Supreme.J Kitchen (尚品) 198 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn, Victoria 3103

"Great service with friendly staff. Food comes really quick. Good place for a get together"

"I am Chinese. I have eaten so much Chinese food in my life that it is rare that a restaurant makes me rethink what I know about Chinese food. But first, the restaurant. This is the sister restaurant to Jade Kew. Jade Kew is a more luxurious dining experience, Supreme J is more approachable. The menu items are similar, but not the same. For example, the Supreme J version of "stir fried vegetables with bamboo fungus and conpoy" lacks the conpoy. However, what is the same is the quality of cooking. This is Hong Kong style Cantonese cuisine, meaning that seasoning is kept light and the natural flavour and texture of the food is what you are meant to experience. My partner insisted that we should order the "Siew Yok" (crispy skin roast pork). I don't get excited about Siew Yok any more, I know how to make it myself and nearly every Chinese restaurant in town serves it - so I think it's a bit boring. But THIS Siew Yok was amazing, nothing short of perfect. The meat was tender and still juicy. Pick it up and give it a wiggle with your chopsticks and it wiggles (it's not a stiff dried out piece of meat like most other places). It does not rely on the fat from the pork belly to keep it juicy, in fact the fat content of the cut we received was quite low. I can write an entire essay on cooking this dish, but eating this made me rethink everything I thought I knew about making Siew Yok. I mentioned this to the boss on my way out, and I was told "we have a hot oven, you don't have that at home". The congee here is also different to other places. This is another dish I know how to make (and so does almost every Chinese person), but I haven't had it like this before. It is loaded up with ingredients, much more than other restaurants. The Century egg was kept in large slices, large enough that the yolk didn't seperate from the jelly. I could even see the abundant snowflake crystals on the century egg (an indicator of quality), so I wonder where they get theirs from because I can't buy eggs like that. The "Teng Jai Jook" (艇仔粥, another type of congee) had fresh roasted peanuts, jellyfish, cuttlefish, ground pork, and roasted duck in it, which is also different to other restaurants. It is a luxury interpretation of a homely congee that was served on boats. The texture of both congees was smooth and refined, but both were underseasoned. This is typical HK preference but that's what the salt and pepper on the table are for. The red bean pancake is the same as Jade Kew's. Meaning, this is probably the best red bean pancake in Melbourne. Also unlike other Chinese restaurants - this one is clean and the staff are actually friendly. These guys are totally nailing it. Highly recommended."

"Extremely salty. They call this meal Chat kway teow. The pork is not fresh, the color is not right. Had the egg with rice noodle last time which was even worst. Wont come again."

"This place is always crowded. Seafood was fresh, food was good, service can be improved. Came on a Tuesday, 7pm and most of the items were sold out."