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MELBOURNE | Naxi Folk is a new eatery on Glenferrie Road that’s bringing something a bit different than usual to Melbourne’s food scene. This something different is a focus on the cuisine of China’s Yunnan province. Yunnan is located in southwestern China and is bordered by China’s Sichuan province, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam and is the most ethnically diverse part of China – the name Naxi Folk is a reference to one of the region’s ethnic groups. This diversity is reflected in the cuisine of Yunnan, which is hard to pin down to a particular style. We were recently invited to see what it was all about and were keen to find out more.
The space is warm and welcoming, and like the food different to many of the new openings in Melbourne. The interior here is all about warm tones, natural materials like cotton, timber and bamboo. It creates a very relaxing environment, that’s complimented by equally relaxing tunes – when we visited the playlist was an early-2000s throwback of Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada and Gorillaz.
Breakfast is mostly individual dishes while lunch and diner places a great focus on share plates inspired by long table community dining that’s popular in Yunnan province. The signature “Hand Grab Plate” for example, consists of house-made pickles, beef jerky, BBQ fish, BBQ chicken, seasonal vegetables, and fresh fruit. We visited during breakfast and tried the Morning Bao – a large fluffy steamed bun filled with Yunnan-style thick cut bacon, an omelette, spicy mayonnaise, soy sauce, and fresh cucumber. The flavours were really well balanced, with sweet, savoury and spicy elements.
We also tried the breakfast noodles, a bowl of light broth filled with flat rice noodles, beef brisket, greens, and a tea egg. The noodles were fantastic – the mildness of the pho-like broth and noodles balancing nicely with the richness of the beef and egg.
Drinks wise it’s a selection of house made juices and cocktails, along with mostly local wines, tea and coffee. The famed Pu’er tea comes from Yunnan province, and you can order it served the traditional way here. Coffee is fantastic, and the watermelon, lime and chilli juice we followed up with was fantastic – we’re sure it’d go great with some gin later on in the day.
We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast at Naxi Folk, and love to see a place do something different than the rest. We’re definitely keen on returning to try some of the dinner options soon.
Naxi Folk
723 Glenferrie Road
Hawthorn
Victoria 3122
Australia
Telephone: (08) 9818 4564
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 7:00am to 10:00pm