Dainty Sichuan Noodle Express - Emporium, Melbourne, Victoria

Sichuan Cold Noodles $3.80

Stewed Pork Belly with Rice $12.80

Stewed Pork Belly with Rice $12.80

Duck with Pickled Chilli (with Bone) $12.80

Verdict? Perfect for a quick, lip-numbing bite to eat - this little Dainty slice inside Emporium delivered some deliciously spicy single serve dishes at very affordable prices!
Time and date of visit: 5 pm Tuesday 30 June 2015 

Dainty Sichuan Noodle Express
Emporium Melbourne, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (03) 9020 4332
Open 7 days a week, 10 am - 9 pm

Dainty Sichuan - Toorak, Victoria

Dry Stirfried Beans - With Pork Mince $19.80

Ma Po Tofu - Sichuan Home Style, With Beef Mince $19.80

Fish Flavour Eggplant - Pickled Chilli, Sweet & Sour $19.80

Tasty Cold Noodle - with Chilli Oil and Sichuan Pepper $7.80 (not visible in the menu on this visit)

Sichuan Home Style Baby Cabbages - Pickled Chilli, Sweet & Sour $19.80

Cumin Lamb Ribs - Chilli, Sichuan Pepper & Cumin $26.80

Revisit verdict? We can't help noticing the changes at Dainty - new decor, new menus, more attentive service... but where has the spice gone? The dishes we received were fine, but at the end of the night, we left disappointed - missing that lovely lip-numbing, mouth-watering depth of flavour that we've come to associate with Sichuan cuisine. We truly hope the old Dainty spark (the one we know and love and crave) comes home soon.
Time and date of visit: 7 pm Saturday 30 May 2015 (see our previous visits)

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686

Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Dainty Sichuan - Toorak, Victoria

Tasty Cold Noodle with Chilli Oil and Sichuan Pepper $7.80

Hot Blood Curd Combination Pot with Chilli and Sichuan Pepper $28.80

Stirfried Pea Seedling $19.80

Verdict? We love Dainty, and our usual favourites were delicious as always. But we must admit that the 'combination pot' was better at Chuan Wang. Still - it's not like we're planning on stopping our visits to Dainty anytime soon ;)
Time and date of visit: 5 pm Wednesday 15 October 2014 (see our previous visits)

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686

Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Dainty Sichuan - South Yarra, Victoria

Tasty Cold Noodle - Chilli Oil & Sichuan Pepper $7.80

Garlic Cucumber $11.80

Kong Pao Prawns - Chilli, Sweet & Sour $28.80

Stirfried Pea Seedling $ (seasonal price)

Fish Flavoured Eggplant - Pickled Chilli, Sweet & Sour $19.80 (2 chillies)

Mountain Spring Chicken - Chilli Sauce & Sichuan Pepper $38.80 (3 chillies)

Verdict? I'd recommend skipping the kong pao, but the rest was good, especially the usual suspects of tasty cold noodle, garlic cucumber, stirfried pea seedling and fish flavoured eggplant! Service certainly wasn't as attentive as it's been on previous visits and we had to wait quite a while for our dishes, but it was a very busy Saturday night, so keeping that in mind - the good still definitely outweighs the bad.
Time and date of visit: 7 pm Saturday 14 June 2014 (see our previous visits)

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686

Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Weekend Eats, Saturday 29 - Sunday 30 March 2014

Saturday 29 March 2014

Pho Tam

Banh Canh Tom Thit - Rice starch noodles with sliced pork, minced pork, tiger prawns, pork blood jelly, chives $10

Tivoli Road Bakery

Lamington

Lamington

Eccles cake

Dainty Sichuan

Fish Flavoured Eggplant with Pickled Chilli, Sweet & Sour $19.80

Spicy Lamb Kebabs with Chilli, Sichuan Pepper & Cumin $28.80

Tasty Cold Noodle with Chilli Oil & Sichuan Pepper $7.80

Sichuan Pickled Vegetables with Chilli Oil $8.80

Tofu Threads with Chinese Leek $20.80

Sunday 30 March 2014

Home-cooked breakfast

Dolcetti

Lime and fresh currant tortina

Lime and citrus amaretti biscuit

Dainty Sichuan - South Yarra, Victoria

Tsing Tao beer $6.80, Jug of soy milk $9.00

Tasty Cold Noodle $7.80

Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage with Chilli $17.80

Mouth-watering Beef Slices - Chilli Oil & Sichuan Pepper $17.80

Verdict? We've been waiting a while to get back to Dainty - we were pretty sad when we found out that they were closed for renovations! So this time around, we made the decision to try out two new dishes and our order was perfectly suited for the hot weather. While the cabbage dish made a nice substitute for the unavailable stir-fried pea shoots, I don't think we'll be ordering the beef slices again. The dish was tasty enough, but when it's only a table for two, you're limited in the number of dishes you order, and there's just so much more we want to try on the menu!
Time and date of visit: 5 pm Tuesday 28 January 2014

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686

Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Dainty Sichuan - South Yarra, Victoria

Dainty Sichuan

176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia (03) 9078 1686
Open for lunch Mon & Wed-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12pm-2:30pm and for dinner Sun-Mon & Wed-Thu 4:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-10pm

Tasty Cold Noodle - Chilli Oil & Sichuan Pepper $6.80

Stirfried Pea Seedling $ (seasonal price)

Steam Pork Slices with Preserved Vegetable $28.80

The best? The tasty cold noodle and the stirfried pea seedling are amongst our fav dishes.
The worst? We can never resist ordering some of our favourite dishes, but we do always try to order at least one new dish to try... While the steam pork dish was nice in flavour, we unfortunately found it to be far too rich and fatty for just two people to eat.
Service? Super attentive.
Decor? Chinese.
Noise? Low-range.
Value? Good!
Would we go back? No doubt!
Time and date of visit: 5:30pm Wednesday 28 August 2013