Lah Bros is a warm and welcoming place for lentil pancakes, betel leaves and a modern take on momos.
It’s a tough ask to put your own spin on a cuisine that the people around you don’t know too well. Even though Nepali kitchen workers are key team members in many restaurants, dishes from the landlocked nation rarely feature on menus and “let’s go out for Nepalese!” isn’t exactly a stock phrase across Melbourne suburbs.
Contemporary updates of traditional Nepalese are even rarer. I don’t think there’s anything quite like the carefully plated, creative versions of old-school dishes that Rajeev Chakradhar is doing at Lah Bros, his sweet, striving little restaurant, open since 2023.
Chakradhar moved from Kathmandu to Hobart to study arts and journalism and worked in restaurants on the side. As so often happens, food reeled him in and he schooled up on hospitality in good places, including Italian favourite Peppina. A food detour wasn’t out of the blue: his father, brother and uncle run Purna Sweets in Nepal, and young Rajeev used to help out.
“When you’re small, you don’t notice what goes into a food business,” he told me. “Now my dad says I understand that you need to always be thinking about customers and quality, and be passionate.”
You can taste the passion at Lah Bros. A fluffy dome of fried bread is served with Chakradhar’s mum’s smoky eggplant dip. Betel leaf is used in Nepal as a digestive, rolled with nuts, and here it’s piled with raw, diced tuna mixed with pomelo and grapefruit, a medley of pinks and reds over the bright, peppery green.
Momo, a sturdy dumpling, is probably Nepal’s most famous culinary export. Chakradhar’s pork version is garnished with pickled fennel for cut-through and finesse.
Bara is a lentil pancake traditionally dipped in meat sauce. At Lah Bros, it’s turned into a cheffy snack, topped with wobbly poached egg and dressed with lamb jus infused with gundruk – fermented and dried leafy greens.
I don’t think it quite pays off as the flavours become a little muddied, but I almost loved the dish more for its shortcomings because they signal thought and effort, and a flair for narrative that I’m sure will pay off in future iterations.
The curries are outstanding, made with the same base of onions, layered spices and aromats, but turning out quite differently depending on cooking time and protein. Brilliantly crisp pork belly is cooked separately to the curry, so the ingredients dance gently. Goat is simmered with the sauce, lending wonderful depth and colour.
Chai-spiced creme brulee is a more than decent dessert.
“Lah bros” can be translated as “OK, mate” which gives a sense of the happy, chatty mood here, augmented by well-trained and passionate staff.
This is a lovely first restaurant: Rajeev Chakradhar is honouring the cuisine he grew up with, presenting it in a way that sparks curiosity but is accessible enough for any casual diner to simply enjoy as a tasty meal.
Three more to try on Chapel Street
Delilah
One of my favourite spots for a relaxed catch-up or a serious session with the laptop, this cosy indie cafe roasts its own coffee and has a nice menu of bagels and toasties. It’s licensed so they’ve got you covered if you need a morning mimosa or a celebration spritz after pressing “send” on a big project.
38A Chapel Street, Windsor, delilahonchapel.com.au
Stella Restaurant & Bar
It’s taken a while for this multilevel restaurant and rooftop to find an identity but it’s feeling good these days. Play it like a bistro with steak and fries, come with the family for upscale pasta dishes (I’m always having the fettuccine with spanner crab, cray sauce and tomato oil), or make it easy with a bunch of pizzas, either at street level or up on the deck.
427 Chapel Street, South Yarra, stellarestaurantbar.com.au
Omnia Bar & Bistro
There’s every reason to settle into one of Omnia’s kitchen-view booths for a long lunch or dinner, but you can also drop in for fancy bar snacks. Smoked ocean trout cigars are an exercise in delicacy and balance, the chickpea panisse with bottarga is a fun spin on blini and you haven’t had a Scotch egg till you’ve tried the quail version here.
625 Chapel Street, South Yarra, omniabistro.com.au
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