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Chalawan, Collingwood

Gemima Cody
Gemima Cody

Scallops in tom kha broth.
Scallops in tom kha broth.Pat Scala

14.5/20

Thai$$

Sorry readers, we're back in Collingwood, the dining precinct that won't stop opening restaurants. We're just a few doors from the now shuttered Sugar Prawn, which lasted less than a year, a mere hop from Mamasita's soon-to-open Hotel Jesus and one army roll from Ricky and Pinky, Andrew McConnell's new Chinese gaff in the Builders Arms.

Chalawan is the latest contender, a mod-Thai restaurant in the shell of Northern Light, which was Gigibaba only a blink of an eye before that. The drink-heavy focus backed by contemporary riffs on an exotic cuisine remains. It's out with yakitori, in with Thai tartare, happily made with some pretty luxurious beef.

The swooping bulb display has gone, but the central bar remains, now sporting scales of aqua green tiles, shrouded by two-by-four scaffolding that encloses the room like a rib cage. Lights are bright, beats are loud. So far, so Collingwood.

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The dangling bulbs of Northern Light have been replaced with a timber rib cage.
The dangling bulbs of Northern Light have been replaced with a timber rib cage.Pat Scala

This isn't mod-Asian in the vein of Chin Chin, where its general buzz does most of the heavy lifting. Chalawan sits closer to Anchovy in Richmond where contemporary wine bar food is filtered through an Asian lens.

Behold a mainstay of 2016: two slabs of slow-braised ox tongue, sourced from Chanel-of-butchers Meatsmith, here bedded on coconut-creamed cabbage with a schmear of low-heat, high-flavour kau kling curry paste lifting it into orbit.

There are some of the usual party snacks – crisp-skinned chicken wings and deep-fried calamari, albeit served with a salted duck egg mayo – but throw your hands in the air for new players like house-made pork sausages, slightly dry, but hugely fragrant with kaffir and lemongrass, delivered with pork crackling curls and a spicy-bitter relish of young green chillies.

Deep-fried son-in-law egg.
Deep-fried son-in-law egg.Pat Scala
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Or perfectly golden scallops luxuriating in a gingery tom kha broth and a so-wrong-on-paper, so-right-in-practice deep-fried son-in-law egg. Here, they've dispensed with the usual chilli jam, and instead contrast with a bright crunchy salad of cucumbers, peanuts and daikon with a tart tamarind dressing.

On the large-format front, curry sauces are the support act, letting big protein shine. Sticky braised beef cheek crests a bowl of rice noodles brightened by green curry punctuated by sweet rambutan. It's a similar story with lamb shoulder – a solid sticky hunk to shred through black rice tagliatelle, slick with a spicy turmeric-stained khao soi curry, all peppered with brined shallots. Thai-talian at its finest.

Pork belly is interesting, smoked and cured. It's like eating thick slabs of ham (including tough skin) with grilled peaches giving it a Danish Christmas vibe. The curry sauce and accompanying rice cakes eat like savoury Rice Krispies.

Caramelised banana ice-cream.
Caramelised banana ice-cream.Pat Scala

Part of getting on the Chalawan bandwagon is realising this is Bangkok via Bangkok, not Brunswick. It's an all-Thai, highly enthusiastic team that sometimes miss cues or hits a language barrier, but that also goes the extra mile. It's been a long time since I've seen a wine bottle clothed in linen. And if you're cringing that they call their cocktails "croctails", know that it's for the restaurant's namesake, a diamond-toothed crocodile king, which I think we can all agree is outstanding.

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More importantly, so are the drinks. A last word is a lime-forward party of gin, Chartreuse and maraschino liqueur balanced on a knife edge, packed with lime zest for kick. On tap they've got the hyper-local Barrow Boys pale ale and the hyper-cool-right-now Kona from Hawaii. It's a wholly progressive drinking experience right until they override our plantation rum order with a coconut cream liqueur.

You'll currently find it easy to get a seat. Take one and order caramelised banana ice-cream that tingles with a ghost of chilli heat. Chalawan is the most refreshing thing to open on this strip in an age. Get in while you can.

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Gemima CodyGemima Cody is former chief restaurant critic for The Age and Good Food.

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