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Restaurateur Harry Lambropoulos welcomed a new sibling to his family of Bondi Beach eateries this week. Lulu Bondi, which opened on Hall Street, joins beachside stablemates Harrys, Raw Bar and RND.

“It felt like we needed a spicy-sounding sister,” says group operations manager Jonna Kristiansson. “Our other venues all sound very masculine.”

Lulu has filled the space where Italian restaurant A Tavola previously traded. While Harrys, Raw Bar and RND are clustered together at the corner of Wairoa and Warners avenues, the new site is in the busier retail heart. Lulu’s neighbours include China Diner, Fonda and Gelato Messina. “We saw potential with it,” Kristiansson says.

Petra Ryberg, from Design Studio Berg+, ran with a brief for Lulu that it be adventurous and modern, yet remain “warm”.

“[The restaurant] throws off a golden glow,” Kristiansson says.

The dining room mixes chairs and stools, square and round tables, with a large booth at the back of the room and bar seating. The result flexes some design muscle without being over-cluttered.

Its pan-Asian menu jumps from Japanese nigiri and tempura baby corn, to Vietnamese prawn banh mi and eggplant with a Korean ssamjang dipping sauce.

Lulu executive chef Shintaro Honda and head chef Bryan O’Callaghan have written a menu that also includes prawn toast, Peking chicken and a miso caramel monaka (sweet mochi sandwich). And as you might expect from a group with Raw Bar in its stable, there’s a raw section on the menu that includes salmon, watermelon and chilli jam on a prawn cracker.

The bar plays long with the Asian theme, with cocktails such as the Bangkok Basil.

Open lunch Fri-Sun; dinner Wed-Sun.

Shop 2, 79 Hall Street, Bondi, lulubondi.com.au