Pan Asian Restaurant
267 Chapel St,
Prahran, 3181
03 9533 7022
Having recently missed out on both the nuffnang blogger meet up and the duck fest, I was in quite a state of dismay. Luckily though, I had $40 worth of vouchers presented to me by Crowdmass. The only condition was that it had to be redeemed during lunch time. So on a warm Saturday afternoon I dragged mum (*ahem drove*) across Melbourne to the heart of Prahran – Chapel St.
Being sister to the broadly-Asian-influenced Chilli Padi, this place also offers a “pan-Asian” experience reflected both in the food and the décor – dark wood panels, splashes of Asian lanterns, and a contemporary Asian mural spanning South East Asian, Chinese, Japanese and Indian cuisines.
Sliced yellow fin tuna salad with Japanese mustard seed dressing – tender fresh tuna slices laid on a bed of crisp greens tossed with a sweet, sour and earthy sauce. Bites of edamame and wasabi peas provided a bit of crunch.
Seafood Jungle curry with vegies served with rice – a petite portion of green Thai curry composed of juicy prawns, soft bites of fish and crunchy string beans. It was noticeably mild on the spice heat, but had loads of fragrant aromas from the lemon grass and coconut to compensate.
Tempura Catfish fillets glazed with chilli mayo and chips – Actually if you weren’t expecting the light translucent batter of ‘tempura’ per-se, one would actually be quite pleased with the succulent fillets of lightly battered fish. A mild sweet chilli mayo gave a little twist of Japanese. Personally I would have preferred if they labelled this dish along the lines of fish-and-chips – less confusing, though probably not as ‘appetising’ to read on the menu.
See, look how lusious that looks!
Coffee & brownie – I don’t mean to finish on a negative note, but I really must warn all diners that the coffee is a dilute-watery nightmare, and damn the dry crumbly brownies were no match for my own version *ahem*.
Rating: Yummy. Come with an open palate for a stylish, pleasant fusion of Asian flavours. Caution: don’t come here expecting strict authenticity =P. I must say though, the dinner menu is far more extensive and would probably be a better representation of the overall cuisine at Pan-Asian – will have to be another visit.
You may also like: Tao’s, Kenzan, DonToo.
[Meal courtesy of Crowdmass]
It’s great being able to have a table near a window!! Seeing that this place is rated yummy, I might just give it a go. 🙂
natural lighting makes for awesome photos =). i wonder if ur super high benchmark after passing through KL / HK is gonna affect your judgement ey? =P.
though i’d probably recommend going at night… since lunch menu is quite limited, and HRMPH the things i wanted to order WASN’t on the lunch menU GAH!!! LOL
It’s such a shame you missed the meet up! 🙂 Lunch looks so fresh and lovely though, your photos are SO gorgeous! Photo-envy! 🙂
i knoooooooooooow such a shame. thanks. i’m deliberating over buying new camera LOL.
Your photos are incredibly delicious looking. I always love going to Pan Asian. Their food is not necessarily constantly awesome, but their service is always constantly outstanding.
yeh, though i was a little worried in the beginning, given how quiet it was for a saturday lunch time. ah wellz.
I love Pan… although I do find that the food is not always necessarily consistent, but I love the atmosphere over there.. haven’t been there for their lunch menu tho…
They had a lovely rhubarb soufflé during dinner.
They also gave complimentary shots.
I suppose tempura catfish fillets glazed with chilli mayo + chips is a fancy way of saying fish + chips. =P