The two-level restaurant being built on a former Punch Lane car park finally has a name – and a chef.

Sydney chef Khanh Nguyen (ex Cirrus Dining, Yellow, Mr Wong, Bentley Restaurant & Bar) will head the kitchen at Sunda, named after a group of islands in the Malay archipelago.

Riffing on ideas from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, Nguyen will meld lesser-known regional ingredients including Andaliman pepper – a wild relative of Sichuan pepper from Indonesia – with native Australian elements to create contemporary and often fire-licked dishes.

The restaurant, backed by the Halim Group (of Hotel Windsor fame), has been built off-site and installed on the sliver of land between soon-to-open Bar Saracen and Longrain (and new upstairs bar Longsong) in Punch Lane. It will seat 78 people, including a few seats around the kitchen.

The space was destined to become Korean-Japanese-Chinese restaurant Honcho, with chef Adam Liston behind the grill, but construction delays prompted Liston to withdraw from the project.

Sunda is due to open at 18 Punch Lane, Melbourne, on March 26.