Chow’s Table STM food review: We finally tested the Yallingup restaurant. It lives up to the hype

My last succulent Chinese meal had been off a bustling Melbourne laneway, on a plastic chair, a lazy Susan packed with dishes ordered off a seemingly endless menu with pictures.

My family did what we do best: ordered until the table disappeared under plates piled high with noodles, proteins and dumplings, then decided one extra fried rice wouldn’t hurt.

Many of us have a version of this kind of dining experience, and have a go-to Asian joint to fill a midweek gap.

At Chow’s Table in Yallingup, the table next to us is enjoying a bottle of wine from the cellar door we glimpse from our spot on the sun-soaked veranda. Kids are cartwheeling across the manicured lawn. Dishes arrive aesthetically plated in delicate Qinghua bowls and handmade ceramic vessels.

This is not your typical Chinese-Malay restaurant.

After years of rave reviews, we finally booked Chow’s Table on our recent honeymoon, and the food gods shone down on us with perfect spring weather and a relaxed dining experience.

I’m never one to pass up a dumpling, and Chow’s plump tender pork and chive dumping ($8 each) is exactly the kind of moreish version — extra points for the audible char — my family would happily pack a table with.

Then comes the Hainanese chicken ($37), which my new husband casually reveals he eats several times a week (still learning things all these years in). It hits all the right notes: tender chook, a light broth, and a bowl of vibrant chilli vinegar to make it all sing.

A plate of seasonal greens we didn’t order arrives next. The kitchen made it by mistake, the waiter explains, and it’s ours if we’d like it. We sure would. The seemingly simple dish of kai-lan, Brussels sprouts and beans in an oyster sauce ($36) is unimaginably tasty with the kind of depth Chinese cooking does so well.

We finish with a perfectly cooked sambal belachan squid ($37). It’s not one for the faint-hearted, with the belachan — a South-East Asian fermented shrimp paste — adding an extra level of funkiness and seafood hit to each bite of squid.

There is no lazy Susan, and no BYO only option, which is all to say Chow’s doesn’t come at bargain laneway prices. This is holiday spending at its best, and you’re paying for the serenity as much as the local produce and delicious dishes — the sun on the veranda, surrounded by vines.

But there is room for both, and for a honeymoon lunch, the winery setting is a winner.

The verdict: 17/20

The perfect serene spot among the vines for a succulent Chinese meal.

Chow’s Table

Unit 12/5 Quininup Road, Yallingup

OPEN Wed-Sun, 11am-4pm

BOOKINGS Yes

CONTACT chowstable.com.au