NewsBite

Advertisement

Lagoon Dining

Raucous flavours in a refined room.

Lagoon Dining.
1 / 9Lagoon Dining.Pete Dillon
Home to contemporary East-Asian cuisine.
2 / 9Home to contemporary East-Asian cuisine.Nikki To
Stir fry.
3 / 9Stir fry.Supplied
The signature char siu pork.
4 / 9The signature char siu pork.Pete Dillon.
Taiwanese-style chicken chop.
5 / 9Taiwanese-style chicken chop.Supplied
Kangaroo san choi bow.
6 / 9Kangaroo san choi bow.Christopher Hopkins
The contemporary dining space.
7 / 9The contemporary dining space.Simon Schluter
Spicy fried chicken burger.
8 / 9Spicy fried chicken burger.Lagoon Dining supplied
Steamed market fish with salted chilli.
9 / 9Steamed market fish with salted chilli.Nikki To

Good Food hat15/20

Asian$$

This stealth bomber of a restaurant presents a refined face to the world – moody, tactile, date night-worthy – then unleashes one bold knockout dish after another. Defying its Little Italy location, the kitchen’s algorithm isn’t strictly bound by place but consistently pings on China.

Witness the signature shredded potato, with its barely cooked stands and black vinegar backbeat. Or chewy rice drop noodles stir-fried with gutsy Xinjiang-spiced beef and chilli oil. The globe trotting wine list rises to the challenge, matched by exemplary service that might include the backstory of that Georgian tsitska or Catalan xarello.

For a less fiery, no less unique feed, white cut chicken is made into a roulade with prawn farce, prawn oil and salty outbreaks of lap cheong. It’s French haute cuisine spun through a Chinese centrifuge, mirroring the delicious essence of this surprise package.

Continue this series

Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs
Up next
The lively front bar at The Lincoln.

The Lincoln

Welcoming 170-year-old boozer.

Malaymas

Inner north institution for homey hawker classics.

Previous
Spanish-accented small plates at La Pinta.

La Pinta

Tightly packed temple to tapas.

See all stories

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/vic-good-food-guide/lagoon-dining-20240411-p5fj1b.html