Port Melbourne pan-Asian Tenpin bowls itself down the road

There's something to be said for jumping before you're pushed. In a series of bayside ripples, Middle Eastern restaurant Mr Lawrence has decamped the about-to-be-redeveloped London Hotel. It's now in the two-storey premises previously occupied by pan-Asian chow house Tenpin, which has the same owners and executive chef. Tenpin has bowled itself down the road to a corner spot once taken by Mon Ami bistro. Got it?

Don't worry too much. What's important to keep straight is that the relocated Tenpin's aim is true, with knock-'em-down dishes from a greatest hits menu that swoops exuberantly from China to Thailand, Vietnam to Malaysia, and on  to Indonesia. Think dumplings, curries, salads and rice dishes, fried, steamed, wokked and barbecued.

In an interesting table-turn, the menu notes the minority of dishes which do have gluten, rather than marking those that don't. Gluten-avoiders only miss out on half a dozen dishes out of 24. There's also a good selection for vegetarians.

Every dish is good, nicely balanced and well executed. Authenticity is elbowed out in favour of a canny judgement of what the Melbourne middle market wants right now. That includes cocktails with vivacious Asian flavours, some served in teapots to share.

Sharing is the right plan of attack with the food too. Gado gado is downscaled into a peanut dip to be scooped up with cassava crisps, tongue-sucking furls which are the vegetarian retort to prawn crackers.

Minced pork is mixed with finely chopped shiitake mushrooms and wrapped in strips of pastry to form crunchy "birds nest" dumplings that are juicier and tastier than any other nest I've munched.

Salmon is barbecued, dotted with hot pepper paste and showered with tart batons of green mango. Beef is long-braised until it collapses into succulent strands; it's tumbled with a peanut and coconut Penang curry that's brightened with Thai basil.

The culture-hopping menu is fun but can also be something of a cacophony, with the flavours blending into a gluttonous and not entirely sensible melange, like going on a two-week eight-city holiday that results in equal parts souvenirs and fatigue.

Desserts are focused by comparison, probably because they are entirely untraditional. There's a vaguely Vietnamese spin on churros (doughnut fingers with condensed milk and chocolate dipping sauces). There's panna cotta flavoured with ginger and lime and dressed up with a pineapple mint salad. And there's a sago and mango crumble, which is a textural win.

The high-ceilinged room has been given a poppy makeover. It's clattery but clean and comfortable enough. The kitchen overlooks the dining room and there are seats outside in the sea breeze.

Service could have been better. The most important quality in a waiter is keen observation and I find it simply mysterious to see it willfully repressed. How else does a person walk through a dining room not seeing empty glasses, closed menus, scraped-clean plates. The result for the diner is that frustrating feeling of sitting in a black hole, followed by a cooling of the mood, a judgement that, "It was nice but…"

Any grumblings were ameliorated by the consistently tasty food but it would only take a few tweaks, a little more urgency, a boost in investment in the diner experience to turn a good meal into a winning experience that could be enthusiastically recommended.

Rating: Three stars (out of five)