Bamboo House

Bamboo House sits on Little Bourke St in the heart of Melbourne's Chinatown and has served a blend of Cantonese and Sichuan cooking since the 1980s, making it one of the precinct's longer-running fine-dining rooms. The menu spans both regional styles, with crispy skin chicken and salt and pepper squid representing the Cantonese side of the kitchen and a mapo tofu bringing the Sichuan heat and numbing spice that distinguish the restaurant from many of its Chinatown neighbours. The dining room is more formal than much of the surrounding Chinatown strip, with white tablecloths, private function rooms, and attentive service suited to celebratory family dinners and business banquets as much as everyday meals. The wine list is modest but includes a range of options chosen to work with the kitchen's varied spice levels, from delicate steamed dishes to the heat of the Sichuan menu. Bamboo House has long been a fixture for Lunar New Year banquets and larger group bookings, given its function room capacity within the Chinatown precinct. Reservations are recommended, particularly for weekend dinners and around Lunar New Year, when the restaurant's banquet menus and larger tables are in high demand.