So yeah, I’m writing about food again. Seems now that I am skinny enough to fit into all the couture, all I want to do is talk about eating. Ironic, no? Well it amuses me but that’s another story. Today we are going to talk about food. Again. Anyways…

Being gluten intolerant, dumplings are one of those ‘food journeys’ I’ve never really been able to go one. While others dive into yum cha on a Sunday, I stick to meat and potatoes, all the while wondering what I am missing out on. My first (and only) dumplings experience was a number of years ago, at the Oriental Teahouse on Little Collins Street, for a colleagues going away. I was impressed, sure, but enough to do it every week? I don’t think I was convinced.

Skip forward a bit and I am invited to David’s Country Shanghai in Prahran, an institution in the south (it’s been around since 1989!) and a restaurant founded by the same guy of Oriental Teahouse fame – David!

David’s Prahran has introduced a speedy lunch service, and delivery, to help appease the locals of settling for Noodle Box – or worse. David himself greets us at lunch and we sit down to take in a world of tea and tradition.

                                                        Tea. Image thanks to Little Miss Melbourne.

The tea lesson David gives us is invigorating. It’s easy to walk into T2, or even the tea aisle at Woolies and be overwhelmed with the flavours and promises of better sleep and digestion, but David talks us through just three kinds of tea, pointing out the benefits of each.

A favourite is the Diamond’s & Rose’s tea, a blend of wolfberries, Chinese Hawthorn slices, sultanas, Chinese dates and Pure Rose, Mai Feng Green and Sweet tea, excellent for circulation and great for the skin.

Then dishes appear before us – more food than the six in our party could eat in a day, let alone one meal. There is chicken stirfry with radish, cucumber and cashews, spicy eye fillet with sweet potato and pork belly to die for.  I eat it all with gusto and go back for more.

David’s has an extensive gluten free menu to try so there is no way you can miss out on the wonders of this yummy spot to eat. Whether you are rushing through a lunch, ordering take away for home delivery or sitting down to spend a few hours taking in the delicious décor of Davids Prahran with your best friend or partner, I think I could eat here every week. With so many menu options, it would be hard to get bored quickly!