Groups chatter happily,fight each other to pay the bill,and linger over the precious seafood fished out of tanks and cooked with a deft touch. Parrot fish,snow crab,morwong and more are wok-tossed,served in soup or steamed with ginger and spring onion before arriving at the table flanked by egg noodles,sticky rice or other sauce-mopping sides.

The voluminous menu necessitates tough decisions. Will it be beef fillet in mandarin sauce,or egg tofu with mushrooms? Prawns stir-fried with XO,or peeking out of wiggly claypot noodles?

Some choices must be made in advance:call ahead to order pipa duck,the five-spiced butterflied bird with toffee-like skin. From the first pour of tea to the carefully wrapped package of leftovers to take home,a visit to Nihao is a delight.

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Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs

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