Step Into The Shadows At Aru, Khanh Nguyen's Sultry New CBD ...

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Published 4 years agoStep Into the Shadows at Aru, Khanh Nguyen’s Sultry New CBD Restaurant – Just As Stellar as Its Sibling Sunda

Photo: Parker BlainSoutheast Asian flavours, native Australian ingredients and ancient techniques intersect at this highly anticipated new spot, by a chef who knows how to nail the formula. And while there are unexpectedly playful riffs on classics – like banh mi, Peking duck and mi goreng – they never feel gimmicky, just modernised and expertly refined.

Words by Chynna Santos · Updated on 31 Jul 2023 · Published on 22 Jun 2021

Walking into Aru – the highly anticipated new restaurant by Sunda chef Khanh Nguyen and Adi Halim (owner of Sunda and The Hotel Windsor) – on opening night, the first thing I notice is the blazing woodfire hearth. The second is the sheer number of chefs, criss-crossing gracefully with a seamlessness that surpasses night-one expectations.

The inviting, warmly lit space beckons you in. But it feels like we’re all waiting in suspense – there’s a palpable excitement in the air. And it doesn’t let up until the first dish lands.

The busy kitchen occupies one side of the narrow Little Collins Street restaurant; on the other, diners perch on cosy banquettes and curved timber chairs. Standing in between is Nguyen, who cut his teeth working with big-name Australian chefs: at Dan Hong’s Cantonese diner Mr Wong and under Brent Savage (Bentley and Cirrus) in Sydney; as well as at Rene Redzepi’s Noma Australia pop-up. Tonight, he eyeballs each plate before it leaves the pass.

“We tried to create a venue where the customers feel a bit more connected to the restaurant and the people working there, rather than a venue where everything happens behind the scenes,” the Vietnamese-Australian chef tells Broadsheet. There really is nowhere for the chefs to hide – all eyes are on the 16-metre-long open kitchen.

Kerstin Thompson Architects and Figureground are behind the fit-out (they also did Sunda’s). Chainmail curtains and small elevated terraces break up the narrow but deep dining area, cast in shadow by moody lighting. The warm and earthy colour palette – which features spotted gum and terracotta bricks – is inspired by the restaurant’s focus on fire.

The hearth, a dedicated coolroom for dry-aging duck and curing charcuterie, and a fermentation room (filled with jars of sambals and sauces) were all musts for Nguyen, who wants to cleverly combine familiar Southeast-Asian flavours, native Australian ingredients and ancient techniques.

It’s a formula he’s nailed – perhaps better than any other chef in Melbourne – at Sunda, with a fine-dining edge. That’s present here, too, although Aru is distinctly different from his upscale Punch Lane restaurant. It almost feels as if Nguyen is having more fun.

Sunda is known for its small, dainty plates. But they’ve been traded here for generously sized share plates, inspired by the kinds of large family dinners Nguyen would have in Vietnam. Last month, he promised us a snackier menu that’s playful and designed to be mixed and matched across the table. In short: he’s delivered.

The staff, helmed by venue manager Dawn Bannon (ex-Rockpool Group), tells us to order the sanga – one each; that the dry-aged duck is exquisite; and not to sleep on the rice and noodle section. We oblige. And then the special: suckling pig inspired by Indonesian babi guling, served with native sambals of bush and green tomatoes. Only 10 are served each day. We say yes. “Do you want the pig’s face?” Also a yes.

Our cocktails arrive while we wait. Group bar manager Darren Leaney (ex- Capitano) takes cues from the menu. There’s a milk punch with flavours of banh chuoi (Vietnamese banana cake); the Umami Martini with Four Pillars Olive Leaf gin and a bush tomato in place of an olive; and a cocktail that uses calamansi, a Filipino lime. Beverage manager Michael Kovatseff-Burton has curated an almost-400-strong wine list that stands up to the food’s robust flavours, including local Avani, Main Ridge, Jamsheed and Jayden Ong wines; classics from France and Italy; Chilean skin-contact drops; and two dozen by-the-glass options.

First comes the bread – sourdough with “forbidden” (black) rice, glazed with soy sauce and palm sugar – followed by something spectacular from the charcuterie section: pâté en croûte with flavours of banh mi, including an umami-packed jelly of Maggi seasoning (a version of which was recently featured on Masterchef). “We treat each cured meat as a dish of its own rather than serving up a board of different cuts with pickles on the side,” Nguyen says of his coolroom creations. There’s also a Peking duck-inspired duck ham, cured pork neck with smoked egg cream, and beef brisket.

Next, hit after hit: a Bunnings-esque duck-sausage snag; dry-aged duck with smoky cavolo nero; hasselback potatoes atop “green” sauce and Laughing Cow cheese; mi goreng-like egg noodles with black garlic and a Hong Kong seasoning called typhoon shelter; and broken rice with duck fat, fermented duck sausage and egg yolk, all served in a clay pot.

“We kind of just play on traditional dishes and do [them] in different ways,” Nguyen says. But it never feels gimmicky – thanks to precision, technique and an obvious respect for the source material. “There’s a lot to pick from and it’s really focused on sharing, so we recommend having a group of four or five people come in, ordering different items and tasting a lot of flavours.”

Luckily, we’re a group of six, so we take on all five desserts head-on. That includes a koji waffle with kaya (coconut jam) and desert lime; tofu-Laughing Cow cheesecake with strawberry gum; and a roasted-potato creme caramel with pandan oil. “Do you want truffle with that?” Nguyen asks with a cheeky grin. He rains slivers of black truffle down onto the flan – generous, unexpected, familiar and playful. Much like Aru itself.

Aru reopens on Friday November 5.

Aru 268 Little Collins Street, Melbourne (03) 9939 8113

Hours: Tue to Sat 12pm–late

aru.net.au @arurestaurant @genghiskhanh

About the author

Chynna Santos is Broadsheet’s deputy branded content editor.

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