Anchovy

Nowhere else in Australia presents Vietnamese cuisine quite like Anchovy. Thi Le and Jia-Yen Lee’s dynamic restaurant is where you’ll find modern spins on deep cuts and rarities from Vietnam’s regional cuisines, with chef Le’s cured and fermented ingredients at the heart of it all. But it’s the pair’s restless creativity that makes their little place on Bridge Road such a thrilling place to dine.

There was a brief trip into Lao territory (under the Jeow banner) that saw Anchovy close for two years to make way for generous, home-style Laotian dishes. Before that, a pandemic pivot into banh mi next door became a full-time pursuit with Ca Com. A single-origin fish sauce, made from 800 kilograms of anchovies caught in Port Phillip Bay, is a more recent development.

All of this is to say that Le and Lee never sit still for long. Anchovy is back for now, with a menu that speaks to the idea of “Viet Kieu”, which means a Vietnamese person living away from Vietnam – in this case, Australia. For the diner, that could mean silver needle noodles with oyster mushrooms and papaya relish. Or casarecce (a short Italian pasta) spun with Lao sausage, snake beans and garlic chives. Snacks are a much bigger focus this time – perhaps fried artichokes with burnt butter and a curry vinaigrette, or dainty banh khot (savoury mini pancakes) loaded with pineapple, cucumber and fish head floss.