Lunar New Year begins on Wednesday, January 29 and lasts for up to 16 days as we farewell the Year of the Dragon, welcome the Year of the Snake and look forward to a prosperous next 12 months.
Let’s take a drive around the country to five Readers’ Choice Award-winning venues where you can enjoy Asian fare with flair and celebrate in style:
Readers’ Choice 2024 – Asian
Fun and Funky Vibe for Dining
Modern farm-to-table Thai cuisine is what you’ll find on the plate at Jungle Fowl on Wharf Street in Port Douglas. This locally loved dining destination exudes a fun and funky vibe with stylised wall art of a tiger, birds and palm trees, while intimate table settings beckon for romantic rendezvous or catchups with family and friends.
Named after the tropical bird found across much of Southeast Asia and the ancestor of the domestic chicken, expect a menu based around produce sourced from the Oaks Kitchen & Garden; perhaps start your culinary adventure with a beef brisket bao bun with ginger and pickle. Move on to share plates of black pepper beef, snake beans and red peppers, or local Tiger prawn noodles with tamarind and betel leaf.
Readers’ Choice 2024 – Asian
Bold Flavours and Fresh Produce
Fresh local seafood, cool beats, funky cocktails and tasty wines await Port Lincoln diners at Santi's on Liverpool Street. The menu focuses on combining bold flavours with underutilised fresh produce from the Eyre Peninsula delivered in a trendy vibe of leather banquette seating, portholes in the walls and a vibrant colour scheme, along with an alfresco area ideal for soaking up rays on balmy days.
Pair a Pandan Colada with starters like OG pork and prawn dumplings with spiced soy, garlic crunch and prawn oil, or charred kingfish wings, taro leaves, coconut milk and basil oil; before larger plates of yellow mussel curry, lemongrass, ginger and turmeric, or lobster with ginger, shallots and egg noodles. Vegetarians opt for crunchy eggplant, tamarind chutney, coconut yoghurt raita and fresh herbs.
Readers’ Choice 2024 – Asian
Vibrant Flavours of the Orient
Situated on Kingston Foreshore, Wild Duck Fine Asian Cuisine fuses the vibrant flavours of the Orient delivering them in warm, elegant surrounds. Using the classic elements of golden-hued lighting, white linen, plush beige chairs and teardrop lanterns, this stylish restaurant sets the tone for intimate dining, where the décor is as well presented as the dishes that follow.
Taking diners on a journey through Asia’s various regions, the menu features dishes like traditional Peking duck pancakes with cucumber, spring onion and hoisin sauce to start; then delve into slow-cooked pork belly, soy sauce, rock sugar and mixed spices, wrapped in lotus leaves, with sticky rice, or Massman beef cheek with coconut milk, roasted taro root and crispy fried onion.
Readers’ Choice 2024 – Asian
Sweeping City Skyline Views
Sweeping views of the Adelaide city skyline await at Japanese restaurant Koomo on Frome Street in the heart of the CBD. With a name meaning ‘cloud’ in Japanese, this stylish dining destination nestles on the 10th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel and welcomes guests into an ambience of wooden splendour, while overhead cylindrical pendents softly glow, setting the scene for memorable meals.
Meet friends for lunch and delve into pork ribs with chilli and garlic glaze, fennel and onion slaw; start an evening culinary journey with a lobster roll, avocado, Kewpie mayo, pickled shallots and tobiko, before larger plates of lamb curry, potato cream, pickled radish and crispy nori. For a sweet finish, try mango and passionfruit slice with white chocolate cream, lychee gel and toasted coconut.
Readers’ Choice 2024 – Thai
Menu of Taste Temptations
Live, laugh and love at Thai restaurant TingLish on George Street in Thebarton. With a name originating from the blend of English and Thai, this sleek venue offers memorable dining in industrial-style surrounds of polished wood floors, pendent globes and eclectic artwork; while outside a paved courtyard and wooden tables beckon under a canopy of trailing greenery.
After a journey of discovery and realisation, owners Mat and Pichai have returned to their passion serving up a menu of taste temptations like Thai chicken wingettes with tamarind glaze and crispy shallots to start. Don’t go past favourite mains such as spicy minced chicken salad, coriander, mint, shallots and Thai dressing, or slow-cooked beef massaman curry, with potato, carrots and roasted peanuts.