lucy liu kitchen and bar

we had the best experience dining at lucy liu. it's asian fusion at it's best.

i'd definitely recommend booking well in advance, we wanted to go on a saturday night and had to book at least 3 weekends prior. however it was well worth the wait. just also know there is a time limit (i can't remember exactly) but we definitely didn't feel at all rushed. tables are also very close together. 

we ordered the thai fish cakes, tumeric cauliflower, tempura prawn and eggplant and the drunken free range chicken. each one was absolutely delicious - i'd recommend them all to try! my favourite was probably the eggplant dish. next time, i'll definitely try a couple of the desserts as they sounded delicious but we were too full. 

can't wait to visit again!

i came for a casual family sunday lunch and it was great. we started off with oysters which were fresh and flavourful, but a little small. the kingfish sashimi was very unique in flavour and texture. the tuna tataki was more predictable, with the rice cracker and dressing; there were no set rules on how to eat it so it was also possible to enjoy the tuna by itself. my favourite was the soft-shelled crab pancake roll which was delicious. the nam khao tod was a bit salty but of a very generous serving size and filled us up as a main dish. we had the ginger creme brulee and coconut parfait to finish and both were really tasty.
the service was very friendly throughout and patient with our questions, even getting the sommelier to tell us more about their namesake wines. i loved the placemat menus with 3d animal prints on them and that both chopsticks and knife and fork were provided.

the food is simply to die for! we ordered mussels, papaya salad, tuna tataki, dumplings and pork with additional jasmine rice. what a perfect night! definitely will come back.

to try:
- fresh betel leaf; fresh quality kingfish and tuna marinated in soy and ginger which gave a lovely umami punch
- kingfish sashimi; this was beautifully presented and the toasted coconut was made into a creamy foam/mousse like texture. it made for a great balance of refreshing and moreish flavours
- soft shelled crab jianbing pancake roll; not quite your authentic jianbing roll, but the spicy hoi sin was on point and i am a sucker for soft shell crab
- salt & pepper chicken ribs; to be honest these aren't out of the ordinary, but who doesn't love s&p chicken ribs

to skip:
- slow roasted lamb shoulder; i usually always order the slow roasted lamb shoulder if there is one on the menu, however in future i wouldn't recommend ordering it at lucy liu. from the moment we bit into this, we regretted our decision. everything from the lamb to the dahl lacked in flavour
- peking duck dumplings; the skin was too thick and all we could taste was dough and hoi sin

a decent asian fusion option, let down by a few dishes. i may return, you just need to order wisely!!

the overall setting of the restaurant was casual but also suitable for a nice dinner. although the seating was only 1.45 mins i didn't feel too rushed and the food came out promptly. the tables were a little too close together so there wasn't a lot of space especially if you were on the 2 seater tables.

i enjoyed the small bites; fresh betel leaf which was different to how it's traditionally presented and was flavourful. yellow fin tuna tataki, which had great flavour to it and a nice cut tataki. we also had sticky pork belly which was good but i was hoping for something a little more different in taste. the soft shelled crab pancake roll was average.

the slow roasted lamb shoulder for main was quite big and also came with rice and roti bread which sets you up for a decent sized meal. the lamb was soft and easily fell off the bone. taste wise, it wasn't anything too exciting or different. it got a bit sickening by the end of it.

walked in with no reservations but quickly seated, great customer service and food was tasty and came out at reasonable time. beef rendang and steamed cod were top notch! we will be back, thank you.

we ordered 2x jasmine rice but the staff failed to mention one of the mains had rice with it. so we had extra rice and that we wouldn’t have been able to finish. it was good they didn’t charge us for the extra portion.
soft shell crab - jianbing was the best i’ve ever tried. the sauce worked so well. and the roti that came with the lamb shoulder was so flaky and delicious.

discover lucy liu kitchen and bar hidden down a laneway in melbourne cbd.  you can expect a delightful eclectic asian fusion dining experience that offers a stunning line up of dishes, wines, cocktails and staff that are both friendly and knowledgeable.

definitely deserves the hype! went in with low expectation, but the food was amazing!!

had my birthday here, food was amazing, delicious and interested, a great place to go with friends, the food perfect for sharing, and the service was very good. defiantly would like to revisit.

great venue to eat and chill. i love the ambiance.

yum!
came here on a weeknight and couldn’t believe how full it was! glad we booked!
we sampled dumplings, buns, pork belly, duck and greens with a mocktail each (it was tuesday after all) and we rolled out for $65/head.
the service was really friendly and helpful!
highly recommended!

i’ve been here twice and the food is great but service was a let down this time. we knew we only had the table for 1.45 hrs but the whole time we felt rushed with staff constantly coming over to ask how we were ‘tracking’. they gave us the bill without us asking and looked annoyed when we ordered dessert. the staff were slow initially taking our order and should have asked us in advance if we wanted dessert so it could be delivered prior to our vacate time. we left annoyed, which ruined our dinner unfortunately.

fantastic food and service every time i have dined here.

$29 express lunch menu is great value.

don’t hesitate to take on wait staff’s suggestions for dishes, i’ve not had one bad dish here!

tasty with a hint of bitterness.

had a ‘nice’ night here with my friends. the atmosphere is cool, they had some nice touches reminiscent of a place that is all about fusion.

the service at the door was great as i got a last minute table due to a cancelation.

but one of the waiters are low key racist- i mean there’s one dish written in an asian language and he straight up said “you guys will know what that is”. and me and my friends were like “no...” and then he said “oh i just stereotyped you didn’t i? ” . how could you possibly assume i would know 2,300 asian languages that exist in the world and be able to read the title of one? lol i mean. i just can't deal. 

so like.

foods good but you know.

service was super weird. then the same guy kept coming up and checking on us but look now- you can’t rectify that mate. so will i be back? no thanks.