Near East Restaurant

Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Melbourne 2000

Contributors' Choice
Page 70

Dining at Near East can be a very expansive experience. The menu offers dishes from five cuisines and the room they are served in is open and generously proportioned. Tables are of a reasonable size, well spaced and the room is quiet. In Near East's kitchen there are chefs experienced in seven Asian cuisines. Hence the diversity of the menu. The dishes are cooked and served beautifully. Owner Jimmy Shu has an artistic eye and loves hunting out interesting serving vessels. His clever combinations have been a hallmark of his previous businesses, Isthmus of Kra and Shakahari. This is not a place to come for the conventional and the expected. There is always a challenge in guessing some of the ingredients in Near East's dishes.

254 Park Street
South Melbourne
Asian Cuisine
Melways reference 2K:D3
Phone: 9699 1900
Opening hours: Lunch: Mon-Fri 12 noon-3pm, Dinner: 7 days from 6.30pm
Licensed & BYO
Accepts credit cards
Seats Inside: 120
Features: Restricted smoking, kids encouraged, bar, private room seats 70
Favourites: Hanuman oysters $10, Melecca baked fish $22, Red duck curry $17.50

*An updated 2002 review can be found here and reviews of his other restaurants Hanuman in Darwin and Hanuman in Alice Springs