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It was surprisingly quiet in Boxhill Central when I visited for breakfast. The pesky virus was keeping people away by the droves.
I had a lovely, peaceful and quiet breakfast consisting of congee, glutinous rice and rice roll. Service was speedy (because there were more staff than customers!) and everything arrived piping hot. The congee was soothingly smooth. The glutinous rice was nice and sticky. The rice roll was delicious.
What a pleasant way to start the day!
Previously:
After shopping for groceries on a weekday morning, I stopped off for breakfast at Grain Asian Cafe for a food refuel. This place is a Boxhill institution. They have great breakfast options.
Their exceptionally well priced sets (eg. $12.50) are amazing. I opted for the glutinous rice, congee and iced lemon tea set.
The glutinous rice was attractively bundled in a lotus leaf. The rice was tasty but would have benefitted from some extra ingredients such as Chinese mushrooms or salted egg. The congee with pork and century egg was silky and comforting. The iced lemon tea was soothingly sweet yet refreshing.
I felt enriched and nourished after vacuuming down the triad of items. We are fortunate to be spoilt for dining options in Boxhill.
Great food. Such a bargain! Love the congee and pastries.
3.8
Came here on a Saturday and it was pretty crowded. There were quite a few seats although service wasn't the nicest, the food came out pretty quick.
Got the yong tau fu with rice noodles. I had the bitter melon which was okay, I felt like it was not that fresh though, and really bitter. The prawn cake, lotus root, wonton, mushroom was pretty good. The fishcake itself could be a tad bit softer but other than that I enjoyed them. Noodles were cooked nicely, soup was clear and quite mild and veggies were fresh. It wasn't an amazing dish but I think it did its job.
Overall, a pretty good place to visit when in the area, they got lots of options to choose from, though could improve on the service
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ｘｘ，ｊｏｅｌｌｅ.
All the yum cha classics without the formalities! As an avid yum cha fanatic, I’m always keen for some prawn dumplings, sticky rice or char siu bao. But, sometimes you just want to eat the food without completely drying out your wallet!! Grain Asian Cafe hits all the right flavour profiles without the fuss, an absolute Box Hill staple.
㊙️ The Traveling Foodie
+4
Super cheap and great value with lunch mean $13.80 with drink.
The pork noodle soup is defiantly a must try.
You’ll never go wrong with Asian grain. You can have it in the place or take away. So easy to order. I love their meat buns, I like their pork bun the best~ chicken feet and spare ribs are good. Deep fried Tilapia is yum too. The soup with your choices of stuffed vegetables are nice. Soup base was yum. Soo many choices. Been going here for fast,affordable, hot dishes. They have frozen foods for you to buy and just steam/cook at home. Serving are good in size and the staff always ready to grab your order.
There are so many options available at this shop!
I think the flavours are all really authentic and the value is really worth it!!
Perfect place to go for a snack 😍
This place is located in the middle of boxhill central and it always busy.. We tried the beef brisket with curry with noodle however it wasn’t the curry I was expecting, it did taste really good though beef was melt in my mouth.. halfway through the meal I saw that they served up pork noodle on their recommendation stand so I decided to give it a try, it was very similar to the ones we had in Malaysia and it has with a few types of offals & pork lard too.. we also took away the bbq pork rice noodle wrap but it was not as good.. they also had a small stall that sold baked goods and we always love to take away their chicken pie & some of their other pastries.. we will definitely be back for more..
3.5 ⭐️
I went in for an early lunch today and ordered two versions of their yong tau foo noodles.
You basically get to choose 6 different types of yong tau foo, which usually is a type of tofu or vegetable filled with a meat/fish paste. Then you pick your type of noodle (we opted for egg noodles because they didn’t have rice drop noodles today), and your soup base (chicken soup, Tom yum, laksa or dry).
We tried one with curry laksa and the other one dry. The curry laksa one had more of a light tasting coconut flavour with a bit of the curry coming through. The dry noodles was unfortunately quite bland, wouldn’t recommend getting that one.
If you do try it with soup, I would recommend asking for the yong tau foo on the side so they don’t get soggy - they taste so much better when they’re still crispy on the outside.
3.5 star ⭐️ Really quite enjoyed all the food here. We got the breakfast set which you can choose between a variety of “entrees” (turnip pudding/ noodles/ taro pudding) and a variety of congee (beef/ chicken/ century egg & pork).
We chose noodles (kiddo wants noodles) and century egg and pork congee set which also comes with a hot drink. My kids pretty much smashed the noodles and half my congee (although I didn’t give them the eggs lol).
We also got the egg tarts and the fried dumplings cos we are piggies. The fried dumplings are a bit too oily but otherwise delicious.
The food is so yummy in there! I love it 🥰 the service is pretty good too for a food court type cafe. I wouldn’t mind going back again.
I really love their wonton noodles and their yum cha food available! Always come here for their wonton noodles where the wontons are full of prawns and meat and the most delicious dumplings! Service is prompt and always with a smile.
I checked out Grain Asian yesterday as a guest of box hill central. This is semi food court but really more of a restaurant, you fill out your sheet for your order but pay ahead of time. The decor here was actually quite impressive given the location but pricing was a little steep for the area.
I ordered stir fried eggplant in fish sauce with rice. I was a little surprised when what read as a vegetarian dish arrived with meat in it and enquired what it was. Staff told me it was pork and when I said I don’t eat pork another guy came out and told me it was chicken. It did look like chicken so alls well that ends well.
I liked the flavour of this dish and it was actually rather filling. By the time my fresh prawn dumplings arrived I was hankering for a takeaway container. I really enjoyed these perfectly cooked plump delights with plenty of prawn filling. And now I’m off to have the yummy leftovers for breakfast
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It has definitely been a while since we dined at Grain Asian Cafe Box Hill. We use to come here very often before they changed management and renovated. Grain Asian is generally popular as it is located within the Box Hill Centro food court. The cutleries, tea and sauces are self service. Even then, service is dismal. The portion of the food is generally reasonable. The popular dishes at Grain Asian cafe include their Assorted Stuffed Noodle Soup, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Steamed Pot Rice and Sticky Rice Lotus Leaf. Our favourite dish is the Hainanese Chicken Rice. The rice is very fragrant and has a strong chicken garlic and ginger flavour. Although the chicken contains bones, it is still very tender. However, the garlic and chilli sauce is rather watery and lacking in taste. Other than that, they also have a breakfast set menu which starts from 8am-11am on the weekdays. We normally get the pork & century egg congee or combination congee with fried noodles or vermicelli roll or deep fried cruller. At such a great value you can get a delicious big Hong Kong style breakfast.
I always pass through box hill food court and grab myself a few bbq pork buns from grain asian. Best pork buns in box hill. Havent tried the food yet, but its always full, so it must be good.
Out of the 20+ Chinese restaurants I have tried in Box Hill this was one of the better ones. It has a large menu with a lot of variety, the prices are good and the service is very fast. The beef fried flat rice noodles were very tasty, and I look forward to returning and trying more dishes.
Been eating here for a few times if we reach boxhill quite early, they have homey hongkong breakfast like porridge, rice vermicelli soup with fried egg and spam, braised pork belly, etc. taste-wise are okay, service is fast and efficient, and we could buy meatbun and zhong-zi to bring back as snack. On the opposite they have another smaller shop just selling cakes and pastries which also yum!
Nowadays i always go back for their deep fried fish with which is awesome and good value for money! Yummy!!
Love coming here for Hong Kong style tea. Grab a small something something to chew on while you have a chat, turnip cake, yam cake, rice rolls, fried foodstuff, not the best, but all very good. The HK style milk tea and coffee is nice, but you should go for the yin yang (coffee and tea combination)!
This place offers really good value for money breakfast sets. Love the pork and century egg congee with my sticky rice dumpling. The curry laksa here is always the bomb. You can choose up to 6 yong Liu to add to your laksa.
Perfect place to have Cantonese breakfast before doing grocery shopping at box hill. You can get congee breakfast or Hong Kong cafe style milk tea with toast and egg. If you get here late try the noodle soup for lunch
Great authentic Chinese eatery in shopping centre. I've been coming here for years and am always happy with the food. I recommend the Fried Kwai Teow. I have it most times. On today's visit I had that and my friends had Chicken and Salted Fish Fried Rice, and Beef in Black Pepper Sauce with rice. All the meals were served piping hot, and they were all very tasty.
It's in a shopping centre food court, so for the kind of place that it is, it is 5 out of 5. In comparison to a regular restaurant, it would probably be 3 out of 5, but we have to rate it for what it is.
There is Chinese tea and water available to help yourself to, and also a variety of condiments.
It's difficult to get great ambience in a shopping centre food court, but they have done well with some new decor in their internal eating area and it looks good.
I would recommend it to everyone who wants a good, inexpensive Chinese meal.
First time back at Grain Asian since two years ago. Used to eat here often.
The menu is quite extensive, with many rice and noodle dishes, as well as, Yong tau fu choices and popular snacks such as radish cake and glutinous rice in a banana leaf.
Service is fast and portions are very reasonable for the prices. Can't go wrong with this place.
An oldie but a goodie. We haven't been to Box Hill for breakfast for a while and when the craving for something Hongkie hit, we jumped in the car and hot footed there. We had the congee, Chinese doughnut, char siu pao and hot milk tea. It hit the spot and was the perfect start to walking around reacquainting ourselves to its new eating places. Why aren't there breakfast eating spots like this in areas like Glen Waverley? Somebody needs to wake up to it.
The egg custard itself was flawless. Served still slightly warm, the custard was soft and just melted in your mouth. Flavour was spot on, just like you’d get in Hong Kong.
Overall a pretty authentic and delicious egg tart. The pastry from these guys varies with each visit so it’s literally pot luck.
26 July 2016: my favourite place for brekkie or brunch. Always crowded with Chinese patrons and a sprinkling of whites and others, the varied choices of breakfast and light lunch never fail to surprise. Noh Mai Kai (glutinous rice with chicken meat etc) and tea with evaporated milk being my top favourites. Yong tau foo and fish cakes are pretty yummy too
09 Aug: Had my favourite nai (milk) cha (tea) and bean bun again. This time I asked Kitty (waitress with coloured hair (light brown) to ensure water into tea is HOT. She didn't disappoint me.
Offers a good variety of dine-in and takeaway options. Usually come here for breakfast or afternoon tea. For $7 you get a choice on set menu including drink. My favorite is crispy noodle with HK style milk tea. Don't expect much service but food is decent.
Average tasting but good value for money. Portion sizes were decent. Some vegetables would have rounded off the meal nicely.................
Kat Spatula Spoon And Saturday
+4
I previously wrote about Grain Asian in the Box Hill Central shopping centre. So this time I will concentrate on their Hong Kong style breakfast offerings. For those who hasn't read my old post about Grain Asian, it is a Hong Kong style cafe that serves the typical drinks associated with Hong Kong cafes: Hong Kong tea and coffee, lemon tea, soy milk and their all-day dishes which include fried rice, noodles, Hong Kong style roast meats (duck, char siu, crispy pork belly, soy sauce chickens), won tons and yong tau fu.
Nice place to have a Hong Kong style breakfast - had the pork and century egg congee with Chinese dough sticks, and the spam and egg sandwich combo. Came with the HK style coffee.
First time had a really good lunchtime laksa. Not the tastiest I've had, but not too big, not too fatty, not too... bad breathy. Hit the spot. Lots of other deliciousness on the menu too.
Been here a few times. Classic Hong Kong cafe style dining. Tasty noodles with the option to pick your toppings. Other dishes are also very good.
Grain Asian Cafe has always been a long time favourite for me. Such that I almost never have my proper camera with me when I’ve had lunch there. As with many Chinese restaurants in Box Hill, don’t expect too much from the service but the food is good enough to keep us all coming.
Treat this like a food court and you won't be disappointed. It has a similar set up for quick easy meals with no fuss. Sometimes it is clean and other times, slightly greasy when it is really busy. It's a bright place with not a lot of decoration to speak off. The most interesting thing is perhaps watching them cook behind the glassed off section. It is relatively child friendly. The food here is mostly South Chinese and SEAsian with a large variety. Of course, in such cases, some dishes will be great while others will be mediocre at best.
Favorite Cheap Eat. If you want something yummy, quick and cheap, this is the place to go.
REVIEW. Best pork dumplings going around town. Seriously.
Singin' In The Grain. I was pleasantly surprised by the yong taufu curry laksa ($10.50) at Grain Asian Cafe. The taufu items are fresh with a good variety. The curry laksa soup is a good balance of spice and taste, and for me is superior to the Ampang Tofu offering.
My tip - grab yourself a stick of youtiao (chinese donut) from Grand Tapei across Station St, perfect for dunking in curry laksa sauce!
Love this eatery. It offers many great dishes however their Hainanese is a real winner. They give a generous amount of chicken which are good cuts and the rice is a perfect balance of salty and fragrance. The broth is rich too not watery at all. Give this place a go.
Feel like I'm in HK when I come here. Love their prawn dumplings, mixed stuffed veggies, turnip cake, hainanese chicken rice. Service is efficient thou abrupt, floors feel greasy, we wipe everything down before chowing down.
Good local joint. They offer $7 breakfast set with a complimentary drink -comes in a good variety too: feel free to order congee, "rice noodles" or various northern China buns if you're feeling oriental; or take reference from our Hong Kong choices. Try their "yun yang" if u can't decide between tea and coffee, but watch out for the caffeine and risk of addiction! Be warned also that this is a cafeteria but not a restaurant, so don't be offended to render cash immediately after placing an order, and the service can be a bit too prompt as they'd like to maximise the number of diners per seat on an hourly basis.
Great food, steamed turnip cakes are AMAZING, as well are the glutenous rice and the dumplings. Have been here many times and always been happy
Great lunch. As stated previousely by most. Loved the prawn dumplings!!!
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Asian breakfast galore - great flavours & quick service.. Fast food conjures up images of oily, greasy food chucked thoughtlessly into disposable paper containers by pimply, absolutely bored teenaged staff working their way through high school for a bit of extra pocket money.
Food is uninspiring, processed to such a degree its literally predigested for you - hence the hunger pangs you get after just an hour or so of scarfing down an entire 5,000 calorie meal complete with sugary coke.
But Asian fast food is another matter altogether.
Piping hot dishes, mostly cooked to order, have plenty more nutrients than the average Western fast food meal. Yes, sometimes they can be fattening, but the point of Asian fast food is to fill you up and keep you that way possibly for hours until your next meal, while keeping your tastebuds satiated.
At first glance this cafe seems like another one of those run-of-the-mill Asian joints with the standard Asian fare. In fact, the fact that it is literally two steps away from the food court would turn many a seasoned foodie off. Trust me - food court fare is way, way up there alongside economy airline food and pre-packaged supermarket "food" on the list of poisons which should be labeled with hazardous stickers.
But then one notices the amount of people making a beeline to this place - grannies, women with kids, couples, singles, students - you know the food's good if granny doesn't scowl while chomping down on anything.
They have good menu selection during the mornings and afternoons. I personally love their breakfast menu because the selection is unique and the flavours that permeate their breakfast dishes are superb.
It is also easily accessible and not somewhere you have to walk or drive to the middle of nowhere for miles just to sample a new dish. Its somewhere you pass by while going shopping, visiting friends or just exploring, sit down for a good meal, and then head off.
You get to choose between "sets". Set A might be congee - an extremely popular breakfast dish in Asia made out of milled rice and stock, cooked into a bubbly, thick goodness - and glutinous rice.
Set B might be a congee and another side dish. Set C might be just a gigantic bowl of congee if you just want to plow through that milky goodness or share with a friend.
The humble congee, for those who aren't acquainted with it, is a nutritious, easily digestible dish commonly served in the mornings in East Asia. Its easy to cook, keeps well, kind on the stomach and tastes good; you'd find its one of the most likeable dishes in Asia because it is cheap to make and thus enables people from the poorest backgrounds to the richest enjoy it.
Grain Asia cafe has one of the best congees I've had in Melbourne so far. While you can get them at various restaurants with yum cha session and Asian restaurants, they tend to be watery and somewhat lacking of flavour, perpetuating the myth that porridge is bland food for sick or old people.
I had a set that came with a bowl of congee and a serve of chicken and glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves. The lotus leaf wrap isn't an aesthetic decoration but a flavour infuser which imparts an aromatic flavour and taste to the glutinous rice. The chicken was tender, the sticky rice soft and flavoursome. The portion was also generous.
The humble congee was the star of the show. Creamy, packed with flavour and specked with bits of pork and chopped century egg - there might have been bits of tripe but I was too busy enjoying my breakfast to be aghast at what I would normally recoil at.
If you want a satisfying, tasty breakfast packed with flavour and still have spare change to maybe grab dessert along the way, or perhaps seeking a different cuisine to tickle your tastebuds - this is the place to go, alone if you've got a big appetite or with a friend. (I had to share with a friend because the portion was a little more than a single serve.)
Great prawn dumpling noodle soup. Arguably the best prawn dumpling soup noodle in melbourne (and supposedly have a reputation as such too). And the price is quite reasonable too, at $9.00 a serve at the time of writing this. You get 5 dumplings and noodles which is a generous serving, Located in Box Hill shopping centre food court, the place often gets very busy however the service is quick and fairly standard for a chinese cafe of this type. Would definjtely come back for the dumpling soup but would'nt mind trying the other menu items. Sorry about the pic, i had already eaten 1 dumpling before i remembered to take a picture.
Seriously good congee. So if you're ever sick of having poached eggs on a sourdough toast, bacon or sausages at one of the million cafes in Melbourne, why not try some REAL Asian breakfast?
I love how this place serves up a variety of congee - from century egg to combination (fish cake strips, peanut, squid), glutenous rice (lo mai kai) and delicious cheong fun (prawn and BBQ pork).
You can opt for a combo meal deal by selecting an option from their may "sets". My favorite? Set C which comes my pick of a combination congee with lo mai kai - for only $7.50 you really can't go wrong!
Recommended. This type of Chinese cafe is great, as long as you know a little bit about the food culture of China. This is a cheap but good fast service place, that you will see a lot of Chinese at breakfast. Simple and honest delicious food., and great value, but you would be disappointed if you came for a more formal meal.
Excellent food, great value, and true to itself.
Connoisseur Apprentice
+4.5
Arguably This is The BEST Eggs Congee in Melbourne.
And it's only $5 per bowl!
What a way to start your day!
As far as signature dishes go-get the Prawn Dumpling Noodle Curry Laksa Soup. At under $10 you won't be disappointed.
Nice authentic food. The menu is very extensive.. Malaysian, Chinese, yumcha. I have only visited this place a few times and still going through all their favourite dishes. The place is usually very busy so expect to have to wait in the queue.
Best place for the Saturday morning Hong Kong style breakfast.
One of my frequent whenever I'm in boxhill Central and want to eat Yong Tofu, and get some snack take away while I'm at it. I love their Taro cake. They also have various meat bao or sweet buns. Their laksa soup used to be better though, now it's just too much coconut cream I felt bit yuck after the meal..
I have been coming to Grain Asian for a lot of years. I am disappointed that they no longer do fried noodle dishes however and there does not seem to be any indication that they will start again.
The food however is always a good price and good quality. I had the Tom Yum noodle soup this last time there and it was very good.
I would recommend for a quick feed.
Found the nostalgic Malaysian sticky rice dumpling! So good. $8 each
We ordered pork offal noodle soup and salted egg yolk buns.
The serving of the noodle soup is quite generous and almost look like the picture.
The salted egg yolk buns are delicious. It's small-ish but very flavourful. Be careful when you eat them though, because the filling are hot. If I'm not worried about my cholesterol, I would have ordered 2 more servings.
Same as before, friendly service service staff. Though we not been here for a while. Everything stays the same
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