Under New Chef, V-Dining Offers Fab $48 Lunch Menu Amid Graffiti & Hip-Hop

JP, as he’s called, hates the stuffiness of fine-dining and wants the setting to be friendly and relaxed. He greets us with a warm smile from behind the counter of his sleek open-concept kitchen. The 39-year-old, who joined the restaurant in September, has been cooking in high-end kitchens for the better part of twenty years. He last founded Thirteen Duxton Hill, a produce-led, modern Australian joint, where he showcased inventive, upmarket cuisine in stripped down, unpretentious surroundings.

There’s much of that same casualness here at his new gig, courtesy of the breezy service, open kitchen where you see the chefs happily working, and the energetic rap music that puts you at ease. It feels a bit like being in a wealthy friend’s super fancy home, if that pal’s kitchen were elaborately fitted out with high-end V-Zug cooking appliances. The cosy dining area, a minimalist wood and glass-paneled room that seats 20 to 26 with social distancing measures in place, overlooks a gorgeous view of Scotts Road that spills in from expansive windows.

The cuisine here is pretty much whatever JP wants to put on the menu, which features his classically trained modern-European background and cosmopolitan Melbourne background, meaning lots of Asian influences, and locally sourced produce. This approach is showcased in the Executive Set Lunch, which we’re here to try.

Priced at $48, it’s a weekly-changing menu that works in seasonal produce, market finds (JP loves sourcing from Tekka Market), and whatever’s ready from an in-house library of ferments and pickles, a particular passion of JP’s. We’re told that he recently picked up some celtuce (asparagus lettuce, commonly used in Chinese stir fries) from Tekka Market and we should expect to see it make an appearance during lunch today. You can also opt for the more extravagant $88 ten-item lunch menu, which offers a preview of the full tasting menu ($128, available for both lunch and dinner).

A friendly waiter comes by and kicks us off our meal with some starters, which showcase a light and simple touch with huge flavour rewards. A fat teppan-seared Hokkaido scallop comes hidden under a gorgeous nasturtium leaf (a lotus-shaped leaf with a slight peppery flavour). The scallop sits atop a light relish of cherry tomato, cucumber, and buttermilk that provides a bright and tangy counterpoint to the meatiness of the scallop, and the nasturtium leaf lends a pleasant, shiso-like herbiness. There’s a comforting familiarity to this dish, almost like the best parts of a hearty chirashi bowl distilled into an elegant morsel, elevated without being too fussy.

As part of the tasting, we’re given yet another starter option to sample. Nestled yet again under a leaf, this time a pickled fig leaf, is a simple chunk of celeriac: except it’s browned like a steak to coax out its nuttiest, sweetest flavours, and dressed with light ricotta cheese, pleasantly bitter fig leaf oil, and astringent currants. It’s showered with little pieces of pickled celtuce for texture and sweetness. The whole thing comes together with roasty, almost Christmas-y flavours.

We move on to the mains, and we’re given two out of the three options to try. So far the plates have been light and vegetable forward, which we really enjoy, but even with these hearty mains there’s a similar lightness of touch. They’re simple in execution, but with assured elevated flourishes that heighten rather than distract from the main ingredient’s natural flavours.

Locally-sourced grouper is roasted to bring out the best of its gelatinous texture, and served with sweet rounds of white asparagus and sweet, almost briny salsify (a sort of root vegetable). It’s finished with a rich sauce made from grouper heads, the whole plate brimming with different layers of sweetness and umami.

We also try the set lunch’s beef option, you know, for the sake of this story. It’s a gorgeously tender slab of grass-fed Angus Beef. It shares the limelight with a relish of pickled beetroot and a fresh side-salad of salt-baked beetroot and crunchy kohlrabi (a turnip-like root veg). The piquant flavours of the vegetables marry perfectly with the beef’s luscious fattiness.

For dessert, it’s an umami finish with some ice cream made with amazake, a Japanese drink rich with the beguiling milky sweetness of fermented rice. It comes drizzled with a wonderfully complex smoked olive oil. Cutting through these savoury flavours are bits of frozen pomelo and mandarin slices, delightfully icy and zingy, and just astringent enough to carry this savoury-sweet dessert home.

We really enjoy this meal by V-Dining’s new chef. While there are some very refined touches on the plate, it’s never alienating or so outrageous as to make us puzzle over what’s in it. The flavours are comforting, tasty, and the vibe here relaxed yet swish. And, at $48, we think it’s quite a steal. Perfect for a slightly luxe special date, impressing in-laws, or taking mum out for a nice treat before hitting the shopping belt.

#03-13 Scotts Square, 6 Scotts Rd, S228209. Open daily Tue - Sat noon-2.30pm; 5.30pm-9.30pm. For reservations, please call 6950 4868. v-dining.com​​​​​​​