Dandelion

Recently for a friend's surprise birthday dinner, we ventured out to Elwood to check out Geoff Lindsay's (of Pearl) take on Vietnamese cuisine. My parents lived in Ho Chi Minh City before relocating to Melbourne so I was fortunate enough to experience a mixture of both Chinese and Vietnamese cuisines whilst growing up. Having visited Vietnam last year for a short trip, I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed myself and how amazing the food was, not to mention ridiculously cheap - 10 cent Vietnamese iced coffees or 50 cent bowls of delicious, msg-free pho anyone? I'm not the biggest believer in Asian fusion cuisine but sometimes it does work, so I came here with no expectations, secretly hoping to be surprised. Dandelion is located in the leafy Elwood suburb in a very modern looking space with hints of an Asian theme. The small sauce bottles and the kumquats were a nice touch on the tables.

Dandelion offer noodle soup dishes, a large variety of dishes to share and also a few banquet menus if you don't want to deal with the expansive menu. We decided to choose a dish or two each and all share instead of going for the banquet menu.

The spanner crab was dressed in a sauce that tasted exactly like Thai green curry with a strong chilli kick. The crispy rice papers provided a crunchy texture to the dish and it was a nice dish, although I bit into a chilli and was choking for some time.

Crispy sesame and coconut rice papers with spanner crab dressed with coconut, chilli and lime ($16)

The tiger prawns were cooked well inside however crunchy exterior of green rice was tasteless so without dipping it into the nuoc cham, it was bland and boring.

Green rice fried tiger prawns, nuoc cham ($5 each)

We followed this up with rice paper rolls which when I saw the price I almost had a heart attack. I'm so used to having these for dinner on a weekly basis that I can't justify paying $16 upwards for a single roll - no matter what type of fancy ingredients it comprises of. We weren't a big fan of the salmon rolls and the granny smith apple was a strange addition.

Torched salmon, salmon caviar, heart of palm with shredded granny smith apple and yuzu soy ($16)

The soft shell crab rice paper rolls were nice and crunchy although Mrs T's magical sauce was nothing out of the ordinary.

Soft shell crab and avocado with Mrs T’s magical sauce ($21)

The elements were fresh and the deep fried lotus root was crispy but overall, it was quite boring. Taste-wise I didn't think much of this salad and left it for the others.

Lotus root, mustard sprout and banana blossom salad, sesame and hot mint ($19)

The fish curry was average and lacked any exciting flavours or spices. A small bowl of rice, a single bread roll and a dish of cucumbers, pineapple and mint leaves were served with the curry.

Mekong fish curry with coconut, young jackfruit, sweet potato ($33)

The best dish of the night was undoubtedly the pork belly claypot. It was tender and flaked apart with ease with a delicious layer of fat while the flavours were a combination of caramelised sugar and fish sauce. If you know what Thit Kho is, then this is basically a fancier version.

Claypot with pork belly cooked in young coconut juice, soft cooked duck egg, streamed green papaya ($34)

Considering that my friend had chosen this restaurant specifically for the BBQ pork spare ribs which had been nominated by The Age Good Food Guide 2012 as the dish of the year, we ordered two serves. We had blindly trusted that dish of the year would live up to its name. The ribs were tender and fell off the bone but where was the flavour? No hint of charred goodness, no sticky barbecue flavours - the dish underwhelmed us as did the salad of lychee and mint which seemed out of place. In the end, a plate of ribs were left over which we forced onto the guys to finish.

BBQ Pork spare ribs with a refreshing lychee and mint salad ($38)

The ribs were served with a small bowl of vermicelli noodles and a mix of salad leaves which I left as it was too much of a hassle to eat that way.

To end the night, we had a strawberry and berry tart from one of my favourite cake shops, Le Petit Gateau, which I had picked up earlier. Unfortunately, the biggest surprise of the night was finding out that there was a cakage charge of $5 per person. I understand that some restaurants feel they miss out on the patron's sampling their dessert menu if they bring a cake but paying $35 for the cake itself then paying another $35 for cakage made it cost $70 all up for a small cake - $10 per person for a slice of cake. I suppose I should have called and checked beforehand but next time we'll just be having cake at home, we just wanted to give the birthday girl some sparkles yo.

See how happy my friend is! ($35 cakage charge)

When we paid for the bill, a tray of ginger lollies were brought out. I grabbed one for funsies but never ate it. It's probably bopping around in my bag still.

Overall, the food was okay however with the price that we paid, we certainly didn't feel as if it was worth it. The modern take on the dishes were visually appealing but in taste, it wasn't memorable. However service was good as our waitress was helpful with suggestions or any questions we had. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have an appreciation for Asian fusion food and might like this place - but for me, my mother's cooking rocks and you just can't compare to home cooked food. I can admit that I am slightly judgemental/biased as I have been brought up on fabulous authentic Vietnamese food, but even if I didn't have my mother to rely on for good Vietnamese food, I would rather head to Springvale, Richmond or Footscray for cheap and cheerful meals. In the end, as long as you have the best company and lots of alcohol, mediocre food can easily be forgotten.

Food: 6.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Value: 5/10
Will I return? No, I wasn't impressed and prices were steep.

Dandelion
133 Ormond Road
Elwood VIC 3184
(03) 9531 4900