If the pre-meal snacks – peanuts loaded with crispy bits of chilli, kaffir lime and galangal – don’t have you at hello, the rest of Thi Le’s menu soon will.

 A thoroughly modern Melbourne mix of Asian cuisines, dishes here are bang-the-table good.

Take the row of squeaky-fresh raw scallops and tangy persimmon slices anointed with caviar pops and garlic hits, or the wagyu carpaccio, slices so meltingly tender concealing a leek and beansprout salad. Every flavour works.

Mains? Choose your protein. Perhaps the grilled Millbrook free-range pork in a lemongrass-heady turmeric oil the colour of sunshine. Then order the “herb garden” of leaves, pickles and condiments, and abandon cutlery to roll DIY wraps. Seal the deal with the house-made roti, oiled and beautifully blistered. 

Even the famously stinky fruit, durian, has been tamed in a parfait with white chocolate to give a funky finishing note to a standout dessert.

With an astute knowledge of dishes, ingredients, origins and technique, service shows a front of house highly attuned with the kitchen, just as the worldly wine list compliments the Asian-leaning fare. 

The pared-back dining room lets the food and service shine, and the fact that it’s so fabulously priced is a bonus.  You’ll be back for more once this Anchovy hooks you. 

Must Eat Dish: Durian & white chocolate parfait