Bowls by Kwanghi Chan

Kwanghi Chan’s Bowls, a simple, smart room at the Parnell Street end of Marlborough Street, is an Ottolenghi for the Orient, a radical idea clothed in simplicity that delivers the Asian flavours we crave, big time. Mr Chan’s brilliance has been to fashion an accessible room with accessible food – and clean bathrooms! – the opposite of what one normally gets in little Asian places just around the corner. From this stylish template he uses a pair of Big Green Eggs to give his food smoky, slinky textures and tastes – just try the signature roasted aubergine bowl – and the confidence the kitchen demonstrates is powerful. If it seems incongruous to also have a Portugese custard tart on the breakfast menu, remember that the Portugese colonised Macau, and Mr Chan has simply brought the tart back to Europe. Like everything else in Bowls, it is stunningly good.