Pearl

When Pearl opened 11 years ago, its creator, Geoff Lindsay, showed Melbourne what modern Australian dining looked like. Asian flavours starred in sophisticated, pretty dishes served in a relaxed but classy neighbourhood setting. It was the zeitgeist Noughties restaurant. Lindsay has decamped to Elwood's Dandelion (yum) and Pearl is now in the hands of Chris Lucas (also owner of current zeitgeist dining hall Chin Chin) and executive chef David Ricardo but, really, not much has changed at Pearl, beyond a kind of CPI creep with the times.

That's a good thing. It takes courage to apply an ''if it ain't broke'' approach to upscale restaurants, to be true rather than trend-driven. Here, that means old favourites are welded to the menu (rich red duck curry, wokked pearl meat, taro dumplings oozing chocolate) and other dishes dance delightfully through European, Asian and Middle Eastern flavours. The food is contemporary without getting too technical or showy - the focus is on premium ingredients, combinations both interesting and classic, and bang-on cooking.

There's a whole menu for vegetarians, including a gorgeous pea soup with a glistening sphere of burrata cheese.

Enjoyable meaty entrees include quail that's tea-smoked then fried and served with a dish of Sichuan pepper and mandarin salt (the salt ratio could be lowered, I reckon). Among the larger plates, a green curry of Moreton Bay bugs and mussels is a delicious play of sweet seafood and powerful spices but clumpy rice noodles mar an otherwise spectacular dish. I unreservedly love the harissa-rubbed lamb rump, the hero ingredient among a tasty scattering of preserved lemon, currants, couscous and eggplant.

And guess what? In a town of share plates, this menu is defiantly entree, main, dessert - the only platter is a sweet selection that allows those defeated by the idea of dessert to tackle it in formation. Service is great, from waiters with Mona Lisa smiles and eagle eyes.

Pearl introduced its wine list on iPads about a year ago and it's a cool innovation, allowing the restaurant to keep the list up to date and to include some lengthy annotations. It works well as far as it goes but the technology creates expectations of seamless functionality. I wanted every wine annotated, I wanted to be able to search by region, winemaker or vintage. I just wanted more, especially from a restaurant that drives so close to complete satisfaction.

Pearl Restaurant + Bar

631-633 Church Street, Richmond, 9421 4599

Licensed AE DC MC V Eftpos

Daily, noon-3pm, 6pm-late

Entrees $7.50-$39.50, mains $37.50-$54.50, desserts $16.50-$19.50