Chinese restaurants have long been a staple of the Australian dining scene, however much their repertoire of long soup and fried ice-cream might scandalise traditionalists in, say Singapore or Hong Kong. And now, with the opening of Ricky and Pinky in a mid-19th-century public house – along a street littered with eateries and boutiques, just a couple of blocks from the Melbourne Museum – we daresay the gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down.
The restaurant’s throwback moniker is an homage to the Hong Kong tattoo parlour where owner Andrew McConnell was once inked with a dragon. Its interior design is a modernist riff – Melbourne-based Sibling Architecture dispenses with expected tropes of a Chinese restaurant in favour of bright primary colours. Gold and blue pipings bend and twist to form transparent arches and room dividers (an ode, it seems, to Shanghainese art deco), while puce leather banquettes, Bentwood chairs, blackbutt tables, sea-green and dark blue carpets, and ceiling mirrors conspire to create a mood that feels more like the Jetsons’ living room than your average Chinatown pitstop.
Meanwhile, terrazzo Lazy Susans twirl with chef Anchan Chan’s exuberantly concocted dishes of mapo tofu, deep fried quail, homemade Chinese sausages and rice fried with salted egg.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
211 Gertrude Street
Melbourne
-
Year in review: the top 10 cars of 2024, selected by transport editor Jonathan BellWhat are our cars of the year? We’ve scoured the archives to unveil the machines that most impressed us over the past 12 months, from retro revivals to high-tech EVs
-
An Indian mud house - and more, on Sketch Design Studio's natural material wondersSketch Design Studio in Rajasthan, India does wonders with the simplest ingredients
-
Experience this Singapore apartment’s Zen-like qualities and cocooning urban havenWelcome to Singapore apartment The Rasidence, a spacious, Zen-like interior by Right Angle Studio
-
The world’s most enticing new hotel openingsExplore the best new hotels in the world, from beachfront living at Cheval Blanc Seychelles to otherworldly Zaha Hadid architecture at Me Malta
-
Australian surf culture merges with the charm of the Mediterranean at Il DelfinoIl Delfino, designed by Sheree Commerford, is a restored 1940s seaside inn nestled on the Yamba coastline in Australia
-
Layover in style at Melbourne Airport’s new hotelIbis Styles Melbourne Airport hotel by FK brings together elegant rooms, co-working lounges and leisure facilities in a striking aircraft wing-inspired design
-
Australian heritage meets European grandeur at Copperstone, a New South Wales retreatCopperstone is New South Wales’ answer to the European country estate, and includes a five-bedroom retreat, set in 48 acres
-
Tap into local creativity at The StandardX, MelbourneThe StandardX, Melbourne is the first hotel in The Standard Group's new breed of ‘younger and rebellious’ properties
-
Basq House is the eclectic-cool stay to know in Byron BayDesigned by StudioFAB and Léo Terrando, Basq House reverberates with the Australian town’s laid-back beach culture and artistic spirit
-
Discover Beau Sydney, an intimate two-part restaurant enlivening the city’s lanewaysBeau Sydney dishes up contemporary Australian cuisine, from baked goods to regional wines, amid elegant interiors by Smart Design Studio
-
Inside The Ghan train across Australia, new carriage interiors elevate a classic tripThe Ghan’s new carriage interiors designed by Woods Bagot reimagine modern rail travel for this epic trip between Darwin and Adelaide
