Juni’s Head Chef Shares the Five Dishes You Need To Order at the Mod-Asian Diner

“I’m kind of a rule breaker,” says Hendri Budiman, chef of Melbourne’s creative pan-Asian diner Juni. “I was at Coda for 15 years so it’s that kind of rule-breaking: taking it to the next level, not sticking to tradition but [still] respecting the culture.”

Now at Juni, Budiman gets to find the balance between custom, respect and invention in his own menu, combining bits of classic French and Italian cooking with traditional and contemporary flavours from across Asia. The resulting menu zips easily across cultures and cuisines, flitting between reverent tradition and fun fusion.

And you can experience it for yourself as you eat your way through the menu. Broadsheet and NAB have teamed up for Bookings With Benefits, a dining program that gives you $50 off the bill when you spend $250 or more and pay on your NAB credit or debit card at selected venues – like Juni – countrywide.

Chef Budiman shares the five dishes that represent what he and Juni are all about.

Yellowfin tuna, apple, puffed rice, chilli rice paper, ponzu

Juni’s take on the raw starter sits somewhere between Japanese and Vietnamese flavours, with Budiman inspired by an apple and tuna dish from his time at Coda. The star here is the house-made ponzu.

“We steep yuzu juice, soy sauce and whole, squashed orange,” he says. “We add bonito flakes on top, let it steep for at least 48 hours, and then we have the base of the ponzu.”

The raw tuna gets dressed with the house ponzu and sesame oil, then served with what he calls a Vietnamese-style fried rice cracker on the side to scoop everything up and add plenty of crunch.

Stracciatella, chilli paste, macadamia & Thai basil, grilled Chinese doughnuts

“Not many Asian restaurants do a cheese starter,” the chef says. “So this is kind of our take on bread and cheese.”

When Juni opened, one of the first big hits on the menu was a dish of burrata topped with a Lao Gan Ma-style chilli crisp. This version isn’t too far from the original, but uses silky stracciatella instead of burrata, and a dark chilli paste made fragrant with Thai basil.

“The idea was to have something creamy and something that’s quite spicy,” Budiman says. “If you’re having chilli paste, then what’s going to counteract that spiciness? A dairy product.”

Throw a few crispy and chewy Chinese-style doughnuts on the side to mop it all up and you’re sorted.

Lamb shoulder, Malaya curry, chilli sambal & condiments

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Melbourne is mad for lamb shoulder. At Juni, Budiman gives the share-sized main a Malaysian-style upgrade.

“We cook ours overnight so it falls off the bone,” he says. It’s served with a Malaya curry sauce. “It’s quite coconutty, there’s this taste of pandan, and we actually infuse it with turmeric leaf.”

Dry-aged half duck, melon, apple kimchi, spicy hoisin, pancakes

Duck has been another Juni staple since the doors opened, and while this current version upgrades the sides and condiments, the attention to detail in cooking the duck remains as fastidious as ever.

“We still stick with the process of hanging it for seven days, so it’s proper tradition in the way that we treat our duck,” says the chef. “I think aging helps make the duck softer. Also, skin is very, very important, and the duck meat itself has to be flavourful.”

The recent addition of apple kimchi brings a bright, crunchy, acidic and vegan twist to classic kimchi that Budiman adapted from famed Korean American chef Roy Choi.

Vanilla custard trifle, fresh berries, champagne jelly

“Not a lot of people are doing a trifle now because it’s so simple, but I think simplicity goes a long way,” Budiman says.

The thinking is that, by the time people (at least, he and his friends) make it to dessert, no one is looking for the intricate or outlandish. Instead, classic dessert simplicity like a vanilla trifle – even if it does have a sophisticated champagne jelly – is ideal. Especially when it’s not taking itself too seriously.

“This one is plated up in a sundae glass,” he says. “I don’t want to say it’s doing something silly, but it’s a bit more of a fun way of presenting a simple old classic.”

The Broadsheet Dining Program Special Offer of a $50 discount when you spend $250 or more is available when you dine at a Participating Restaurant between 13 January 2026 and 16 December 2026. To be eligible for the Discount Offer, you must make a booking via the NAB Exclusive Booking Link for the Participating Restaurant which is found on the Broadsheet Booking Page and spend a minimum of $250 on your NAB credit card. Between 2 June 2026 and 16 December 2026, Select venues will also accept NAB debit card payments. The Discount Offer will apply at the Restaurant when you pay the final bill amount including GST and service fees and charges (if any) with your NAB credit card (includes a digital NAB credit card) or NAB debit card (includes a digital NAB debit card) at select venues. The Discount Offer is only valid once per booking and will not apply to any split bills and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers. For the full Terms and Conditions of this Offer, please click here.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with NAB.