Gloriously golden, smothered in crab fat sauce with sunny achara (unripe papaya pickle), in a toasted sweet pandesal bun, it’s a good reason to get excited about Serai. The 50-seater serves food cooked over heaving woodfire, with a firm Filipino and native Aussie bent.

Take the kangaroo kinilaw, an outback ode to the Filipino dish, tumbling smoked and seared roo in a zingy chilli, lime and fish sauce combo over wood-roasted bone marrow. It’s gooey and chewy, herbaceous fresh with an unbeatable spice that jolts your tastebuds to attention. 

South Australian calamari is flame-kissed and piled high on a pool of lip-tingling ’nduja made from Filipino sausage. Cocktails and mocktails are ripe with native fruits and shrubs from the island nation.

Desserts don’t disappoint, either. Try the playful pinoy-colada, or come full circle by ending on the traditional taho, which tastes like the Philippines’ answer to a Macca’s sundae – rich with tofu soft-serve, muscovado syrup and bouncy tapioca beads. Magnaye doesn’t miss a beat with unpretentious cooking true to his roots, while introducing the city to a new world of flavours. 

To read our full list of reviews for Victoria, head here.