the side for your dipping pleasure, one can order “Chinese donuts”, or youtiao. This is long strip of deep fried dough that is chopped into bite size pieces to act as croutons to your congee. Under no circumstance can you have congee without them - they are superbly divine, especially when they soak up all that soupy goodness.
Written by mellie on
January 9th, 2007 | Tags: Chinese, restaurants, soups | Category: Uncategorized
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January 19th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I’m a great fan of this place, in fact it is one of the few chinese restaurants that I will choose to go to. The congee is a must. Sure it’s a medicine too but a little bowl of goodness and very cheap as well.
January 19th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Uh huh…I’m with you there AOF. It too has become one of my all time favs. Absolute musts are the crispy skin quail ((insert Homer Simpson-esque drooling noises here)) and the stir-fried Chinese broccoli with garlic. The suckling pig is also disgustingly good
January 20th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
i second/ third that. coming from the same country as EG, hence so spoilt for choice when it comes to chinese food, i do think that Supper Inn is one of the best chinese food joints in the city. plus it’s cheap. the only problem is it being packed all the time.
January 21st, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Hey there solvent_d. Ahh…I’m starting to find out that Singaporeans have great taste when it comes to food
Yeah, it sucks that Supper Inn is always so packed. It certainly adds to the experience, but not when your dying of hunger! That’s why I don’t half mind being rushed out the door. I’ve waited in that queue, and I know what it’s like to be on the other side.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:26 am
Congee has long been a favourite for me. Nam Loong does a great one.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Hi kitchen hand! Uh huh - Nam Looong was introduced to me by EG, and it has now become a firm cheap eats favourite in my repertoire. I am yet to have their congee though - so I must do so soon.
Also of note are their MARVELLOUS steamed custard buns. They are coconutty in a most divine and satisfying way. Mmmm…
February 20th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
You must also try their BBQ Pork bun!
I am willing to bet they are one of best foreign delicacies produced in Australia!
This is one of the most likely stops for countless of my Sydney friends when making a trip to Melbourne. Imagine that a city like Sydney with tonnes of Chinese population but can not even produce this delicacy!
NB: their Chicken curry is to die for! It is not ala Japanese or Indian. I can’t quite say which style but it is awesomely good nevertheless!
February 22nd, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Thanks for the tips invinciblemelb - I haven’t tried either of those ones yet :-). I absolutely love their hotpot with minced pork, eggplant and dried fish - wow, it rocks! And you can’t go passed their stirfried greens and garlic. Mmm.
We are so lucky in this town to have such great restaurants. Our Sydney brethren sure do miss out
February 27th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Lol and mind you that eggplant dish only sets you back 7-8$! Much better variety than having to resort Maccas or KFC yea?
I have few more examples like:
Il Dolce Freddo gelato @ Lygon St.
I brought my Sydney friends there to try their Durian and Pandan gelati!
They were simply speechless at their first bite! They can’t quite believe that such a magnificent durian-based delicacy could have been produced in unlikeliest city of them all, Melbourne!!
Mind you, it is churned by ITALIAN NOT anyone of Asian descent! How much more proud can we be ?
Pinnacle of east-meet-west, end of story!
Now mel, I hope you can give that flavor a try. I assure you that you will be hard pressed to get anything of that quality in just about any Asian countries.
February 27th, 2007 at 10:44 am
invinciblemelb - that sounds like a challenge! I have had durian a few times, and been somewhat bemused by the taste/aroma combo. But I have an absolute obsession with all things pandan, so I will certainly venture to Il Dolce Freddo to try this combination. Thanks for the tip!