On Mum's last night with us in Melb, we drove to Doncaster in search of a decent Chinese restaurant that would meet with Mum's discerning tastebuds.

She had sampled Shining Palace in Watton St (two thumbs down), Jade Stream on Old Geelong Road (okay) and the food court at the Werribee Plaza (plate too small, too much food) and was not impressed by the culinary options in our neighbourhood.

We have never been to Doncaster, and chose it on a whim really.

I guess that's one of the bonuses of just trying something new without any preconceived notions like food reviews and friends' recommendations.

We stumbled onto Doncaster Road and found a couple of Chinese restaurants: Wealth Garden and I-forget-the-name-of-the-other-one. I only remember that the latter was laid out exactly like Master Wok on Synnot St: set in a row of shops a little way back from the road, with parking lots in front. Scary.

Hubby was fascinated by the pavilion outside Wealth Garden across the road, so we decided to check it out.

We were very fortunate to arrive when we did, especially as we had waltzed in without a booking. We got a table very quickly, whereas the families that came later (90% of whom were three-generation Chinese families with babies and toddlers) had to wait fairly long to be seated.

Wealth Garden is a Cantonese-style restaurant with aquariums of live seafood, waiters leaning over styrofoam boxes of mud crabs, and a menu printed completely in Chinese.

It took a while to decipher what the menu said, and as I was the only one who was fairly fluent in Mandarin, the job of ordering was left to me.

We had 红烧豆腐，凉瓜牛肉，上汤枸子豆苗， 姜葱鱼片 and steamed rice, which was served in a stainless steel tiffin carrier (the kind you take to the hawker centre if you want to "da bao" a soupy dish).

What was really impressive was the complimentary soup that was served immediately after we placed our orders. The soup du jour was lotus root pork rib soup. Yummy. I was inspired to go home and recreate the same for my family.

The waiters were extremely attentive. In fact, Beth thought there was one waiter per table, until she looked carefully. I told her that meant the waiters were working really hard to notice and attend to all the needs of the different customers.

The flow of traffic was unending. As one lot of customers left, another lot would enter and wait for a table. There were several angmoh customers too, one of whom had brought their own bottle of wine.

The bill came to just under $100 for 5 of us. Not cheap, but given the quality of the food, we would happily consider coming back.

I would give Wealth Garden 8/10 for the excellent food quality and attentive service.

Wealth Garden Chinese Seafood Restaurant
866 Doncaster Road
Doncaster East
Open:
Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-3pm,
Sat & Sun 10:30am-3pm,
Dinner Nightly 5:30pm-11pm