Paper Tiger | SA Weekend restaurant review

An iconic East End venue has seen a succession of restaurants come and go. But our food reviewer says the latest eatery is shaping up as something very special.

Crispy pork belly bao, dumplings and other dishes at Paper Tiger on Rundle St.

First impressions do count. For restaurants, it is the unmistakeable frisson of energy as you walk in the door. The vibe. The x-factor. Call this seductive hum what you will, it is the secret sauce that can determine success or failure. Melbourne’s wildly popular Chin Chin is drowning in the stuff – but more of that later. The ground floor space at 285 Rundle St, on the other hand, has long faced a desperate shortage.

During its heyday in the 1990s, as the Universal Wine Bar, this dining room ruled the roost in the East End. But since then it has been a Bermuda Triangle for best-laid plans.

The young tyros at rapidly expanding group Penny Hospitality are the latest to take on the challenge. Late in 2021, they reopened the venue as Two-Pot Screamer, a convoluted Australiana mash-up.

Paper Tiger is the group’s second attempt with the space and, if those first impressions really do mean something, it looks like they are on to a winner. A strong chef is on board, the waiting brigade is solid and the broad Southeast Asian-with-a-twist cooking clearly resonates. Not surprisingly, Chin Chin was an inspiration. During this Friday lunchtime, at least, the joint is jumping. Seats, a mix of bentwood and banquettes, are filled across both of the split levels.

The dining room at Paper Tiger.

The room has morphed easily into its new persona, with olive walls sporting neon dumplings and noodles bowls, glowing spheres overhead and linen screening at the front.

But the most important change has been in the kitchen where new head chef Ben Liew has taken a loose culinary brief and made it his own.

Liew has Malaysian/Chinese heritage and originally trained in Japanese cooking, before shifting to Australia where he started afresh as a pastry chef.

All these influences and a few random additions are woven into the Paper Tiger menu.

Take, for instance, the octopus that is marinated in a mix of tamarind and concentrated miso/dashi soup before being poached and, finally, grilled. Pieces of the tentacle are on a golden dressing of fresh turmeric, caramelised palm sugar, chilli and lime with such carefully calibrated sweet/sour ratios that each slurp seems to fall one way then the other.

Grilled octopus with turmeric caramel dressing ... simply magnificent.

Consider also the satay-style mix of lamb mince, shallot and chilli on a lemongrass skewer dusted with a northern Chinese mix of cumin and chilli. A small bowl to the side contains a fish sauce dressing with the sheen of added butter. Eggplant, on the other hand, stays close to its cultural roots, slathered in a take-no-prisoners Malay/Indonesian sambal of chilli and shrimp paste that is only marginally mellowed by a coconut cream drizzle.

There is commendable effort in this cooking and shortcuts are eschewed. Dumplings are made from scratch, including the wrappers. The pork belly for the crowd-pleasing DIY bao plate comes from Boston Bay and is dried for a minimum of four days to ensure its crackling and perimeter fat is never less than perfect.

Another local hero, Mayura Station, supplies the Wagyu beef brisket that is braised slowly in a classic Chinese master stock fragrant with cinnamon, star anise and cardamom. The meat is superbly tender but a few cherry tomato halves aren’t enough to cut through the overarching sweetness. The pickles offered as an option ($10) should be obligatory.

Malaysia’s corn-based cakes, custards and other treats are the inspiration for the bright yellow ice-cream loaded into a waffle cone that is promptly inverted on to a base of torched Italian meringue. With caramel-glazed popcorn to the side, it is another combination that would benefit from some form of counterweight to all the sugar.

What else should you know about Paper Tiger? While the food prices are fair, the wine list has few options below $65 a bottle. Not that this seems to concern anyone as lunch goes on. That growl we heard earlier is turning to a roar.