It’s been a hit since day one,and four years later Firebird’s dining room indicates little has changed. The tile-topped tables of the double-decker former furniture warehouse are regularly full,and video motifs are beamed onto concrete walls.

From a quick scan of the menu,it’s not obvious you’re in a Vietnamese restaurant. You’ll also spot influence from Thailand,China and beyond. There’s betel leaf topped with honey-glazed pork and crackling. Duck is a signature,but steer to wood-fired chicken that could feed three. It comes slathered in nuoc mam and over-delivers on both succulence and size.

Please-all rice dishes are essential – special fried rice is dotted with char siu pork – and desserts are refreshing counterpoints,evidenced by mango custard with coconut jelly and billowing coconut cream. Firebird is fast,fun and a welcome south-of-the-Yarra fixture.

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Melbourne’s Southern Suburbs

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