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Charlong

2/124 Carlisle St

St Kilda 

What’s in a name? It always seems like a good place to start to understand the essence of a restaurant. The name ‘Charlong’ tells me the owners are smart, witty, to the point and know what they’re doing; it’s a portmanteau of CHARcoal grill & LONG slow cook techniques.

There was one point in the meal where we definitely saw the effects of the char as a light smoke filled the restaurant and you don’t have to look far into their menu to find evidence of charred flavours. 

If you made a list of some of the best Asian fusion restaurants in Melbourne you’d likely list one of the Charlong’s co-owner and head chef Alex Kaew’s former stomping grounds. Most recently Bang Bang Rifle club, but plenty of others; LongSong (Longrain), Rice Paper Scissors, Phamily Kitchen, Mr Miyagi and Hochi Mama.

That breadth of experience showed itself quickly in the menu, bursting with different Asian flavours, techniques and textures. Despite that impressive resume, Charlong doesn’t feel pretentious or full of themselves. 

The starters were so elite I didn’t know where to start. As is my go to, I deferred to the waitress on any hard decisions, today was whether to get the crab on toast or the Mooloolaba prawn cake.

As per her recommendation we happily chomped down on a jaw-breakingly high stack of crab bisque with pickled jalapeno, burnt eggplant and topped with Avruga caviar (which isn’t really caviar as it doesn’t contain fish roe but is often used as a caviar substitute). 

I was intrigued by the $8 each Indonesian style potato tartlet, using peanut satay to coat the potato and loaded onto the thin, crunchy tartlet shell. A great choice for vegetarians or vegans who are sick of having to just eat a bowl of potatoes whilst their friends get a whole menu of dishes to choose from.

One of their most popular and perhaps most raved about dishes derives its inspiration from the Tipo 00 ravioli, the king prawn dumplings come in a trio for $26. It’s filled with tom yum coconut lobster bisque and topped with a buttery sauce and squid ink sago caviar.

The crispy rice salad is more delicious golden crispy rice and less salad, with no complaints from me. Mix through the turmeric curry tofu, ginger, lemongrass, peanut and fresh asian herbs. 

Mains won the night though. A 12 hour lamb shank massaman with sweet and white potato and red wine pickled shallot was luxuriously rich at $39.

My favourite dish of the night was the duck, it could have been served in a fine dining restaurant without a question. Called the ‘Duck le Kumquat’ which used dry-aged duck breast, still pink in the middle in a bed of kumquat soy vinegar and a side of crispy brussel sprouts, don’t be put off if brussel sprouts weren’t your thing growing up.

It’s female run, inspired by their family’s Thai street food, they post the fresh produce they get each week on their Instagram and to describe it best, the word would be cosy. You could mistake it for having sat there, a couple of doors down from the St Kilda Library and only 1km from the Palais Theatre for decades but it’s only been open since February of this year.

When I told them I had a show at a certain time they were accommodating, quick to get the food out and the walk from here to the Palais is only 10-15 mins, perfect for a pre-show meal without getting stuck in traffic on Acland Street trying to leave.