Moo Chi In Fusion

Setting up shop close to the corner of Johnston Street and Fitzroy, Moo Chi In Fusion is set to set Melbourne’s Asian fusion cuisine scene ablaze with its considered and clean-lined entry to the fray. After a successful soft opening in November 2015, it’s clear Moo Chi In Fusion is not simply another cookie-cutter restaurant creating a confused profusion of mix-and-match international dishes passed off as fusion cuisine. Thanks to masterchef Moo Chee Nam the menu here is genuinely innovative and carefully balanced in terms of flavour, texture and dashing good looks – a difficult feat but essential for the survival of a fusion restaurant in the city’s competitive culinary landscape.

Moo Chi In Fusion’s no-fuss and affordable lunch menu keeps the hip young things in Fitzroy happy with straight ahead dishes like beef rendang rubbing shoulders with eccentric items like the Angry Bird, deep-fried marinated chicken ribs prepared with chef Moo Chee’s special spice mix, wok-tossed with onion and spring onion, dried chilli and fresh herbs for a fiery number. There’s a distinct Southeast Asian and Peranakan slant to the menu at this Melbourne Asian fusion restaurant, as evidenced by the lunchtime beef rendang, and indeed when you turn to the a la carte dinner menu this influence becomes more apparent.

Moo Chi In Fusion’s entrees include an interpretation of banh mi called the Mini Moo bun and/or Ssam Style, with either a brioche or a green lettuce leaf wrapped around pickles and Asian herbs with your choice of pulled pork, fried tofu, soft shell crab or roast chicken. Familiarity fades in the face of curiouser items like the lobak, a mix of freshly grated veggies and black fungus rolled in beancurd skin and served with a homemade mayo, and the so-called ‘bouncy’ squid, consisting of minced arrowroot squid served with croutons and a homemade sauce. The play between familiar and less-familiar continues with the main courses, moving from Singaporean spare ribs to esoteric Nyonya cuisine with an easy confidence uncommon in a Melbourne Asian restaurant. Find Moo Chi In Fusion’s cabinet of curiosities down Johnston Street in Fitzroy.