ARU Restaurant

Striking decor and flavour-forward Asian Fusion dishes combine at ARU Restaurant, where the textures of the interior design are reflected in the mastery of techniques and interesting ingredients in the plate.

Contents show

Location: 268 Little Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: (03) 9939 8119

It seems that if you throw a stone in downtown Melbourne these days, you’ll break the window of an Asian Fusion restaurant. Not that we are complaining. But this proliferation of excellent venues crafting Kimchi spiked Gyoza and Nam Jim dressed Sashimi means that you have to up your game to stand-out.

Thankfully, ARU Restaurant does just that. How? By delivering cleverly conceived dishes highlighting the varied cuisines of China and Indonesia, enhanced with Native Australian ingredients. All in an artfully designed venue with slick, helpful staff.

The Space

Slotted into a corner on Little Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD, ARU Restaurant has a fairly unassuming exterior. But first impressions can be misleading.

Step inside and you enter a highly stylised, elongated, space of striking brick flooring offsetting marble and wood. There’s a stunning marble counter running along the left with simple, squared timber stools. Perch here and you get a spectator’s view of the kitchen, complete with flaming grills and calmly in control chefs.

The lighting reveal just enough to intrigue, drawing the eyeto the seemingly cavernous back of the premises. The main dining area is separated from the front by a fabulously tactile mesh curtain – Yes. We all ran our hands through it. Here, tables are set in a moodily lit room. The ambience is very cool and slightly mysterious.

Whether you need a Digital Meat Thermometer to flame grill the perfect steak, or a Vegetable Mandolin that leaves your fingers intact, we can help. Click here for our full range of USEFUL Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Oh. And this spot is the baby of chef Khanh Nguyen – ex of Sunda in Melbourne and Mr Wong and Bentley (amongst others) in Sydney – so no expectations at all.

Suffice to say, we are excited to get eating.

For the finest Asian Restaurants in Sydney, follow this link

The Food

First up, a quick heads up that the dinner we devoured at ARU Restaurant was a mini banquet that the team put together for the Rising Festival.

But believe us, our only complaint was that we hadn’t signed up for a bigger meal.

Forbidden Rice Sourdough ($6) may sound scary, but trust me when I say that we couldn’t get enough of it. A hunk of bread, with an interior the pale purple of some varieties, hitting the table with a, frankly addictive, Miso Butter – if I could get hold of the recipe, I’d be a very happy baker. It’s sweet and sticky and really memorable.

From there, the lovely wait staff bring us a distractingly fragrant skewer. It turns our to be Wagyu Tongue and Marrow, slathered in a Vietnamese Sate and Native Pepperberry, all on a Betel Leaf. Our instructions are to pull the contents of the skewer off, onto the Betel Leaf, and to pop it straight into our salivating mouths. And who are we to argue? The result is a symphony of riotous flavours. I could eat another 5.

Moving on, there’s a light as a dream piece of Chinese Doughnut, topped with melting Pork and the crunch of Puffed Pork Skin. Whilst the flavours are good, it’s the contrasting textures that really sing out. Again, 2 mouthfuls just leave us hungry for more.

Are you struggling to come up with a present for a friend who have everything? Well, stress no more, as we have a huge list of great Gift Ideas to inspire you, right here.

Which is smart, given the next course.

Our server brings us an incredibly aromatic bowl of ‘Noodles’. Only these are softly giving Squid Noodles. Combined with Chinese Lap Cheong Sausage, Italian ‘Nduja and Indigenous Desert Lime and Curry Leaf, this is an inspired offering. Seriously, it’s the kind of banging dish that I could eat all day, every day. It’s everything that fusion food should be and (sadly) so often isn’t.

For Dessert we have the Dark Chocolate Mousse, Cara Cara Orange & Coconut Sorbet.

And yep. Even though we are long-term friends, we fought over it.

For the Best Places For Desserts in Melbourne, see here.

The Drinks

Do we drink? Of course we do!

Our Moon Bites meal includes a welcome cocktail – one of the best kind, I feel.

On this occasion, our tipple is an interestingly named Wyrrung Spritz. This is a winning blend of Wyrrung (Wild Rosella), Cacao Husk, Lemongrass and Dandelion. Once more, the awareness of balancing the qualities of complex ingredients is forefront in this very quaffable Cocktail.

On top of that, both Wine and Gin are consumed. And we are happy with both.

Looking for a great Wine Bar in Melbourne? We’ve got you sorted.

Overall

Whilst we were only at ARU Restaurant for a spefici dining event, at the end of our evening, all of us were higly primed to return. And we don’t say that about every establishment we dine at.

ARU Restaurant in the whole deal.

Skilled Chef. Smart, eclectic menu. Cool, moody space and divine service.

If elevated Asian Fusion is your thing, rush to ARU Restaurant.

Looking for a highly rated Anti-wrinkle Eye Cream? Or maybe you’re keen to try a Collagen Powder? Click here for our fabulous range of Health and Beauty items.