The Melbourne night might be cold and young but Lucy Liu is jumping – this four-year-old pan-Asian laneway haunt still packing them in any night of the week.

And why not? There’s a buzzy bar serving smashing cocktails, smart cooking at a sharp price point and switched-on staff who know their stuff and make the crowd – aged anywhere from 20 to 50 – feel special and just a bit cool. It’s busy, buzzy and whole lot of fun.

The crowds come for vibrant Thai fish cakes to swipe through peanut sambal with tickly chilli, and soft-shell crab pancakes slathered in spicy hoi sin. They order the kingfish sashimi for its persuasive blend of green chilli heat and toasted coconut crunch, and lick the plate clean of the sticky tamarind sesame dressing that’s drizzled over crisp and tingly Sichuan duck.

Every second table seems to come for the stand-out crispy Korean pork hock that remains a hands-on, hands-down winner of a wrap-and-roll DIY dinner, and they finish with an excellent take on Vietnamese coffee in ice cream form. It’s fun, it’s funky, Lucy Liu is still on fire.

Must eat dish: Korean-style crispy pork hock