Angel C.

The Travelmints team loves Melbourne's Flower Drum - it's a great restaurant to go to for classic Chinese fine dining. It's become a historic place, and we're lucky it's stayed open despite many other businesses suffering as a result of COVID. We've gone here almost every year with important guests to celebrate important events. It's almost become a novelty for us, and we hope they stay authentic - there's no need for an unnecessary revamp. As you'd expect, the food is classic. if you want Cantonese Chinese with amazing service, then look no further!

DA Y.

The food gets 4 stars. The price gets 4 stars. The service gets 5 stars. Frankly, that's why you go to Flower drum. Glasses magically refill with water, napkins dance onto your lap and food shimmies in while empty plates shimmy out, all without any interruption. In fact, it's like there are no staff, just quiet little fairies secretly making your meal perfect. If you haven't been before, go, you won't regret it. I recommend the $75 lunch deal (4 courses).

Frances C.

Perhaps the service is impeccable where the maître d will provide the best recommendation and the bus boy will meticulously pick up crumbs and toothpicks while you are chatting with your friends, but the price of food and what you get is not proportional. The fresh abalone we ordered tasted more like fresh geoduck. We ordered Chinese Gailan with ginger juice but to our dismay, this traditional Chinese veggies came in small portion with no taste of ginger juice. The next dish we ordered was pork chop and it was banal. It was quite disappointing that these simple dishes and tablestakes for a Chinese restaurant were poorly executed. That said, the fried calamari with five spices was nicely done! The scallops were very fresh. Since we came from Hong Kong, we quickly decided not to try their Peking Duck, not worth the price for two pieces of duck and crepes. Overall, we found that they were quite overpriced and the quality of food does not compensate for the price. But the decor is very elegant and reflects good taste for a highly respected Chinese restaurant in Melbourne!

David S.

Okay, the first thing that I should mention about this place is don't come here to have a quick bite to eat before a movie - this is not that type of restaurant. Okay, while we were lucky enough to be able to get a table without having to book, unless you are willing to come here early on a Tuesday evening, you do need to book ahead. As can be expected from such a restaurant the service is outstanding, however if you are looking for traditional Chinese food this isn't quite that type of restaurant. Oh, and expect to pay a decent sum namely because this place is designed for a full blown banquet as opposed to a single course meal (though they are happy to serve you that if you wish).

Anthony R.

I am a foodie and wherever I have lived, even in my pre-yelp days, I have always looked for the places which people rave and set my sights for a visit. The funny thing about The Flower Drum (the drum) is that whenever I have called for a reservation, I would have to plan three to four weeks in advance. Unfortunately, each time, something comes up from a business or personal perspective and I would have to cancel and reschedule. With Labor Day, there was NOTHING which would deter me from trying the fine flavors of this institution which has been in business since 1975. As I walked into the restaurant with my partner, we were greeted at the door and escorted into the elevator. The head waiter was at the ready on the restaurant floor welcoming us and escorting us to our table. He immediately asked us if we wanted water and we ordered some fizzy. The wine list post this (amazing) and provided the menus. Keep in mind all of these were performed by three different waiters - best service I have experienced in Melbourne!! I ordered the sliced pork with plum sauce for my app, crispy skin chicken with season salt and a tasty lemon sauce on the side with a small order of combo fried rice. I had an unforgettable oolong tea along with dinner. Each course was amazing with incredible flavors - the pork so tender, the chicken juicy, and the fried rice was perfect. The fried ice cream - amazing! I have had Cantonese in New York, San Fran, New Delhi (yes amazing chinese), LA Mr Chows and HK - this was one of the best only rivaled by HK. I would recommend this restaurant for those who want to provide an unforgettable experience to a loved one, business client/other or if you want to indulge in a Cantonese experience you will not soon forget.

Matthew D.

Let's be clear that you come to The Flower Drum for a dining experience. If you are worried about your budget then the prices may take the edge off your enjoyment. If instead you are looking to enjoy great service, perfected dishes and an overall polished experience then you have come to the right place. We tried the 4 course tasting menu and loved every dish. There was no rush between courses which we appreciated as we were enjoying catching up with special friends. The service was unobtrusive but immediate - if you put down your empty wine glass it was removed from the table 3 seconds later. And we enjoyed watching our plates prepared next to us on a cart and then presented one at a time and explained. We are from NZ. I had heard about The Flower Drum from many visitors to Melbourne over the years. We finally ticked off that item from our Bucket List - and we were not disappointed.

Kenneth M.

This is a place where tradional celebration take place. We were here to celebrate Chinese New Year. Lion Dance is always an eight o'clock event. Therefore, we will have to dine strategically around the dance, because the Lion will come to your table and say 'Hello" ^_^ Flower Drum provides excellent customer services. In fact, there is at least 1 junior waiting staff looking after each table, and a senior waiting staff looking after 5ish tables, and a section manager looking after 7 or so tables. So whenever you put your hand up, there should be someone coming towards you. Apart from great customer service, the wine list has improved a lot lately. Thanks to Randolph Cheung (ex Asiana, Albert Park) joined this team. We had a few good recommendation from Randolph according to our customised menu of the night. Impressive. I don't think there would be any complaint on the quality of the dishes. Every dish put on our table, we just ended up with big smile. Thank you Flower Drum for the wonderful Chinese New Year dinner (thanks to Randolph, Donald, Tommy & Mick whom looking after us everytime) Drunken Squab is a must try. meow..............

Dave S.

The Flower Drum is as good as it gets for high-end Chinese in Melbourne. Exquisitely prepared Cantonese dishes matched with attentive service from tuxedoed waiters make this a winner. We decide to go all in and went with the $115 four course tasting menu with consisted of a delicate seared barramundi, a lettuce wrap pork dish, peking duck, and wagyu eye fillet followed by an overly sweet dessert (they also had deep fried ice cream on offer). The peking duck in particular was the standout dish. The best I've had in Australia. Tender and meaty duck breast meat, crispy perfectly roasted skin with the traditional accompaniments of plum sauce, cucumbers, and scallions, served in a pancake. The staff make the pancakes for you, so you can focus on eating. I'd go back just for the duck. The space is elegant and old worldly---in other words the Flower Drum is not a casual restaurant and it's worth dressing up for otherwise you might feel out of place. Overall, if you're looking for traditional Chinese food paired with top-notch service, the Flower Drum should be on top of your list.

Ida C.

The things you've heard about Flower Drum are true: 1) it is very expensive 2) service is excellent 3) there is a dress code 4) lunch is a great deal on a relative basis (vs. dinner) The restaurant is tucked into a small lane in Chinatown with a slickly imposing red door. Make sure you don your spiffy duds as this is far more formal than most Melbourne eateries and a dress code applies (think long pants, collared shirts and proper shoes for gents). For lunch, there are 3 tasting options: 2 courses for $45, 3 courses for $60 and 4 courses for $75. We opted for the 3 course lunch supplemented with additional a la carte dim sum as we'd heard great things about the Mud Crab Xiao Long Bao $9/piece and the Prawn Har Gao $4.5/piece. While tasty, the skin on both were rather thick and not quite worth the sticker shock. We fare better with course 1: the Peking Duck starter. Our waiter attentively crafted 2 duck wraps and even shaped my dab of sauce into a vaguely duck-like shape. The duck meat was tender although I would have enjoyed some more snap on the skin Course 2: we found the Crispy Skinned Chicken with lemon juice and spicy salt to be far superior to the Grain Fed Eye Fillet w/ Black Pepper Sauce, The chicken was perfectly tender and the skin was crispy and flavorful, beautifully enhanced by the lemon juice and salt. While the beef quality was great, the sauce didn't really add anything to it. The veggie and fried rice sides were tasty. Course 3: if you order anything aside from the Peking Toffee Apple w/ Cinnamon Ice Cream, you're crazy! The apples are brought tableside and individually cooled and hand plated. The result is a beautiful plate of hot crunchy sugar shells filled with creamy apples. PARTING THOUGHT: the almond cookies to finish the meal were delightful!