We found this restaurant after walking around Chinatown for a while looking at other menus and dishes posted. We decided on this one because the prices were good and it looked like a small Mom and Pop restaurant. I was very pleasantly surprised with the large menu selection. I chose the Singapore noodles with chicken instead of pork. Just the right amount of spice and abundant taste. If you're looking to go easy on the wallet and heavy on the taste buds try this place. read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Stir fry Singapore noodles with chicken. Very good - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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The steamed buns were OK, but not up to what I had been hoping from the other reviews. The regular menu items were even more disappointing. Will try again to see if I was just unlucky, but my first experience here was pretty average. read more

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When I am in the city, this is the place I come to get my craving of steamed bun. Don't expect anything posh, as its a small dingy place, they offered dining in but I haven't actually eaten there. But this is the place I go to for steamed buns, bbq pork, chicken and mushroom, sticky rice, custard.....I always seems to go for the standard chicken and mushroom and the sticky rice. You could choose to get warm or cold ones. The cold ones are for you to steam at home, they would sit well in the freezer till you are ready for them. The warm ones....I eat as I walk back to the office. You need to try this place if you like your buns! read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

So, Chinese food is a common place in Melbourne, so it gets hard to differentiate the good from the bad. To better this, some food establishments peak in quality and search for other ways to get you in. They look at speed, turnover of food into mouths into people out the door again. Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant is in the basket. The food isn't great, but by the time you've realised you're out the door again and off to the bar or home again. And I have two words for you - Steam Buns. Oh my goodness that magical that is hidden within the fluffy white dough and hot steaming liquid! Meat, Vegetarian and Dessert options here - they're all good and they're for the taking away into the street again to a park or your tram home. The locals are eating it, and it's well priced, you know it can't be bad. Looking for a little chuckle to yourself? Check out the sign on the front door. One side? Open. The other side?..... have a look and tell me it doesn't make you smile just a little. read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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So we came into a little casual eatery place with nice looking buns at the front. Half full joint at the time. We ordered fried noodles with beef and ginger, seasonal veges, and three buns; 2x seaweed and pork 1xchicken. Came very quick, but only the noodles were hot not veges in that dish. The side order of seasonal veges were fine. Well the buns were forgotten, had to ask 15mins after the first two plates were removed. No serving plates were given when the buns finally came and no chop sticks or anything, do people eat these with there hands? If so no serviettes etc to clean up. Visit to the toilet confirmed what the place looks like. A shit hole. Then come to pay and we were told we ate snacks and not mains so cost $1 more to do this! read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Poo hole. Don't come unless you like waiting and unfriendly staff. - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

I look forward to coming to Nam Loong for a late night supper after a gig at Billboard or the Roxanne Parlour across the road. The food comes fast and it's all pretty delicious. Love a Chinese that offers congee suppers and these guys are superstars at this. There's no mucking around here, just good food, fast and late at night when you really, really need it. read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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I've only ever sat down for a meal at Nam Loong once, many years ago. NEVER AGAIN. They're too good for it. Their food was tasty enough: standard dumpling-style food, pretty good but ultimately nothing to write home about. The truth is, the Nam Loong experience is all about the bun and the waxed paper-bag. You walk in through their narrow doorway, you talk to the guy behind the counter, you come away with one of their pork buns, a barbecue pork bun, or maybe a red bean or lotus egg bun. They're steamed sweet white riceflour buns filled with tasty tasty chinese goodness. Many's the time I've dropped past after picking something up at the Bourke st JB, or on my way home from the SLV, and dropped a couple of dollars on a tasty steamed bun or two. Particularly good in winter. read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

The service is very good. Friendly and fast. Food comes out quickly. Prices are reasonable and you get complimentary tea. But the dish I had (minced pork and green beans) wasn't tasty. I don't think it was well prepared. I couldn't eat it all and asked for a takeaway container - for which they wanted to charge me 50cents. Given they cost about 5cents that's a bit rich. With so many good choices around I'd skip this place. The pork buns (available as takeaway) are probably delicious. Don't bother with a sit down meal. read more

Peering through the windows of the store, you would see dozens of bamboo steamers stacked to the sky. Today, I grabbed 3 buns. Namely the Charsiew (Roasted Pork), Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage), and Chicken with mushroom. At A$1.80 a pop, they may be a tad pricey (Asian standards), but then again, this is Australia afterall. Nam Loong Restaurant is the best place in Melbourne to get your bun fix. read more

Nam Loong Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Crazy hungry for a steam bun with pork or chicken? Go no further. Had bbq pork, chicken & seaweed steam buns. Felt that hunger quenched. Amazing. It was a cold day in spring with rain & wind. So hot stim buns and scalding tea makes for warm bones. Worth a visit for a quick bite in simple surroundings. Dim sums take 7 mins to steam though. read more

Wrapper torn with zeal. Inside: a doughy cloud puff enfolding pork joy. -Haiku to Nam Loong pork bun read more

So this place seriously needs two reviews. Review 1 for the buns; and review 2 for the rest of the menu choice and the venue / service. So review 1 the buns: Completely awesome taste sensation. These are some top class buns. I tried the pork and they were mega lush amazingness right there. I will be coming back for sure to try the custard ones. Buns go for $2 eat in $1.80 take out each. Review 2: Rest of menu, venue and service 3 stars. I chose beef and vegetables on rice. It was ok but not great and lacked flavour. I tried to jazz it up with chilli but the contents of the chilli jar looked like it hadn't been changed since 1984. Meal choices go for around the $10 mark so good value. The bathroom was hideous. You have to walk through the kitchen and it seriously needed a clean. Service was ok; they did the minimum (i.e. took your order and brought food), but with no feeling at all. So all up I arrive at 4 stars. This place is all about those gorgeous buns, which I will definitely be back to try again very soon. read more

There is one thing that I ALWAYS have time for is the pork buns at this place. Famously named the best in the world (ok I named that myself) but omg put these bad boys in a contest and they will come out on top! I am forever at this place getting me some devious and really cheap buns! Pork ones are my fav also, but I do oddly have the sausage one and also the custard :-) Yum yum! I'm still yet to have a sit down meal here, but can't resist the glass cabinet as you walk in screaming out pork buns! Everyone you must try these :-) I highly recommend! read more

I'm so confused about how to rate this place - seriously, my head hurts thinking about it. Started with the Pork Buns - BAM - 5 stars right there. Amazing. So amazing. Then the mains came. Dropped to 3. I had the beef and vegetables with fried noodles (usually I wouldn't have had fried noodles but clearly had a brain freeze and was thinking I was going to get 'normal' ones). It was a bit oily and didn't have much flavour. The serving size was quite generous though. Popped to the bathroom before settling the bill and the stars started to plummet even more. I just squinted my eyes and pretended I was back in my travelling days visiting some exotic place that hadn't heard of cleanliness before. Hence my dilemma in writing this review. I've settled on 4. Stick to the amazing buns and go to the bathroom before you leave the house (didn't our parents use to always make us do that anyway?). read more

My Mum has been coming here since the 70's and swears the menu and food hasn't changed a bit, and why should it! Famous for it's take-away Char Siu Bao, Nam Loong is famous (for me) is the ultimate first date restaurant. BYO from the wine store next door and tuck into some Singapore fried noodles, peanut butter pancakes, and more serious food like a tofu hot pot, steamed clams and anything / everything else that's on the perhaps slightly too extensive menu. There are lots of dishes written on paper on the walls - so a good time to see how adventurous your (possibly love of your life!) is by suggesting a few of the interesting sounding items, or go all the way and just point to something written in Chinese. Don't like what you got? Try something else. Service is fast and the food is cheap. read more

It really deserves! Food are fabulously good and services are super nice! You may take away small traditional Chinese pastry. But I would like sit down and enjoy the hot food immediately! It is so healthy with fare price! 非常推荐！饭菜正宗，服务好；门口可以打包各种面点；当然坐下来享受地道美味更好；吃得健康，老板热情又客气！ read more

Congee was okay. Kang pao chicken was subpar and the buns were small, hard and too expensive.

This tiny no frills restaurant has been my regular for a fix of special fried rice. Have been coming here for over 30 years. Best special fried rice in Melbourne and their curry chicken is a real treat! read more

Great and cheap Chinese food. They take cash only and have different prices depending if ypu are having food there or take away. The pork buns are amazing! read more

Well this place is known for their buns, but that's not what I ordered. I know... I didn't order well, but I ordered and saw enough to know that I will not be back for noodles, but I may come back to try the buns "to go." We ordered the seafood laksa, Taiwanese beef with handmade noodles, Peking dumplings and wife cake. Both noodles were not flavorful but the the Taiwanese beef was slightly better. The dumpling skins were too thick for my liking. I prefer thinner skins and higher filling ratio. The wife cake was light and flaky made from lard as it should be with a nice sticky filling, but if you were not brought up eating wife cakes, this would not hold any great memories or expediences for you. read more

It was a quick stop at Nam Loong - I had one goal - buy a bag of bao. And this is what my rating is based on. I did not eat any of the other food they sell. It took me less than 2 minutes: sweet red bean, char sui (pork) and chicken mushroom. At $1.80 (take home cold) a piece, that's pretty good in the spectrum of generally high prices in Melbourne. For $2.00 you can buy these buns hot. My recommendation: keep it classic and get the red bean and char sui steamed buns! read more

This is great, classic Chinese. An extensive menu, fast and friendly service, BYO, and delicious food. And it's cheap as chips! I've been to a lot of Chinese restaurants and this ranks up with the best. We had a number of dishes, but what stood out was the satay scallops and the veg in oyster sauce. Traps for younger players: it's cash only - not a fault but good to know. It's not fancy, but if you want a good feed this is a solid choice. read more

Is there anything better than a steaming hot Char Siu Bao eaten out of a brown paper bag on a street corner? Well, okay so there's plenty of things better (martinis, nights by an open fire, cheese...) but Nam Loong is getting 5 our of 5 yums from me for their quick and easy take away dumplings that really hit the spot on cold days or after a few too many drinks at one of the nearby bars. read more

You must try their wife cake, bbq pork on rice or bbq pork and omlettet, crispy noodles and seafood combination, and ice lemon tea. The best un town. read more

The hot egg custard buns are superb!

Good for fast, cheap lunch during the week - just make sure you're in by 12:15 or you'll be waiting a while. Huge menu - I like the pork spare ribs in Peking sauce on rice for $8. read more

No frills but an excellent pork bun and steamed prawn dumplings

You can always depend on Nam Loong.. Open late, cheap but quality food, and super friendly team ... You might spread your wings and try out other places, but this is the place worth calling home as far as Melbourne Chinatown goes. read more

Was fiending for simple chinese food and this spot delivered. Wasn't the tastiest duck and roast pork over rice but serving size was HUGE. Enough to feed two. Not the best food you can get in Melbourne but sometimes it's what you want. read more

I've just recently moved to Melbourne from Canada to do a graduate degree and decided to check out the local eateries. I came upon this place due to the yelp reviews. Based on all the other reviews left for this restaurant, I ordered the Pork Buns. They arrived quickly, but I wasn't "blown away". As an asian person who has pork buns fairly regularly, they were good, but not the best I've had. Based on the buns alone, I'd give it 3/5 stars. Then we moved on to the menu. Like many asian restaurants, they have a very large menu and can be overwhelming, so we asked the waiter what he recommended. My parents and I ordered the seafood congee and the spicy crispy pork belly that was recommended by the server. The congee was very bland and the pork belly was overly salty. However, my main reason for rating it 1 star was the absolutely ATROCIOUS service and terrible treatment we received from what I assume to be the female owner behind the counter. The waiters and waitresses were nice enough, but any time we asked them something about the menu (ie Can we get the dish on it's own instead of a rice combo), they had to get the approval of the woman behind the cash register - also the same woman making all the pork buns. The woman would YELL back at us, making us feel like we were a nuisance for asking a simple question. At the end of our meal, the pork belly was just too salty to finish so we asked for take-out containers - they were $0.50 each! I have never been to a restaurant that charged for take-out boxes. Lastly, we went to the counter to pay our bill that was just a piece of paper with the items we ordered written in Chinese. My mother asked the woman what one of the items were that was written on the bill and she was so completely rude about it that it took us by surprise. She gave us a dirty look and LOUDLY told us "Didn't you order the congee? Well that's what it is." We had never encountered someone that was so readily to start a fight. My mother told her that we weren't trying to cause trouble, we just trying to figure out what was on the bill. She then slightly lowered her voice and said that she wasn't trying to fight either, but that the exhaust hood behind her was loud, which was why she was speaking loudly. Okay, that explains the volume of her voice so we let it go - maybe we were reading too much into her attitude. Then we noticed a $2 charge on the bill that shouldn't have been on there, and once again asked about it. She just rolled her eyes at us and ignored our question.... By this time we just wanted to get out of there so we just let it go. I guarantee that my family and I will absolutely never come here again. It makes me wonder if the reason she's so defensive about everything was because she's used to receiving complaints all the time. A warning for everyone else: if you're going to come here, either get takeaway or avoid the lady behind the counter. She seems nice when you walk in, but if there is any kind of "dispute" or irregularities, she will lose her shit. read more