The word “fusion” triggers the ick, but it’s an obvious way to describe the bold, exuberant and engaging menu at newcomer Tyga on Koornang Road.
Modern Asian$$
Maybe this is the future of Melbourne dining: suburban, optimistic, Asian – but reworked with Australian motifs. That’s my thinking as I tear into jazzed-up kaya toast, a Malaysian comfort food. Classically made with sliced white, here it’s toasted sourdough, served with butter – so far, so cafe – but that butter is whipped with coconut custard (kaya) and inset with a dollop of fragrant pandan cream, pushing a Melbourne staple halfway to Kuala Lumpur.
The crunch of charred toast, the coconutty caramel and the vibrancy of pandan all add up to easy joy. Just don’t call it “fusion”. Staff members tell me they don’t use that word; they prefer “neo-South-East Asian”.
I get it: “fusion” triggers the ick (it’s up there with “foodie”), but it’s an obvious way to describe the toast, or the tasty nasi lemak in beef tartare form, or the tom yum burrata. The latter takes the milky cheese orb and serves it with a hot-and-sour prawn tumble. Whatever the label, it’s bold, exuberant and engaging, like everything here.
Tyga opened on the cusp of Christmas, a new restaurant from Tommy Tong, who launched his first place – Saigon Mamma, a semi-smart pho place – across the road in 2014. Tong had long been wanting to do something flashy; he searched the city, Chapel Street and St Kilda before finding a site right under his nose.
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A killer design in greens, browns and greys sees the long room spilling from a bar zone with DJ decks to a charcoal-fired open kitchen overlooked by high tables. It’s clubby, but you can converse over the retro disco. A keen team keeps glasses filled and the energy high.
The creative mind behind the menu is Esca Khoo, a Malaysian-born chef who came to Australia to play soccer and got distracted by food. I loved Khoo’s glittering, post-COVID stint at Miss Mi in the CBD’s Movenpick Hotel. He now moves around Asia opening pop-ups, but he returned to help steward Tyga. I have a niggling concern about the restaurant maintaining direction with its muse offsite.
That’s no shade on the team: head chef Michael Iskandar climbed the ladder to sous chef at Mornington Peninsula behemoth, Pt Leo Estate. This is his first head-chef job and first gig cooking Asian food. I think his team will have more chance of executing to perfection with a tighter carte: diners are steered to great-value set menus ($69 or $79), but there are more than a dozen additional dishes to split the kitchen’s focus.
Pruning the menu would also steer diners towards Tyga’s unmissable, flavour-packed creations. The wood-grilled chicken is outstandingly juicy, served with cut-through capsicum-chilli jam.
Crying kangaroo is a wonderful take on Thailand’s crying tiger, which is actually a beef dish. Roo fillet is rubbed with a Vegemite-spiked spice mix, grilled and served with leaves for wrapping.
There’s dry-ice theatre, notably in a dessert scattered with condensed-milk “snow” over the merging of a Vietnamese avocado smoothie and Aussie smashed avo.
Tyga is a game-changer for an already brilliant food strip. It hit the ground running, and I hope it keeps up the sprint.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Lively flavour party
Go-to dishes: Borneo hinava ($27); kaya toast ($12); crying kangaroo ($26); gai yang chicken ($36)
Drinks: Cocktails and mocktails incorporate Asian flavours in boisterous spins on classics. The wine list is well-priced, contemporary and food friendly.
Cost: About $140 for two, excluding drinks
This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine.
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
