Ramen & Dumpling House Bentleigh 香辣小菜馆 (MOORABBIN)

Visited here with a Groupon which ended up being a difficult task. I made a booking online which was the only way to book and booked for Australia Day well in advance, as the day was available and not blacked out like other days. Arrived for my booking date and the restaurant was closed for Australia Day so ended up with red Rooster on the beach! Rebooking was almost impossible as I had to contact Groupon and the restaurant to get it sorted - taking a total of two weeks. Finally got to the restaurant and the food was quite good but the service was lacking. It was all you can eat and unless you seeked out assistance from the waitress to order you just sat there waiting. It wasn't overly busy either. At the end of the night there was 4 dumplings left that were very tasty and I asked if I could take them home. I was told I'd have to pay half the cost of the dish, which I did, but didn't really agree with it in principle. It seemed a little petty especially since there was less than half the dish left and after all the trouble with the booking etc.

I bought two take-away dishes. $12.90 for Beef in Black Pepper with Rice and $12.90 for Chicken Satay with Rice. All I got was $11 worth of soggy rice and $1.90 worth of meat and sauce in each container. Flavours were so bland. Had to wait ages for two very common dishes when only 1 table was occupied and 2-3 people waiting for takeout food. Won’t be back

Hidden gem restaurant in Bentleigh, some of the best Chinese food ive ever had at unbelievably affordable prices. And the portion sizes are so generous too! Discovered this place a few weeks ago and have been back 4 times in 2 weeks it’s just that good! Standout dishes for me are the chilli beef on rice, ma po tofu on rice (the best version of ma po tofu ive ever had), the pork pan fried dumplings and the black bean beef are super tasty. All the meat is cooked to perfection and it’s all super tender too. Lots of reviews mention “average” service, and while the waiters arent the most attentive if you just order off the QR code the food arrives quickly and with no issues, no reason to not come here, the quality, price and delicious nature of the food absolutely makes any lacklustre service a non-issue.