One of Melbourne’s Most Exciting Sri Lankan Restaurants Just Opened Inside a Gin Distillery

In its earliest form, gin – or jenever, as it was originally known – was little more than grain mash and juniper. The gin we drink today is far more complex, shaped by botanicals brought to Europe from Asia over centuries of spice trade.

At Dutch Rules distillery in Mitcham, that history is a guiding principle. The gins draw on botanicals from Australia and South Asia, reflecting owner Danny Perera’s Sri Lankan heritage and his interest in the movement of ingredients across nations. Now Perera, who also runs Two Rupees Brewing in Clayton, has extended that thinking beyond the still, bringing on chef Viveik Vinoharan to lead a newly expanded kitchen.

For the past year, Vinoharan has been operating independently, running pop-ups since his time as sous-chef at Lilac Wine Bar in Cremorne. “It’s been a good way to establish a bit more of my identity,” he says.

His approach to cooking is shaped by his Sri Lankan heritage, making the partnership with Perera a natural fit. The menu has been developed collaboratively, but Vinoharan’s perspective anchors the food. “My Sri Lankan background is from my mum,” he says. “All of the Sri Lankan food that I’ve been taught is stuff I’ve grown up with, and stuff I tried [in] Sri Lanka, but most of my kitchen training has been French, Japanese, Italian. So it’s kind of my own version of that.”

The menu is designed first and foremost to sit alongside the drinks. Lamb-belly skewers nod to gin’s botanical backbone, marinated in toasted coriander, fennel and cumin before being slow-cooked, pressed and finished over charcoal and cherry wood. Red rice-laced sourdough focaccia comes with a jaggery-based take on hot honey, spiked with chilli, reduced merlot vinegar and confit-garlic oil.

Pasta also plays a central role. Tortellini filled with St David Dairy curd comes in a beurre blanc enriched with whey, brown butter, curry leaves and kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) – a fitting pairing with Dutch Rules’ Thai Gin, distilled with lemongrass, coconut, makrut lime and ginger. Meanwhile, rigatoni is folded through a ragu-style pork curry made from Bundarra Farm pig skin and Flinders Island wallaby mince – an intentional use of underutilised cuts.

That approach extends across the menu. Vinoharan repurposes by-products from the distillery where possible, using spent spices as a base for Coffin Bay oysters with Dutch Ceylon Gin mignonette, and turning leftover pomelo from distillation into a dressing for Noojie trout crudo.

The drinks list centres on the flagship gins, served as flights or in cocktails like the clarified Pina Colada made with Thai Gin, or the riff on a Bee’s Knees with Dutch Ceylon Gin, kithul treacle, curry leaf, cinnamon, lime and coconut oil.

The space itself has also shifted to accommodate the change. What was once a minimal production area now houses a fully rebuilt open kitchen, putting the cooking on show. The venue seats more than 100, split between a casual dining area downstairs and a more formal mezzanine upstairs that doubles as a private event space.

Dutch Rules Distilling
586 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham

Hours:
Wed to Fri 4pm–10.30pm
Fri & Sat midday–11.30pm
Sun midday–8.30pm

dutchrulesdistilling.com.au
@dutchrulesdistillingco