The Best Melbourne,VIC Asian Restaurants
Was one of the first tortillerias in Melbourne to use whole corn, and you can taste the difference. The crowds go wild for the tacos al pastor, which go for just $6.50 each. Free-range Otway pork is marinated in achiote, ancho and guajillo chillies and – wait for it – cola to help tenderise the meat.
For instance, the Pate En Croute is a dish inspired by the Vietnamese banh mi. It features a pork belly patty topped with a pineapple palapa. Located in the heart of the CBD, the restaurant is a laneway dining destination. Chinese fusion Featuring a 100 seat diner, the restaurant quickly earned a spot as one of the best restaurants in Melbourne. Serai is a Filipino restaurant in Melbourne that uses open-fire cooking to create a delicious and modern menu.
Cheap, delicious and fun, as all great malatang joints should be. Fill your golden pot with meat, tofu, noodles and vegetables from the self-serve fridge, then bathe your spoils in hot-and-sour Sichuan-style broth. Cutler & Co. pretty much set the scene for the culinary destination that Gertrude Street would become. Andrew McConnell opened this place back in 2009 and has since stood as one of the best restaurants in Melbourne. The idea was to celebrate local produce and execute it with flair and sophistication.
The food is fun and a real fusion of spices, herbs and traditional flavours. Flower Drum is everything that there is to love about old school style Cantonese restaurants. It's impressive and grand interior features bright red walls, long vases of flowers and a buzz of conversation from content diners. One of Melbourne's most popular restaurants, Flower Drum has been serving up award-winning plates for over 35 years. There are 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang in China – they speak their own language, more similar to Turkish than Mandarin, and they’re ethnically closer to people who live in Central Asian nations. Their food is unlike anything you’ll find at a stock-standard Chinese restaurant, but you can give it a try at Footscray stalwart Karlaylisi.
Acre is one of the best new restaurants in Melbourne, offering farm-to-table meals with pristine views out across the Dandenong Ranges. Ingredients are picked fresh from the rooftop garden and greenhouse surrounding the restaurant, creating an urban oasis on the roof of the Burwood Brickworks shopping centre. You can wander through the veggie patches and say hello to the quail coop in this urban farm before sipping a G&T and tucking into a deliciously fresh lunch or dinner. Is another one of Andrew McConnell’s establishments and another on the best restaurants in Melbourne list, so you already know it’s going to be one of the best restaurants Melbourne has to offer. It’s one of Melbourne’s favourite all-day eateries, serving up well-balanced dishes like tuna tartare with goats’ cheese and crushed green peas, parmesan tart with truffle and endives, and snapper with braised leek and clams. From Chef and restaurateur Shane Delia comes Maha Bar, the third instalment to the Maha empire and hands down one of Melbourne's best restaurants.
In 1975, Gilbert Lau opened the Flower Drum in Chinatown, Melbourne, and what started as a humble desire to serve authentic Cantonese food to Australian people, turned into a critically acclaimed institution. Operating as an a la carte restaurant, their entire menu is a refined yum cha experience to remember. By far the most successful restaurant in Chinatown, Flower Drum is well worth its prices—which are a bit more expensive than your regular Sunday morning yum cha.
To know Master Lanzhou noodles is to love Master Lanzhou noodles. The ubiquitous Melbourne chain serves authentic Lanzhou beef noodle soups with hand-stretched-to-order noodles and rich soup that is pure, concentrated beef flavour. Our pick is the braised beef noodle soup that has melt-in-the-mouth braised beef chunks along with its special chilli oil, coriander and radish. Be warned; this soup is seriously addictive – thankfully, it only puts you out by $19.80. Grab a booth and see for yourself why the restaurant landed a coveted spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants' top 100 list.
While their wraps make the perfect quick bite to eat, the set banquet menu is where it’s at. Supernormal team do what they can to source Halal meat supplies for other dishes too, so make sure you ask what’s Halal-friendly on the day. Hands down one of the best things about our glorious city Melbourne is its diversity. So, for all you Halal-loving Melburnians who want to try the finest food in our beautiful city, here are a few of the best places in Melbourne to chow down on some Halal delights.
Hector’s Deli originally opened in Richmond , serving up classic combination sandwiches made using high-quality ingredients and decked out with extra flourishes that inspire hour-long queues. The menu has six hot sandwiches and five fresh sandwiches – it’s hard to offer up our top picks because they’re all extremely good, right down to the unassuming HCT which may be the best ham and cheese toastie we’ve ever had. Rest assured the sangas will be some of the most luxurious, satisfying and aesthetically pleasing sandwiches you've ever eaten, and they all come in under $20. If the line snaking out of Bourke Street’s Mid City Arcade is anything to go by, Mr Ramen San is well worth your time. The pork bone broth (simmered for no less than 10-hours) is soft and creamy without being heavy, sporting a level of gelatinousness that slips rather than sticks. Thin and bitey wheat noodles, made in-house, are just the right vehicle for the lower-viscosity tonkotsu soup, while sliced spring onion, pickled bamboo shoots, seaweed and a jammy soy egg tick the customary topping boxes.
There are still hints of the Chinese influence of Moonhouse, take the seasonal jelly served in citrus skin which is a mature take on dessert and a nod to the tradition of serving fruit and jelly after a Chinese meal. Leading the charge in the kitchen are Jae Bang and Aaron Caccia who both hail from Michelin-starred diner, Re-Naa in Norway as well as Daniel Gordon, former head chef atLee Ho Fook. Together the collective team are developing a menu incorporating plenty of the traditional cooking methods of the Nordic region including fermenting, smoking, and pickling. You've probably seen Mono-XO's oysters—appropriately drenched in emulsified rice wine—across your IG feeds over the past year or two, and there's a good reason for that. Those oysters are just one of the many inventive dishes found on the Japanese-inspired menu that many return for at this 22-seat charmer. Diving deeper you'll find a scallop sando that'll likely become your favourite dish in Melbourne, and don't forget the delicate chicken + mushroom soup while you're there.