Siam 1

At its best Thai cuisine is at once aromatic, spicy and spellbinding. It's also relatively hard to find in Melbourne. Hallelujah, then, that wine bar-restaurant Siam 1 is rectifying matters with its elegant take on traditional fare in a classy (if a little cramped) setting. Chef and co-owner Wichit Jimmy Maneeboon has a deft hand with the spicing, and can ramp up the heat without allowing it to dominate. Cases in point are the som tum (shredded green papaya with snake beans, tomato, garlic and roasted crushed peanuts) and the 'crying tiger' beef salad, its hot-sweet-salty-sour flavours getting along famously. Sharing is the way to go here, and while there's plenty of seafood on offer, you'd be more than satisfied by the refined, fragrant roasted red duck curry with pea eggplant and chunks of fresh pineapple, or the crisp chunks of pork belly with a zesty sauce of tamarind, fried shallots, red onion and mint. Add informed and unobtrusive service, and you have quite a find.