A new modern Chinese restaurant has opened up on Flinders Street and we can assure you, it’s nothing like your local takeaway haunt. Sure, it has round tables, fish tanks and private dining rooms, but open the menu and you’ll see that Tian38 is doing things quite differently.

Established by ex-Masterchef contestant Kha Nguyen and former Ms G’s chef Nic Soon, the all-day eatery and bar serves up a modern Chinese menu with a focus on small snacking plates, which are designed to be paired with a cocktail or wine. Not quite sure what you’re committing to? Scan the QR code on the menu to see a photo of each dish.

Prawn toast is reinvented as a sando, filled with minced prawn meat, citrus mayo black tobiko roe. There’s also golden chicken poppers with salted egg mayo, wagyu beef skewers with garlic chips and a cheesy crab jaffle spiced with chilli, garlic and ginger. For those after something familiar and comforting, they also do upmarket versions of takeaway classics, including a wood-smoked Peking duck, char siu Kurobata pork and a black bean Angus beef. From the six desserts on offer, the star is a purple-hued taromisu, made from the sweet root vegetable layered with sponge fingers and mascarpone.

The bar serves up an impressive selection of cocktails including a Mandarin Sour and a Tian Sling, which combines shiitake mushroom-infused vodka with pineapple and bitters. Turn it into a tea party with one of their teapot cocktails, which see Jasmine tea and apple fruit tea infused with dry gin.

Tian38 is located at 350 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. It opens Mon-Sat 11:30am-3pm and 5:30pm-10pm. For more details head to tian38.com.au.