Review First Taste - Springvale

There are still many unsolved mysteries in this world... And First Taste having a sub 4 average Google review is one of them. Order the won ton noodle soup and beef and rice claypot rice. The won tons in the won ton noodle soup was pure heaven. I don't know how, but the chefs managed to cram the whole little mermaid set into this one wanton. This Boy had girth. Each wanton was filled with a fat, juicy prawn. Molto Benne. * Chef's kiss. The broth was so clear and pure that I'm pretty sure this was what Jaden Smith drank when he reached the top in karate kid. The next time someone asks me what my final meal would be... I would answer with First Taste's wanton noodle soup as I know I'm going straight to heaven after I wolf that down.ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

Despite being less than half full, the service was pretty slow and waited about 25 mins for our food to come out. The prawn dumplings is worth it, great filling in each dumpling and the broth was not so oily. But my clay pot was a little underwhelming; heaps of rice but the meat portions was quite small, just a thin layer on top. Very little pickled vegetables on top. Accepts cash only.

There are 3 things I love about this place. The double boiled soup is tasty and good for you. The prawn dumplings with noodles in soup is simply delicious. Their claypot rice with your choice of topping is one of the best in Melbourne. My claypot rice is always chicken with mushrooms with ( for a small charge) Chinese sausage. So so yummy

Ordered two soup with my girlfriend, and was told the soup I ordered was sold out after waiting more than 20 minutes, by which time my girlfriend has already finished hers. Incredibly rude service, didn’t even say sry or any explanation of why it took them 20 minutes and making more than 10 other orders before they can tell me something is sold out. Just why?!

We wait for more than 30mins for easy dishes such as Soup Dumpling and Noodles. They "forget" to print tax invoice for us as they always do. No service quality at all.

We always order the prawn dumplings and claypot rice. The claypot rice is a healthier version as others would use lard. The chilli sauce is really good and accompanies the meals.

Good value. For not expensive cost you get a tasty meal. Well balanced taste. Tender and juicy meat. Informal relaxed environment. Hot tea served as well. Some dishes can benefit from a larger meat/veg to rice ratio. Again, needs larger portions

Herbal soup and claypot rice - delicious and reasonably priced. We have been coming here for more than 5 years and the food has been very consistent - delicious, fresh and tasty. Our favourite is the har gow mai sin (see picture). The dumpling is very nice and goes well with the soup and noodles. Our next favourite is the claypot rice with the fish, chilli and preserved vege. It is tasty and refreshing. The fish is not smelly at all. We bought the hainan chicken rice for our son. Not recommended at all. Stick to the dumplings and claypot rice. They also serve herbal soups. Again, it is delicious and nutritious. Give this place a go when you are in Springvale.

As a child, I used to come here a lot at the Footscray store. I came across this store while I was in Springvale and was excited to reminisce about my childhood experience. We ordered the wonton noodle soup and salted turnip and fish fillet clay pot rice. Also a must when you come here, is to order the sugar cane or chrysanthemum drink. I noticed the prices were quite jacked up than before but still reasonably priced. The taste of both dishes were exactly how I remembered it to be. I especially loved the wonton soup as the filling was entirely made out of prawn.

Good portion of meals. The hot pot was yummy. They even had the herb soup and were quite tasty. Service was alright. Though the place probably was due for a touch up to look more pleasant for customers.

I tried their chicken and mushroom with rice in claypot. The gravy in the chicken was moreish and comforting but I wish there was more gravy so it could cover all of the rice when mixed in. The rice at the bottom of the claypot wasn’t very brown and crunchy but the chicken was very soft and tender.

Good claypot rice. Staff are really friendly and nice. I ordered the beef tenderloin claypot rice with a Chinese sausage on top. The dish came with a lot of sauce. Very flavoursome and enjoyable to eat.

Haven't been here in awhile and it's one of the few places around that does clay pot rice. <br/><br/>To start I had some herbal pork soup with chicken feet, peanuts and lotus root. It wasn't clean as in there was scum on top but I didn't care that much. Very flavoursome and good for your Qi. Don't ask me, I ignore my parents all the time but if you can read Chinese they'll tell you what kind of soups would benefit what.<br/><br/>I order up the seafood combination clay pot rice with handmade prawn balls. It's a mixture of fish fillets, scallops and crab sticks which I'm not a fan of, not in this anyway as it was just too sweet additionally with the gravy. I'd prefer prawns or squid however the prawn balls were nice and firm. I'd also prefer some type of XO sauce to bump up the heat which I believe you can ask for (some other dishes had it). Didn't really need the splash of sauce as the gravy gave the dish enough flavour. The rice on the bottom did crisp up a bit but having experienced better at another restaurant I can say this was average.<br/><br/>Nice little eatery if you want to break away from the norm in Springvale.

From the outside this place looked inviting. It was full if locals so we thought to give it a shot. Food was average compared to many of the neighboring restaurants.

First Taste is a good spot for simple and no frills dining. Must orders are the wonton soup and literally any claypot rice dish. And we're keen to try a few of the herbal soups on our next visit!<br/><br/>Follow us on Instagram: @alwayshungryformore

Drive all the way across the city to eat here as the west side one closed down quite a while ago.<br/><br/>Go to dish is always Seafood Combination and Prawn Ball with Rice and XO sauce. Must say the long gone Footscray store did much better. If you love spicy, must eat it with the homemade chilli sauce.

Soup: Bitter Almond Stew with Pork - $6.00<br/>Main: Chicken and Mushroom with Rice - $10.80<br/>Presentation 4/5 📷 <br/>Environment 4/5💺 <br/>Taste 4/5😋 Perfect in winter ❄️ <br/>Value 4/5 💰 <br/>Service 4/5🙋🏻‍♂️ <br/>⏰Food is served in 10min22sec

Definitely a standout from the rest of the restaurants in Springvale. Ordered the wonton soup and the chef recommended hainanese chicken rice. The wontons were tasty but he soup was abit bland, the chicken however were juicy and the dip provided the perfect blend of spicy and tangy to complete the dish.

Looking for somewhere new to eat and we came across first taste restaurant. Restaurant was half full when we got seated on a Friday night. Place looked cleaned and inviting. They did not have some many random posters of specials, so that gave me confidence that they have business. Dined in with Kelvin Vo, ray and William. Ordered the clay pot X.O sauce with prawn balls on rice, clay pot X.O sauce with fish fillets on rice, wonton noodle soup and hainanese chicken with rice. Let me inform you. This place, does not, repeat. Does not go easy on the prawns.Plenty of prawn flavour, texture and pieces in the balls and wontons. XO sauce was nice and perfectly seasoned. Rice was a little too crispy for my liking but overall, would return back.

This place serves a variety of dishes. I’ve tried their clay pot a few times but I always come here for their Seafood Tom yum with egg noodles. It’s packed with flavour and they’re not stingy with their seafood either!

We ordered the xo sauce homemade prawnballs with claypot rice, thai basil beef and crispy egg noodle with seafood. I thoroughly enjoyed the xo sauce prawnballs. The xo sauce was delicious and the prawnballs were soft. The thai basil beef was excessively oily which i suspect was from the type of beef that was used. It's the thin sliced beef that you usually find in hot pot restaurants. The crispy egg noodles weren't as crispy as i would like. Overall average.

My friend really recommended this place for claypot so we came down here for a quick dinner.<br/><br/>Wasn't especially hungry so ordered the honey pork ($13.80) which wasn't a claypot dish. The pork was quite nice, although it was a bit on the salty side. I was actually hoping for a pork belly cut but it wasn't. Nevertheless, it was still quite delicious and tender. The serving of the meat was a bit on the small side however, my friends' dishes were rather large, so it was probably just cause of what I chose. I do hope to come back next time to try their claypots as that is their specialty.<br/><br/>Although cleaner than its surrounding restaurants, this is still a no-frills establishment with friendly, efficient service.

I come here once in a while, it’s been three years since the very first time I visited. The food has always been enjoyable 😋😋, but I noticed that the serving size has been decreasing over time and the prices of the food INCREASING!

Came here past 9 pm on a Sunday when every other place is closed. It was cold and chilly and I wanted something hot. I ordered xo sauce fish claypot with rice. I liked the flavour but the fish didn't feel substantial; I felt like I was full purely from the rice. The flavour of the sauce was nice, but because there wasn't enough to cover/mix with the amount of rice there it ended up being bland and I had to add a lot of chili oil into the dish. I liked their chilly oil, I probably added too much. Loved the crispy burnt rice on the claypot. Only wish there was more sauce.

Satay beef mate! Crispy rice, nicely spiced sauce and tenderish beef and cheap as chips. Adding soy sauce and the in house chilli is a must, can't be knocked for the price.

Still remember when they first opened many years ago. Nice clay pot rice and soup, don't forget to add soy to the rice and ask for extra cooked at the rice crackling at the bottom.<br/><br/>Noodle soup was ok and dessert was nice.

The spare rib rice pot was pretty good! The meat was tender and tasty, the rice was good but could have had more gravy. The crispy burnt rice has to be the best part of the dish.

Everything was nice! I had the chicken claypot rice and spring rolls, my friend had prawn wonton egg noodle soup and we shared a bbq pork which taste really good! <br/>The black sesame dessert and durian sago was the highlight! <br/>Definitely will go again!!

cheap and healthy nice bowl of noodle soup. the environment is very clean and tidy. note this is not vietnamese restaurant but more canton style although its in springvale.

A good contonese cusine. I like eating the rice and it tastes good. But for me, the food is not enough. Also, i love the iced drink which js cool and sweet. Nice place

Great place to have claypot in Springvale if you come by. I would say out of the various branches, this one would be the most delicious.<br/><br/>The wonton noodle soup is always a pleasure as well if you are up for it.<br/><br/>The chili condement is great as well, make sure you use your fill!<br/>

Been here a while ago. If I think about cheap eat and healthy soup for a cold night , this is the place I will recommend, good price , good food . Most important, they really have good soup !

I have been coming here for years and still love this place. The prawn won tons are the best I've had, they're the perfect texture with the right amount of real prawns. There is none of that frozen stuff that other restaurants serve up. The broth is delicious and the special tamarind sauce that they have gives a nice touch! Highly recommend this restaurant for all the prawn won ton lovers out there.

Let me start off by saying that I really don't have anything bad to say about the food! Surprising isn't it? Considering they have such a big menu and I've tried so many dishes, I genuinely believe they make good tasty Chinese food.<br/><br/>Is it one of my first preferences? Probably not. However when I can't be bothered cooking at home and I want something quick, decently priced, and food that won't let me down, then First Taste does crosses my mind. Now I did mention decently priced & not cheap, this is because depending on what you get, some menu items are cheap, and some can be a little above average. Keep in mind that this is always a mid week dinner for me, so I do have to be mindful of my spending (weekends I normally let loose a bit).<br/><br/>So this is my attack strategy when I'm at First Taste. I would start off with a nice soup. Something like the Pork & Mushroom Stewed with Chicken Feet Soup seems to hit the sweet spot in terms of the ingredients used and the pricing. This soup is very tasty and the mushroom aromas shine through as soon as you pop the lid open. I don't know how they get the soup out so fast by the way, it's generally within 45 seconds of ordering. It comes out piping hot so be careful of burning your mouth.<br/><br/>Next you really can't go wrong with any of the claypot dishes. My favourite is the seafood combination rice claypot. Here's the trick, you can add XO sauce for a little extra money. It's well worth it, and should have been with the seafood combination to start off with. Lately for a change I've been going with their sake fish with rice, it's great value at around $10. I almost always order a Chinese broccoli for a bit of fibre, it's probably one of the cheapest Chinese broccoli's you can get at around $4.50. It's coated in a light soy which isn't too salty at all. For 2 people, a jug of Chrysanthemum drink is perfect to share, it's quite a healthy drink as it helps to detox the liver and lower cholesterol.<br/><br/>I know I'm mentioning the prices a lot but all the food I've had here I think are good, hence why I didn't go into too much detail.<br/><br/>Now the service is very interesting. I won't say the service is bad, but there's on and off days with the waitresses. Sometimes it can be not as 'pleasant' depending in their moods. I once witnessed the two waitresses fighting with each other so that was reflected with the service I received. Plates were placed more roughly on my table, less smiling - angry face etc. However most the time when they're getting along, I do get a friendly greeting, some smiles, gentle placing of my plates, warm goodbye, etc. At least they're keeping it real and not being fake I guess, what you see is what you get with these waitresses. <br/><br/>Think I've probably rambled on a bit too much, come here for a nice quick Chinese meal!<br/><br/>

A small and very busy restaurant in Springvale. We came here for prawn wonton soup and Chinese herbal chicken soup. The wonton was very good, because it was fully filled with prawns. The shrimp balls clay pot with X.O sauce was also very nice. Food price was average. Although the service was fast but the manner in which the waitress served the food was rude! Chinese style restaurant! They like to throw plates on the table for customers. When we paid our bill at the counter, she didn't even say "thank you" with her unhappy face and threw the change on the tray. It was unacceptable and rude! and that made me rate this restaurant down.

Most people come here for the seafood tom yum soup, but my favourite dish here is the claypot rice. I always get a vegetable and tofu claypot and my favourite part of the meal is scraping the crusty bits of rice from the sides of the bowl at the end!

First Taste is a Chinese Cantonese eatery, where one of its delicious specialties is Claypot rice.

Consistently good! A favorite! Good service and honest Chinese clay pot! Gold!

Springvale gem. Well probably not like a "first taste" restaurant, but if u are after a 10 dollar lunch in springvale, this place is quite above the average in the local area

A First time for first taste. We went to the restaurant near closing time and the staff were more than welcoming, they were very accommodating and best of all, they gave us a lot of time for us to finish our meal before their nightly clean up, which does not come often in any Springvale restaurant.<br/>The food was on par with authentic Chinese food, the herbal soups are just like what you would have at home, but at a low price. My partner had the wonton noodle dumpling soup, it was marvelous, it had the great earthy taste but with a twist of sweetness and no hint of MSG. I on the other hand, had the chicken and mushroom clay pot rice. The mushroom had that 'springy' bite to it, like a pearl in bubble tea.

The best wonton noodles and chilli sate dipping sauce.

First taste? Really disappointing!! Poor food and poor service. Won't be coming back again!

Asian Tastebud says Hits and Misses. TASTEBUDS<br/>- Highlight - Soup . Quick, hot, yummy, MUCH easier than cooking for hours on end at home<br/>- Lowlight - The rest of the food. Oily (Caltex factor 7/10), average taste. Dumplings were small and dry.<br/><br/>STOMACH<br/>- Proportions were so so. Soup was ok - but 1/3filled with overcooked ingredience<br/>- Good thing there was rice<br/><br/>POCKET<br/>- Cheap eat for sure<br/><br/>VERDICT<br/><br/>Soup was worth while but could do with less ingredience in the serving. Makes me feel cheated. The rest of the food, good for a night out if you dont want to cook, but whilst non-Asians will love it, this Asian tastebud wish it could be more authentic.

First Taste is a franchise restaurant that serves Claypot rice as their speciality. The restaurant in Springvale is always crowded and I can see why. For as little as $9, you get a massive bowl of claypot rice with an assortment of accompaniments. The restaurant itself is your standard Springvale style place, with simple tables and chairs. They've gone to a bit more effort and there are some decorations of wall hangings and these plastic fruit in jars. The ever popular large flat screen tv is also available, streaming Chinese cable tv all day so you can enjoy your favourite Cantonese dramas while eating. The Wonton Noodle Soup is good, with a flavoursome broth and some "handmade" wontons. Can machines make wontons? Maybe food technology has advanced more than I thought, as I always thought all wontons were hand made. On the left is the Pork Black Bean Claypot. It's quite good, with chunks of pork ribs covered in b