Etta is the embodiment of great Melbourne dining:ultra-personal service and smart,modern cooking unbound by stuffy tradition. Owner Hannah Green injects infectious enthusiasm into the room and new chef Lorcan Kan unspools flavours from his Chinese-Malaysian heritage,sometimes in mind-bending ways.

Prawn skewers bathe in a sunny kaleidoscope of mango hot sauce and mandarin yuzu kosho. Smoked duck leg in Malaysian-style red curry gets beguiling lushness from rambutan,the lychee-like tropical fruit.

Chilli oil parfait,Kan’s signature dessert,ricochets your tastebuds from fairy floss to numbing hot pot to ice-cream at the beach. Its Korean chilli flakes and Sichuan peppercorns deliver gingery spice,offset by cooling lychee sorbet and tiny cubes of melon. Ashley Boburka’s wine list is a standout,too. You could spend weeks with the champagne section alone.

Continue thisseries

Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs

Up next

Figlia

Best-in-class pizza in a room dressed to impress.

Gaea

Intimate,precise fine diner with a wild side.

Previous

Enter Via Laundry

Ever evolving fine diner for hyper-regional cuisine.

See all stories