Box Hill: New restaurant Zero Mode’s creative Asian fusion dishes include Boozy Broth Ramen
Melbourne’s most mind-bending ramen dish may look like beer with noodles — but thankfully, it’s not. This new Box Hill restaurant is all about the foodie surprises after you pick up your fork.
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A new take on Asian fusion cuisine can be found in Box Hill, where the Zero Mode eatery is seeking to wow with its “unexpected” dishes.
Diners might have to clarify exactly what they’re after when ordering a pint at Zero Mode.
The restaurant’s most popular drink looks like a beer, but it’s actually a meal … and it’s not alcoholic.
The Boozy Broth Ramen features house-made ramen noodles in a chicken ginseng broth, served in a beer jug, and topped with egg white foam.
And it’s just one of the innovative dishes on Zero Mode’s breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.
Owner Cain Xu recommends diners after “something different” also try the breakfast dish Happily Avo After.
The poached egg, organic sourdough and spicy salmon tartare is served with what looks like half a whole avocado topped with fish roe.
But the entire dish is edible — what looks like avocado skin is in fact parmesan cheese and matcha on top of avocado mousse moulded into the shape of a real avocado.
Savoury ice-cream cones are also a thing at the new Box Hill restaurant.
The dinner menu offers a matcha cone filled with king salmon marinated in chilli sauce and chives and sprinkled with caviar.
Mr Xu opened the authentic Asian-modern Australian restaurant four weeks ago, hoping to shake up Box Hill’s culinary landscape.
He said the multicultural suburb was full of Asian flavours, but offered a lot of choice for traditional Asian food, and was missing the Asian fusion-style that was popular with Aussies.
Mr Xu said he hoped to create new dining experiences for customers enjoying Zero Mode’s unique take on flavours and presentation.
He said his customers had been wowed by the appearance of their dishes and were just as pleased with the tastes.
The restaurant tries to make as much of its food from scratch as possible.
“We try to make as much as we can in-house,” he said.
“We do for almost everything.”
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Zero Mode is open for three meals a day, seven days a week, and has a full liquor licence, serving a range of cocktails, beers and drinks.
Its creations are also soon to be available through Uber Eats.
The two-storey space can be found at G03/850 Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill.
Mr Xu also runs Balwyn’s One Plus Piece cafe.
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