The chefs’ guide to Melbourne’s Chinatowns, and what to eat when you’re there

Melbourne will be seeing red (and gold) this month as celebrations kick off for Lunar New Year, the holiday also known as Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in the Koreas.

The way people observe the date differs from region to region, but what they have in common is a focus on gathering with family and food. Lots of food. Plates are piled with auspicious dishes such as longevity noodles, dumplings and spring rolls, glutinous rice balls and steamed whole fish.

In Melbourne, there are plenty of places for feasting – most notably, Chinatown in the CBD. But it’s not the only place people will see in the new year, which falls on February 10 this year, based on the lunar calendar.

Newer waves of migration have given rise to unofficial Chinatowns and other multicultural hubs in the suburbs. Box Hill, in particular, has seen an uptick in regional Chinese cuisines thanks to growing communities of new arrivals from mainland China.

“The great thing about the Asian diaspora now is you don’t have to go all the way to the city to have great Asian food – it’s popping up all over Melbourne,” says John Rivera, chef and co-owner of fast-growing Filipino ice-cream brand Kariton Sorbetes.

“Footscray’s a bit older than most, but now you’ve got all these Asian restaurants popping up a lot further out – like Burwood, Glen Waverley, Doncaster, Box Hill, Sunshine. It’s great to be able to get good food out in the suburbs.”

Rosheen Kaul, the executive chef at hatted Brunswick East restaurant Etta, has spent a lot of time in Box Hill – including as a kid when she’d explore the suburb after Chinese school each Saturday – and she’s observed a shift in the area’s culinary landscape.

“There are so many Sichuan restaurants, there’s a huge amount of Hunan restaurants, there’s Uyghur places. There’s so many different regional Chinese cuisines being represented now,” she says.

In the CBD, Filipino-born Rivera is also seeing more traditionally underrepresented Asian cuisines – including his own – having a moment.

“In the city, there are at least six, seven different Filipino offerings now, at all different levels, from more casual and accessible to a bit higher end, and we’re breaking this reputation that Filipino food is all fried pork,” says Rivera, who recently announced the imminent arrival of his first restaurant, Askal.

“Filipino cuisine is having this renaissance. Everybody is eating ube [purple yam]. It’s really cool. It makes the Melbourne food scene so much better, and so much more vibrant.”

We asked Rivera, Kaul and several other chefs for their favourite places to mark the arrival of the Year of the Dragon across the city, including one classic choice and one new discovery.

Rosheen Kaul, Etta

Etta’s executive chef and the author of award-winning cookbook Chinese-ish is a fixture at Richmond institution Pacific Seafood BBQ House. “It’s straight up just very delicious,” says Kaul. “It is absolutely textbook Cantonese cooking, like perfect fried rice … incredible roast duck, incredible live seafood. We always get the off-menu dried scallop and egg white fried rice and – my sister’s favourite – the stuffed eggplant with prawn paste that’s been battered and deep-fried, with salt and chilli.”

You’ll also find her at Chinese-born hot pot chain Haidilao, which has locations in Glen Waverley, Box Hill and the CBD. “What I really like about it is it has a really interesting range of veg, like these ones I can’t find English words for,” says Kaul. “And the service is 10 out of 10.”

John Rivera, Kariton Sorbetes and soon-to-open Askal

As a resident of Melbourne’s western suburbs and a part-owner of Filipino ice-creamery Kariton Sorbetes – with locations in Chinatown, Footscray and Glen Waverley – chef John Rivera (ex-Lume) is deeply familiar with Footscray’s dining scene. When he’s in the neighbourhood, he’s heading straight to Vietnamese diner Pho Chu The. “I swear there’s crack in their broth – it’s really addictive,” he jokes. “My go-to is always the special beef with extra meat and they give you a little bowl of extra tendons, oxtail and tripe on the side … if you’re heading to the [Footscray] market early, stop there for breakfast to start the day right.”

A more recent discovery is CBD noodle joint Cambodia’s Kitchen, which is dangerously close to Rivera’s Chinatown gelato store on Russell Street. “I popped in there once for lunch during our opening week and I went like four out of the seven days,” he says. “I get the Signature Cambodian Noodles, which come with pork broth and sliced pork. They make their own pork loaf and beef balls and fish balls. It’s really flavourful … and they use these really fresh, thin rice noodles with a great chew and bounce to them. I also get the stewed beef noodle soup for when it’s been a rough day and you need a warm Cambodian hug.”

Victor Liong, Lee Ho Fook

The chef behind revered modern-Chinese restaurant Lee Ho Fook and its soon-to-open casual counterpart, Silk Spoon, loves to explore the culinary landscapes of Footscray and Sunshine. But around the new year, he opts for the CBD. “Chinese New Year in the city is awesome,” says Liong, who nominates Chinatown hero Flower Drum as his first choice. “I’m a Flower Drum tragic … I love the room, I love the service, I love the food, I love the history.” His long list of must-orders includes pearl meat with ginger and spring onion, Peking duck, egg white and lobster omelette, and drunken squab (pigeon), which he describes as similar to duck, only with a more intense flavour.

Other times you’ll find Liong at Balwyn North gem Chaozhou Malaya Bistro Cafe. ”It’s really tiny, it’s free BYO, it’s in a strip mall, it’s awesome,” he says. “Chaozhou, where the chef is from, is in the Guangdong province in southern China, so it’s still Cantonese food but very regional Cantonese food. These guys are famous for seafood dishes and duck. I love the soy-braised stuff … It’s real feast-y, real family vibes.”

Jerry Mai, Pho Nom

The executive chef of Vietnamese street food spot Pho Nom went to high school in Box Hill, when it looked very different to the bustling hub of restaurants, apartments and high-rises it is now. “I’ve loved watching that grow,” says Mai. But like Liong, she can’t go past Flower Drum – especially during Lunar New Year celebrations. “You have to go bougie when it’s Tet,” she says. “They have the dragon dancing and the dinner session – it’s good to spoil yourself with all the luxe stuff.” Case in point: the restaurant’s famous whole roasted suckling pig. “It’s outstanding. Some poor chef sits there and slowly rotates that pig by hand. It’s got the crispiest skin, it’s like glass shards.”

Mai’s also partial to Secret Kitchen, which has restaurants in the city and Doncaster. But she’s heading straight to the latter for dumplings and yum cha, or on special occasions, steamed whole fish, lobsters, pipis and crab.

Mika Chae, Doju

When chef Mika Chae clocks off at his Little Collins Street Korean fine diner, he’s heading to Chinatown icon Supper Inn for a late-night feed starring scallops with XO sauce and rice vermicelli. “In the scallop shell, there’s noodles sitting under the scallop, swimming in the XO sauce – you can drink it from the shell,” he says.

Chae’s also a fan of another late-night institution, Ling Nan, which operated on Little Bourke Street for decades before moving to Lonsdale Street in 2021. His order? The deep-fried crispy chicken. “I wanted a crumbed or battered crispy chicken and the dish came out looking quite different from what I expected, like a Chinese roast duck. But when I tried it, the skin was so crispy, the flavour was really beautiful, and it’s really juicy chicken. When I had a bite, it exploded in my mouth. It was quite surprising.”

Where to celebrate Lunar New Year in Melbourne

If you missed out on a chance to try Flower Drum’s famous suckling pig this Lunar New Year, make a beeline for the suckling pig dinner at Aru on Little Collins Street. The pig is gently brined in salt and spices and cooked until the skin is crisp and the meat tender. Then it’s carved into portions for two and served with native Australian sambal, lettuce, herbs and vermicelli noodles. Pre-order (for $90) for Saturday, February 10. aru.net.au

Sibling restaurant Sunda is also getting into the festive spirit with two special Lunar New Year dishes available via pre-order from February 9 to 23. For the first time, the South-East Asian restaurant is serving yee sang (also known as prosperity toss), a colourful platter of shredded vegetables and raw fish (in this case, yellowfin tuna and king ora salmon), which is traditionally garnished with sauces and crispy bits and then enthusiastically tossed together at the table. It’s also serving gui fei pao fan, or royal concubine’s rice, cooked in a claypot with marron, baby bok choy and lobster bisque ($130 for a two-person serve). sunda.com.au

Secret Kitchen is also serving the vibrant prosperity toss (here called yu sheng) at its Doncaster and Chinatown restaurants (or you can grab it to take away). Otherwise, book in for a banquet or a classic yum cha session. secret-kitchen.com.au

Spice Temple at Crown is serving up a feast of auspicious dishes featuring golden bao (buns representing wealth), noodles (which stand for longevity), abalone (symbolising wealth and power) and yu sheng (symbolising prosperity for the year ahead). The banquet is available February 5 to 18 at $149 a head. spicetemple.com.au

For something sweeter, the gelato artisans at Piccolina are teaming up with Lygon Street fine diner Lagoon Dining for a three-week collaboration to ring in Lunar New Year. Between February 7 and 27, you can scoop up flavours such as jackfruit, grapefruit and lime sorbet with coconut milk jellies, or jasmine tea gelato with orange, caramelised fig and toasted walnut at all Piccolina stores. The teams are also hosting a ticketed event at Piccolina’s Hardware Lane shop on Saturday, February 10. For $35, score Lagoon’s cold sesame noodles with char-grilled chicken, a scoop of gelato, and a soda to wash it all down. piccolinagelateria.com.au/collabs