REVIEW
With its concrete floor, shared tables, bar seating and stacked shelves of natural wine, Serai feels like instant fun – of the fire-fuelled, Filipino-flavoured kind. Clever cocktails mix Pinoy staples like calamansi, pandan, coconut and ube into all kinds of thrilling new combos. A Ponso Sour, for example, shakes gin, toasted coconut, chardonnay, lime and egg white into a shiny pandan-green treat. A kinilaw of kingfish and calamansi is a winner, as are fried noodles topped with spanner crab and pineapple. Chef Ross Magnaye’s take on lechon is a platter of pork belly – crisp on the outside, fatty within – covered in funky, sweet-sour smoky palapa sauce. His ode to halo-halo, meanwhile, arrives as a Paddle Pop mined with coconut, jackfruit, cornflakes, jelly and purple yam. Expats and in-the-know locals have quickly formed a strong fan base, but when the good times and sense of adventure are this contagious, there’s no doubt newbies will quickly catch on.
ABOUT
Serai
Filipino
7 Racing Club La, Melbourne
(03) 9600 0016
Chef Ross Magnaye and Shane Stafford
Price guide $
Bookings Recommended
Wheelchair access No
Open Lunch Thu-Sun; Dinner Tue-Sat
This review was written independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way. To learn more about the process, head over here.
Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Guide
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot of the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national guide.
