Rene Spence and Dai Duong, having won over St Kilda with their fun-and-funky take on Vietnamese – hello pig’s ear banh mi and Maggi-doused chicken wings – have added a CBD Uncle to the family. And it’s a chilli-and-lemongrass scented breath of fresh air.

House-aged fish sauce adds bright tang to a rainbow of tomatoes served with a fat pouch of creamy burrata, and is a clever plate of Melbourne via Da Nang. Batons of crisp-fried pulled pork served with slivers of char-branded tongue is offally good ‘tongue and cheek’, while raw kingfish teamed with juicy logan, and dotted with coconut and tamarind cream is a burst of tropical sun that breaks through the greyest of Melbourne days. So, too, will a Mekong Splice cocktail (rum, mango sorbet and chilli-coconut foam), while an ice cold can of Bia Ha Noi slakes summer thirsts, and which you can be sure Spence’s switched-on team will deliver swiftly.

Uncle CBD is a welcome addition to the family in Melbourne’s top end of town.

Must-eat dish: Tongue and cheek
Instagram: @unclerestaurants