The Costco of Chinese dining lands in Melbourne’s east

A well-known restaurant from China has picked Melbourne for its first Australian location, and it’s already turning heads. With loyalty discounts and a polished feel, it’s good news for fans of Peking duck.

Melbourne’s Chinese dining landscape has been defined in the past decade by restaurants mastering distinct culinary lanes, from fiery Sichuan hot pots to cumin-scented north-eastern skewers. But a new arrival in Hawthorn East, Dayali, is revealing how modern metropolitan China actually eats today – and the local diaspora is already very much on board.

Founded in Beijing in 1997, Dayali is a corporate hospitality juggernaut with more than 70 branches across China and Canada. It quietly opened its first Australian outpost on Camberwell Road in April.

Translating literally to “Big Duck Pear”, the brand is famous in its homeland for its pan-regional approach to Chinese cuisine. Rather than specialising in a single province’s food, the menu is an aggregation of regional greatest hits.

The venue operates entirely outside Melbourne’s usual hospitality hype cycle. The management team is largely unfamiliar with local food publications, and the elusive owners are currently too busy managing service to sit down for an interview. Dinner reservations are booked out for the next month, and chances of a walk-in table are exceptionally slim.

Beyond the sheer demand, what’s more noteworthy is Dayali’s business model. It’s based on a membership system that operates much like Costco’s. Diners pay an upfront $50 annual fee to unlock a 10 to 20 per cent discount on every dish.

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“It is a loyalty system everyone in China understands,” venue manager Mr Yi says, speaking in Mandarin. “Having dinner here just once is enough to make up the membership fee.”

For diners chasing that cost-performance value, the dining experience and presentation definitely punch above the price tag.

The undisputed anchor of the menu is the traditional Beijing roast duck, prepared using the gualu method where the bird hangs over an open flame. This ensures heat circulates evenly, rendering the fat and achieving that glass-like skin. It is then sliced to order and served with cucumber, spring onion, pancakes and rose sugar.

“The pancakes come with parchment between each slice to avoid them drying out,” Yi adds.

However, he encourages diners to look beyond the signature bird. His recommendations include crisp dried shredded potato, which appears to stand upright on the plate; made-to-order steamed glutinous rice with por