Golden Harvest

RATING
2
REVIEWS

Directions

15 Leeds St
FOOTSCRAY, VIC, 3011
local (03) 9689 3... local (03) 9689 3821
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Reviews of Golden Harvest

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Local Star 192 reviews
There's no denying that this Chinese restaurant is popular. Before 6pm on a Thursday evening, almost all of Golden Harvests tables were occupied with people happily tucking into a splendid array of food. Inside was bright, clean and aromatic with oriental spices. Their menu includes a vast selection of traditional Chinese fare, including exotic dishes such as ''jellyfish and ducks feet''. The staff are not overly friendly, but I prefer a sincere, businesslike manner to simpering affectations. However, their English is sadly lacking. I inquired as to what the most popular dish is, and the mystified waitress gravely replied, ''Pop-u-lar...? Nooo...'' While they were happy to bring forks and spoons instead of chopsticks, my request for a jug of water for my dining companion and I was only successful in acquiring a single glass between us. Two diners; one glass. I suppose sharing is encouraged in these places. One of the meals we ordered was exquisite: a rice porridge made with ''century egg'', which I encourage everyone to google before ordering, so they can appreciate exactly what it is. The other main course we ordered - barbecue sweet pork - was also delicious, but with one alarming drawback. It was cold. Stone motherless cold. Not chilled from the fridge - just room temperature, as if it had been left somewhere to GO cold. I rarely order pork, so perhaps this is normal, but I felt I should warn other diners who may be hoping for a piping hot meal. Needless to say, service was swift; the cooled pork arrived almost immediately. I was far less perplexed about the popularity of Golden Harvest when it was time to pay. Two generous-sized main meals amounted to about $10 each. At that price, of course I'll be back to try some of their more adventurous dishes - that is, if I can get a table!
1 year ago
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ThomasKent Local Star 53 reviews
Golden Harvest is THE place all the Chinese go in Footscray, and the most popular restaurant in the suburb, maybe in the whole West. No way will you get in there between 6 and 10 on a Friday or Saturday night without a reservation, and even other nights can be tough.

Like all places the Chinese go to in droves, it's set up for them. That means no red-and-gold decorations or dark brown wood filigree screens like what I like. It means a really big place, bright lights, white walls, terrible paintings of horses, full of huge tables with spinny things in the middle packed really closely together, everybody talking at the top of their voices, other languages seem only to have an on/off switch but no volume control. And it's the usual bog-standard Cantonese menu, but with the usual vast selection of dishes, no surprises here, but the Shark Fin soup if your morals don't stop you is $90 cheaper than it is at the Flower Drum and probably very nearly as good.

The thing is, everything WORKS. The staff are running around like crickets, but you can usually manage to attract their attention within two or three minutes, and they are friendly in the usual unfriendly Chinese way. The food is cheap and it's never bad - they have real chefs, probably pinched from big hotels in Honkers, if I ever had anything other than pork and century egg congee (my favourite), I'd probably discover some really good dishes here. Certainly, other tables are getting served monster crabs and stuff, it's one of those restaurants where checking out what everyone else is eating is really fun. There's a bar and it has the Chinese favourites too, like Cognac and Tsingtao beer and Johnny Walker, and the prices are very reasonable.

One caveat. Though a lot of Westerners go, the target audience is Chinese. What this means is that if you ask for weird Western things like a glass of water, they will give you a stare of incomprehension, get you to repeat it three times, then eventually while you are eating, a glass of water will be plonked down at your elbow with the word 'Water'. And don't be surprised if some well-known dishes are presented in a way that you've never seen before. They're not being rude: you'll notice them keeping an eye out to see if you need anything. They just do things their way.

Golden Harvest is at least as good as any other Chinese restaurant in Melbourne in its price range. Everybody in the whole of Footscray goes here occasionally, not including the Africans or Vietnamese. If you don't mind the noise - and it's all the good-humoured energy of ppl having fun - it's great. Somehow it never disappoints. If what you want to do is eat and have fun, you never walk out of Golden Harvest unsatisfied. You'll never regret going there. It just works.

Five minutes from Footscray station, really easy to find, big carpark opposite. Closes at ten.
1 year ago
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