Starting this post with one word: wow. This modern, industrial restaurant was a gastronomically amazing find in the heart of Melbourne CBD. They are innovative in incorporating many southeast Asian flavours, ingredients and textures to deliver a scrumptious meal to all those that come across it. We had the tasting menu with matching wines for lunch and our taste buds left singing ✨.
They’ve recently been rewarded a Chef’s Hat Award for 2022 🎩.
The tasting menu was $150 per person. Wine pairing was an additional $130 pp.
They’ve recently been rewarded a Chef’s Hat Award for 2022 🎩.
The tasting menu was $150 per person. Wine pairing was an additional $130 pp.
Entrée
The entreés arrived altogether. Reviewed in order of the menu listing:
The gado gado, sunflower, Kakadu plum, macadamia satay was very smooth and full of flavour. The gado gado was mild, accented by the sour juices of the pickles, followed by the peaks of sweet crunches from both the Kakadu plum and macadamia hidden underneath. There was a lot of balance in the texture too. This was the 3rd favourite, voted by everyone.
The globe artichoke, bush tomato, smoked coconut, caviar was insanely mind-blowing. We had to scoop a bit of the dip onto the earth leaf and use the leaf as our new spoons. The leaf added so much flavour depth. Oooft, so creative 🤯. The artichoke was pleasant, not an overwhelming fishy flavour. Combined with the sweetness of tomato and coconut as we sucked on our leaves, this was a well-balanced bite finished beautifully and luxuriously by the salty caviar.
It was more fascinating seeing the “seafood-free” option for our friend who has a fish allergy. They replaced the caviar with grape seeds to give it the same textural mouthfeel as the intended dish. This was the favourite entrée out of the four ❤️.
It was more fascinating seeing the “seafood-free” option for our friend who has a fish allergy. They replaced the caviar with grape seeds to give it the same textural mouthfeel as the intended dish. This was the favourite entrée out of the four ❤️.
The rice paper roll, tuna belly, nuoc cham, pepperberry was a delicious umami one-biter. We enjoyed the addition of nuoc cham, a Vietnamese sauce similar to traditional Viet fish sauce but a bit more condensed, with more sugar and garlic intensity. This was, again, balanced well with no overpowering fishy scent despite the use of nuoc cham and tuna belly. It was a soft, chewy bite. The least favourite of the entrées but only because the other three was culinarily better 😉.
Finally, the ’otak otak’, spanner crab curry, finger lime, rice crisps was a deliciously modern take on Indonesian fish cakes. It was a combination of mild curry flavour, sweet and delicate spanner crab and hints of citric lime, all enjoyed on airy and crunchy rice crisp 😘👌🏻 *Chef’s kiss. This dish was shared between two people. Voted number two.
Wine: Our matching wine for the entrée was The Lost Plot “Serendipity”, Mornington Peninsula, Australia 2004. This was an intense and complex rich gold sparkling wine. It had an apple and lemon scent, with an aromatic flavour of caramel.
Wine: Our matching wine for the entrée was The Lost Plot “Serendipity”, Mornington Peninsula, Australia 2004. This was an intense and complex rich gold sparkling wine. It had an apple and lemon scent, with an aromatic flavour of caramel.
Intermission
The next dish was the scallop mosaic, taro stem, green apple, river mint. Underneath the colourful, thin slices of fresh scallops was a refreshing green apple sauce with kombu. The river mint, native to Perth, brought a subtle hint of earthiness. And the crunchy taro stems left a mild aftertaste burn that travelled up back the throat. There was a lot of elements and textures in this dish, refreshing our palates for the next one.
Wine: This was paired with a Kidoizumi AFS 1976 sake, sourced from Chiba, Japan. This sake had pleasant acidic tones followed by umami and chocolate flavours. It really brought out the umami and savoury notes of the kombu broth and scallops.
Wine: This was paired with a Kidoizumi AFS 1976 sake, sourced from Chiba, Japan. This sake had pleasant acidic tones followed by umami and chocolate flavours. It really brought out the umami and savoury notes of the kombu broth and scallops.
We also ordered the buttermilk roti, vegemite curry for an additional $20, which arrived at the same time. We were intrigued by the vegemite because let’s face it, the weirdest ingredient to ever exist 🤭. This roti was surprisingly very good!! It was super fluffy and flakey, not overly oily either. The saltiness of the vegemite accented the curry flavours wonderfully.
The next dish of the intermission was the potato waffle, salmon roe, roasted chicken, mount rice jam. Such a cute presentation 💖. The waffle was fluffy, with the potato flavour coming through moderately. The cheese was a thick and milky creamy texture. The salmon roes were perfect salty accompaniments.
Wine: The pairing was a glass of ‘La Choza’ Palomino de Flor’, Pago Macharnudo 2019. This wine was very dry on its own however with the food, it cut through the milky cheese flavour well. There were cherries in the wine that had been oxidised overtime, allowing the saline to enhance the salmon roe.
Wine: The pairing was a glass of ‘La Choza’ Palomino de Flor’, Pago Macharnudo 2019. This wine was very dry on its own however with the food, it cut through the milky cheese flavour well. There were cherries in the wine that had been oxidised overtime, allowing the saline to enhance the salmon roe.
Main course
Our mains arrived altogether. The David Blackmore wagyu, brioche miso, sunrise lime, enoki was magnificent 🤤. A tender and flavoursome piece of beef with a nice charred taste. The enoki was light, adding depth of savoury tones to the bite. The brioche miso was a good complement: salty soy with slight acidity.
The bone marrow, Davidson’s plum, soybean shoots, nasturtiums and baked rice, okra, warrigal greens, fermented saltbush were two dishes we had to combine together. Watching the ooze of fresh fat slide off the bone was so satisfying. It added a rich and fatty mouthfeel to the rice. There was also a lot of flavourful crunches in this one, like enjoyable burnt rice edges. The extra noodles on top had a mild spice that wrapped warmly around the tongue.
Wine: This was paired with a red; a Arpepe Valtellina Superiore Pettirosso 2016. It had a lot of tartness to the sip, mellowed down when enjoyed after a bite of food.
Wine: This was paired with a red; a Arpepe Valtellina Superiore Pettirosso 2016. It had a lot of tartness to the sip, mellowed down when enjoyed after a bite of food.
Our friends ordered the egg noodles, xo sauce, chicken crackling, pepperberry for $34 extra. They described it as slightly salty, balanced out by the noodles. And the chicken crackling was a delicious adornment of sprinkled crunches to contrast the chewy, soft noodles.
Dessert
Our first dessert was the young coconut, pineapple, lemon myrtle, kaffir lime. Deliciou-sa! 😍 The lemon myrtle was so subtle and sweet, I thought it was yuzu on the first impression. All the elements were refreshing.
The jasmine rice, jackfruit, white chocolate, Geraldton wax had a lot of lovely textures with a refreshing mild sweetness. It was great seeing jackfruit incorporated into the menu because it’s such an exotic Southeast Asian fruit not often used in modern Australian restaurants.
The last dessert was a canelé lamington, pandan, desert lime. This was airy, mildly sweet and an enjoyable mix of ingredients. Everything went well with one another.
Wine: The desserts were paired with Mas Amiel, Vintage Blanc 2015. This was a ganache wine with mild sweetness and a great way to end the meal.
Wine: The desserts were paired with Mas Amiel, Vintage Blanc 2015. This was a ganache wine with mild sweetness and a great way to end the meal.
Service
The service was fantastic. From the informative descriptions to the placement of cutlery, to the pace of the meal, everything was spot on. If we had dined as an intimate pair, we would have definitely had more time to conversate with the server but it was a lot harder as a big group.
Review
We highly recommend Sunda for your next meal 😍. The gastronomy was clever, the flavours were delicious, the wine pairing was amazing and the service was fantastic. Add in their spacious interiors with high ceilings and industrial designs, we guarantee you’ll have an enjoyable time.
As always, thank you for reading and happy eating 💖.
As always, thank you for reading and happy eating 💖.
