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Supper Inn
Ph: (03) 9663 4759; 15 Celestial Ave, MELBOURNE 3000
cantonese, $$, ** for Food & Ambience
Open 7 days 5.30pm-2.30am, Closed Xmas Day; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $2 person; AE DC MC V
Chef Tony Lu (7-11-07) Owner John Lau & Steve Lau (7-11-07)
Photo: Tony Knox
Mietta's Review
People have been walking up the stairs of the Supper Inn since 1976. The Lau Family have fed more late night diners than they can count. Laminate panelling, laminex tables, a solitary fish tank, fast impersonal service and the well cooked traditional Cantonese dishes that arrive hot and quickly to the tables, make this an ideal spot for dinner before or after a film or work. Everybody, Chinese restaurateurs, their children, rock stars, actors and the rest of us, all eating and talking. For a real taste of what's on offer here, bypass the usual Chinese-Australian offerings and order from the specials list, don't be frightened of fungus, sea cucumber or Chinese doughnuts, because they are wonderful. The Supper Inn is a Melbourne institution and with good reason. Recommended.
Other published opinions
The Age Cheap Eats 2008 "It's comforting, the Supper Inn ritual - brushing shoulders with fellow diners during the stairwell-wait for a table, experiencing the wall of noise and cursory staff smiles as you enter the battered dining room, and folding yourself into a cramped table to read the implausibly long menu"
Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 13/20 "Eating at Supper Inn is about as far from glamorous as Melbourne is from Hong Kong. Head down Celestial Avenue (off Little Bourke), up the stairs and wait your place in the (often daunting) queue"
The Age Cheap Eats 2007 "Proletarian decor and worker's prices belie food fit for the Middle Kingdom at this latenight, wood-panelled dining room. Families (early on) and citizens of the night (when the pubs shut) vie for floor space with efficient staff (bookings are advisable)."
The Age Cheap Eats 2006 This legendary late-night haunt still packs 'em in. Families, students and clubbers queue patiently on the staircase awaiting a coveted spot in the beige diningroom.
The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 13/20 "There's an unspoken contract between diner and restaurant when eating at this hallowed Chinatown institution. Diners will not complain if they have to wait on the staircase for a table. They will not complain if, after being seated, they are moved once, twice, or even three times during their meal to accommodate the burgeoning crowds."
Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide "Nobody comes to Supper Inn for the decor - even though the wood-veneered dining room with its pink vertical-blinds and tables dressed with plastic chopsticks and red paper napkins has a signature charm. Perhaps it's the fast, unfaltering service that has people queuing on the dingy staircase into the small hours, but, more likely, it's the robustly flavoured, wellcooked Cantonese food"
Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide Best Chinese "For a more authentic taste of Kowloon nightlife, Supper Inn is a no-nonsense Melbourne institution, perfect for late-night sessions of great value Cantonese eating, with hordes eating quail, flounder and the house special, congee. It's also very popular with chefs."
The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "SUPPER INN is one of the best-loved cheap eats in the CBD, and has been since the last days of Malcolm Fraser, so what on earth is it still doing in the Good Food Guide? Well, to the chagrin of many rivals, the Inn generally plates more consistently good meals than most in Chinatown."
Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide "Up a nondescript dead-end laneway, punters are queuing on the stairs at Supper Inn. As usual. There is something so delightfully unpretentious - and authentic - about this barebones Chinese restaurant, that Melburnians line up for tables, year in, year out. It's like a cheap holiday in Hong Kong. Chinese groups, middle-aged veterans and Melbourne's artschool crowd all cram the place."
The Age Cheap Eats 2005 "TUCKED upstairs in Chinatown's evocatively named Celestial Avenue, Supper Inn cranks out the Cantonese until the wee hours every morning - it's not unusual to see the wood-panelled dining room still packed well after midnight."
The Age A3 Melbourne for night owls Tim Richards 12/1/05 "This perennial late-night Chinese restaurant was never likely to win any design awards, with its plain, well-worn interior and laminex tabletops. However, the Cantonese food is a favourite for those on the street after other eateries have closed."
The Age Cheap Eats 2004,'Cheap Eats Hall of Fame Award,'Even if they can't always be guranteed a table right away,night-owls know they can count on great,simple food at this open-late Chinatown veteran.'
AGFG 2004, score 14/20, wide selection of vegetarian dishes, two courses for $25 or less
The Age, Agenda, 4/4/04,Roslyn Grundy,'The flavours are heartfelt,the prices are reasonable,and the doors stay open long after everything else has shut.'
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, Good vegetarian options,'one of Chinatown's originals and has been serving good, home-style Cantonese food...It's build up a solid reputation as a pit stop for people seeking an inexpensive meal or a pick-me-up after a bit of clubbing.The extensive menu features all the regulars...The wine list, like the decor, is basic and unpretentious.'
Vogue Entertaining & Traveller, March April 2003
The Sunday Age, Sunday Life, Eat Streets, John Lethlean, 9/2/03
Herald Sun, sunday magazine, 2003, Sally Fisher'
Or perhaps ...
Supper Inn Victoria
Supper Inn feed everyone - Chinese restaurateurs, their children, rock stars, actors and the rest of us until 3am. It's a Melbourne institution and with good reason.