[content_slider]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[/content_slider]
MELBOURNE | The Carlton end of Lygon Street might be known for Italian food, but over the past few years it’s been veering Asian, with delicious results. One of the newest restaurants on the strip, Lagoon Dining, is one of these. A team of Exard Melbourne alumni (Keat Lee, Ned Trumble, Chris Lerchare, and Susan Wyles) creating food that bounces between Cantonese and Sichuan, with a bit of a Japanese, and occasional nods to Lygon Street’s Italian heritage for good measure.
You all know that I love Sichuan food, so it’s not a surprise that I love the hot and numbing beef tartare with pickled shallot, coriander, and Chinese doughnuts. It’s certainly one of my highlights from the menu. The dish that first got me interested in the restaurant, however, is the charcoal roasted char sui with spring onion relish and tare. The Cantonese Japanese fusion totally lives up to the hype.
Also great are the rolled rice noodles with XO sauce, lap yuk, and toasted sesame. Wok char goodness. Raw fish with crustacean oil, white onion, sansho, and buckwheat, along with a daily special of heirloom tomatoes with silken tofu and Sichuan peppers, also hit the spot nicely. The use of silken tofu instead of a cheese like burrata works really well and is a good example of how Lagoon blends Chinese and Italian elements successfully.
For dessert, I couldn’t go past the Malt parfait with muscavado crumb and blueberries. A little bit Milo like, with a great texture and sweetness.
For drinks it’s interesting wines and cocktails that take a leaf from the same book as the menu.
Lagoon Dining, a truly unique dining experience, and another feather in the cap of a rejuvenating Lygon Street Cafe strip.
Lagoon Dining
263 Lygon Street
Carlton
Victoria 3053
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9349 1939
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon, Wed – Thu, Sat: 5:00pm to 10:30pm
Fri, Sun: 12:00pm to 10:30pm