We were visiting Melbourne and wanted to visit a more unique kind of place. Supernormal fit the bill! Here's what we noticed: - You'll definitely want a reservation as the place gets packed. For our party of two we were seated at the bar, which is a really long bar and appears to be the primary area where parties of two get seated. It was nice, fun to be able to watch the action behind the bar. - They had a great cocktail menu and so we ordered some unique drinks. Both were really good. - The menu is pretty broad with small plates to share and larger entrées too. We end up starting with the Korean Rice Cakes, which was probably a highlight of the meal. It was also a pretty generous size. Then they brought out the Lobster Roll, which was good, but probably a poor ordering choice for us since it really wasn't that unique...although it was very yummy. And finally, we had the Duck Bao, and it was excellent. There were so many other things we would've liked to order from the menu, but this was a lot of food for just two of us, although we saw other parties of two order so much more. But, we wanted to save room for the peanut butter parfait. It was worth the weight/wait! - Service was good. At first, it seemed like they were rushing to move us along, but then as more people came into the restaurant, it calmed down a bit. - The place has a great vibe, but it's a little bit loud as you would expect with a place like this. Bottom line: This was one of the best meals we've had so far during our trip to Australia. read more

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Supernormal is an Asian fusion restaurant owned by famous Australian restauranteur Andrew McConnell. The place is widely popular so I suggest making reservations if you want to give it a try. Overall, I thought the food was solid with a nice modern atmosphere, and efficient service. You start off with complimentary roasted pumpkins seeds which were a nice touch. They are highly addictive as I couldn't stop eating them! They offer a number of small plates for you to try various dishes so we ordered the shrimp cakes and selection of seafood on ice. We were here for lunch so didn't want to eat too much. The sesame crust on the shrimp cakes made for a nice crunch. The seafood on ice included a sampling of octopus, tuna sashimi, Australian abalone, etc. The seafoods were all OK. Nothing really stood out. For entree, we shared the slow cooked lamb shoulder. It's braised and cooked in what they called Yu Xiang Sauce. I have not had this type of preparation before so it was an interesting flavor. The lamb shoulder was a large portion and the meat was tender. The sauce is slightly spicy and is similar to Sichuan spices. It's really savory and probably best eaten with rice. Portion is large enough to be shared. read more

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Love this place. Great service and food. You can sit at the large bar and watch the kitchen staff, so it's perfect for solo travelers. They also can make most decisions half-portion so you can try more stuff. I had the brown butter scallop, lobster roll, lamb shoulder + eggplant, and peanut butter parfait. Everything was great but the lobster roll was probably my least favorite. I probably my least favorite. Kinda wish I had gone with a dumpling or bao bun. The lamb shoulder was the star of the show. The meat was tender and juicy and it was swimming in sauce and spices. Get a side of rice to soak up the sauce. Peanut butter parfait was a nice light dessert to finish off. 10/10 recommend this place! read more

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Super friendly staff and good food to beat. Went with the dumplings and lobster rolls. read more

My niece and I ate here about a week ago. The waiter suggested that we order four to five dishes for the two of us. We ordered three (plus dessert) which was sufficient. We stared with the prawn & chicken dumplings, which were good. They are supposed to be served with a chili and vinegar sauce, but I'm not a fan of spicy foods so I ate it without the sauce. I think my niece liked it better than I did as a result. We then had the duck bao - twice cooked duck leg, black vinegar & plum sauce - which was the star of the meal. There was a lot of meat on the duck leg, so much that we needed to ask for extra bao to go with. These were delicious. The third entree was the koshihikari rice claypot, with marinated shiitake & oyster mushrooms. This was disappointing. I liked the flavor of the rice, which was served hot, but the mushrooms were served cooked but almost chilly. I said something to the waiter and he said that they were not supposed to be hot. I would have enjoyed this dish if all the food were hot, but I ended up pushing the mushrooms to the side and only eating the rice. The dessert was outstanding. I'm not a fan of peanut butter desserts. (I like my peanut butter as part of a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, as it was meant to be.) But even I couldn't stop nibbling at the peanut butter parfait. On balance, if someone else was very eager to go here, I would go along, but I don't think I'd pick this place out for a return visit on my own. You definitely need a reservation. The atmosphere is modern and bustling. Wheelchair accessibility note: The bathroom is downstairs, but if you ask a staff member, there is an elevator in a staff area that will take you down to the bathroom. read more

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Supernormal gave us a top 5 meal of our lives and we could not recommend it enough. We visited twice on our honeymoon in November of 2025. Once wasn't enough! On our first stop in, we dropped by without a reservation and had a 50 minute wait. We took that time to walk around the neighborhood and appreciate the ample street art. We were seated at the bar where we could see all of the kitchen prep up close. It was so fun to see what steps they streamline vs when take the time to get the presentation just right. Our seating at this first dinner certainly played a role in our need to come back again two days later; we saw too many dishes we were determined to try! For our first dinner, we had the House-Made Kimchi, The Raw Beef, The Duck Bao, and the Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder. The Raw Beef: A hit among the starter options and the perfect light consumable to get us ready for our mains. House-Made Kimchi: We would skip this unless kimchi is a dish you love as we felt it was nothing special. The Duck Bao: cooked well and the plum sauce and black vinegar were the perfect pairing for the meat. The crust on the duck did make the dish a bit more difficult to eat and we are not sure it was necessary. While the dish was good, we do not think we would order again; there are just too many other great dishes! Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder: The absolute show-stopper and the reason we returned a second time. The Yuxiang Sichuan flavor profile really solidified Supernormal's command of balancing fusion cuisine. Also, this dish is MASSIVE and well worth the money spent. When we returned, we had the Moreton Bay Bug & Chicken Dumplings, Szechuan Crispy Chicken, Gippsland Striploin, Pink Lady Apple & Miso Soft Serve, and the Peanut Butter Parfait. Bay Bug & Chicken Dumplings: Delicious and well-balanced. Crispy Chicken: Another dish with a shockingly large portion. Served with spinach, this could have probably filled the two of us up just fine and we would have gone home plenty happy. Again, superior sauce work. Striploin: The pinnacle of this particular meal. The steak was cooked perfectly and the sauce was delicious but did not overwhelm. We would absolutely return for this melt-in-your-mouth perfection! Peanut Parfait: Exactly what you imagine it would taste like: rich and creamy! Pink Lady & Miso Soft Serve: The only true miss in our experience. The combination was good, if not for every diner's palette, but the balance between the two flavors was off. Since miso is such a strong savory flavor, an equal amount of it next to the Pink Lady entirely overwhelmed the apple. The balance would have, perhaps, been better at 1/4 miso 3/4 apple. read more

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Snagged seats at the counter before our theater performance at the last minute. What a bustling restaurant. And the food did not disappoint. We weren't really hungry but need some food for the evening so we concentrated on smaller bites. The scallops are to die for. We ordered two servings one for each of us. The prawn salad was tasty and so refreshing. The duck bao was sooo unique where you cut apart and shred the duck leg to fill your baos! A nice twist from traditional Peking duck serving! Wish we had more time to try more dishes. Sitting a the bar was fun and also very busy. Will return next time we are in town! read more

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Aesop soap in the bathrooms and a poki vending machine! The food and service were good. We came in for a light snack and tried some dumplings. Not always into fancy ambiance Chinese food but it was pretty good. read more

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Tried this restaurant since it was listed on my tour guide recommendations & I'm so glad I went! The atmosphere in the restaurant is very modern & pleasantly ascetic. I sat at the bar & it was nice & spacious. The servers gave some recommendations which were very helpful & told me since I was by myself they could adjust some of the portions of the food. All the food was delicious. The lobster roll was amazing! Duck bao had great flavor. A must try place! read more

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Supernormal is one of the best restaurants that I have experienced. We had a series of server selected small plates, each paired with a glass of wine selected by the sommelier. The flavors were exquisite and beautifully served. Our server was delightful and the service impeccable. Great energy throughout the restaurant. Overall....supurb. read more

Supernormal was so super, we dined there twice while in Melbourne. Offering a creative lineup of fresh Australian seafood, sushi style raw bar, Korean inspired small plates, dumplings, potstickers & Bao...it's the perfect Asian fusion menu. It's fun & hip. The space is open & contemporary. The long bar opening to the kitchen & cocktail area is exciting for people watching & observing all the action . The service is friendly & attentive. The cocktails, wine, beer & sake selections are vast & everything we tried was top notch. Here is what we tried: Prawn & Chicken Dumplings Potstickers Selection of seafood on ice Lobster roll Royal red Prawns Chilled mussels Bubbles, Sake & the house martini Everything was heavenly & ultra fresh! In addition to ordering ala carte you can also order a banquet menu. There is usually a short wait but trust me... wait , your tastebuds will be rewarded! read more

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The quality of our food was outstanding. I introduced two interstate friends - one who had not been to Supernormal for years, and they were very impressed. The service was also thorough and friendly. read more

One of the few places in Melbourne that can make a proper martini. Do you place your glasses in the freezer? Makes a huge difference. Also, if I were to describe your food in one word I would say "balance". Nowhere is this more evident than your kimchi. Excellent! read more

Brilliant food, service and atmosphere. Lobster rolls are a must.... So good we had two!!! Delicious cocktails as well!!

- got in on a Thursday night with no resey - no wifi - fats turnover and rushed service - I felt like a number - claypot was amazing - rest of the food was not memroable - drinks were tasty - hip music read more

Ordered the super delicious scallops. Gem lettuce salad was fresh, bright, and crunchy. Ordered the pork dumplings as well. They came with the crunchy cornstarch bit up on the top, which was also super delicious. Highly recommend if you're in the mood for a vibrant Asian inspired meal. read more

Supernormal - Scallops in butter and cucumber salad. - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Great food - everything we chose was delight. Duck for the bao was bit dry but lobster roll, dumplings, prawn salad and shittake chicken very nice read more

The current spring menu is delicious, and matched with exceptional staff and service makes for a very memorable experience

Came here on a date night and walked in without a reservation! Got lucky and sat at the chefs table. Views of the fast paced kitchen were cool. Food was high quality and reasonably priced: fish, lobster roll, Wagyu were the highlights. We're too full and had to cancel our chicken dish! read more

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Have eaten at Supernormal about four different times over as many years. While I have enjoyed the food, especially the famous lobster roll (yes, it is delicious), I have seen a steep decline in the overall service and attention to detail in the preparations since the pandemic. This is just a note to say that while there are some inventive, fun things on this menu, it may be time to step up the service and ensure that the food preparation is on point. It's a beautiful space, great concept, and when the dishes are prepared as they should be it is something special. Unfortunately, there is stiff competition in the very hot Melbourne dining scene and I am not sure I will be back with so many other compelling options in the immediate area. read more

The service and food was outstanding. And thank you so much for the champagne glasses for our anniversary. Have already recommended you to friends who will be in town for the F-1 races. read more

Food was all too spicy. I enjoy spicy food, but my lips were burning still 15 minutes after departing. But service was terrible. Ok we looked and are tourists. But first no-one came over to take our order. Next when we finished, had to TRY TO waive a waiter down to pay, by they stared past us . I had to go over to ask them to let us pay. And no apologies. This was 430pm, so not crowded. read more

Supernormal? More like Supergood! I went here, luggage still in hand, upon my friend's recommendation. Right away, I was ushered to a window spot and had my luggage whisked away to the wine cellar next to me. I was introduced to the menu, with my host helpfully providing several recommendations, including the Banquet (A$85) which I ended up splurging on. It was one of those treat yourself moments, and boy, was the entire banquet an Asian fusion treat! NORI CRACKER WITH SEARED TUNA: The tuna was sublime and nicely marinated on top of a crisp cracker. In hindsight, my cracker should have been black (based on other photos), but it was still the perfect one-biter! SZECHUAN PICKLED VEGETABLES: This was your standard pickled cucumbers, with some crunch and a kick from the Szechuan peppers. HERITAGE TOMATOES WITH SMOKED YOGURT AND BLACK BASIL: What a creative twist with the smoked yogurt - it almost had the mouthfeel of ricotta. The tomatoes were ripe yet firm and paired well with the acidity of the vinegar. PRAWN AND CHICKEN DUMPLINGS: These plump pockets of joy were juicy and thinly wrapped, with some heat from the sauce. The chicken has a stronger flavour than the prawn, but it's still delicately balanced. MARINATED CLAMS WITH DAIKON: With the Shaoxing wine, it was like I was eating drunken chicken but in clam form. The julienned daikons were nicely pickled, and I'm happy to report that there were clams in all four shells! SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHOULDER WITH EGGPLANT, SHREDDED CABBAGE, AND RICE: This was the main course and did its job of filling me up after the small plates. The lamb, which fell off easily, and the eggplant both absorbed the rich sauce like a sponge, and tasted delightful with the shredded cabbage and rice.  PEANUT BUTTER PARFAIT WITH SALTED CARAMEL AND SOFT CHOCOLATE: Although there was too much caramel for my liking, the dessert was very fragrant with the peanuts and had a nice consistency. I do think a subdued version, perhaps with more Asian influence, would have been a better choice. Bonus points for a chilled plate though!  Yes, A$85 is a lot for a meal, but Supernormal gave me an experience to remember. I was blown away by each course, impressed by the service, and left as a extremely satisfied patron. It was one of the best meals that I had in Melbourne! read more

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Just the best. Great food, flexible with serving sizes (I was a party of one), top service, lovely buzz but not too loud. Visiting Melbourne for a weekend and I came twice! read more

My second time in Melbourne and my second time here. It is a must. Fun, relaxed and on point. I specifically want to call out the host Cameron who managed to fit us in on a totally booked night. He made us welcome, he made it work, he knows exactly what he is doing. Food is obviously stunning, but truly good service makes the food taste great, not just good. read more

Supernormal - Tuna carpaccio from the raw bar .. - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Meringue citrus dessert was very good, as was the pork dumplings that weren't on the menu. The crunchy thing on top was a great addition. But they kept forgetting what we ordered and that was a bit annoying. Also there is no single duck bao option and that's annoying too. read more

The third time I have been here. Amazing as usual. Food, service, the personal attention provided by the staff. 5-stars.

Good food. Definitely overhyped though. It's great food, good drinks and atmosphere but nothing out of the ordinary for Melbourne now which has so many great eateries! read more

Not impressed. I expected a lot more from this place despite the high reviews from mutual helpers but visiting Melbourne, I was encouraged to try Supernormal for their asian fusion menu. Here's why I'm not impressed: Bar seating was quick but food took a while to come out. We ordered the Noodle Salad, Chicken and Shrimp Dumplings, Duck Bao and a side of Gai Lan. The noodle salad came out first and we finished that. After waiting 20 minutes for the next entree to come out the waiter asked me if I was thinking about dessert - wait what? What about the 3 other things that I just ordered? It seems as if they entirely forgotten the other items and we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next 3 items to come out. The Noodle Salad was more on the salty side, the duck skin for the Duck Bao was extremely salty and even the Gai Lan (which should be more stems than leaves by the way, considering that's the expensive part of this overall cheap veggie) was salty. I think this restaurant over did it with the salt. Lastly, the prices were not worth the performance of the dishes and the service. It definitely made me feel more on the "hey this is overpriced" side. Wouldn't return as we can easily get better Chinese food in Chinatown. Positives: Aesop in the bathroom, nice ambience, great wine selection. read more

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Love this spot in Melbourne. We sat toward the end the bar which is much quieter and really liked the place. I think the lighting is actually better along the bar vs. the main dining room. This place runs like a machine. Everything is well organized. Multiple dishes made with the same ingredients by the same person with care and veracity. The presentation of the dishes and curation of the ingredients are fantastic. MUST GET: Soy based tuna with avocado - we saw the next table getting this and looked amazing and had to order it ourselves. The proportion is just right. The tuna is perfectly season (not too salty) with the crunchy radish and soft avocado. The lovage sauce with ginger is out of this world. Phenomenal dish. Peanut butter parfait with chocolate soft served ice cream and salted caramel - I am suspicious of any dessert that had caramel given that it's usually too sweet 95% of the time. This one was perfect. The peanut butter parfait was moist and structured in texture but not too soft. The caramel blends in incredibly well. And the chocolate ice cream was perfectly perched and added another layer of complexity to the flavor. SOLID: Mustard greens - love the greens in this dish. Mustard greens, radicchio, and wakame - earthy greens with a tad of bitterness (which I loved). The seasoning could be a bit more massaged into the greens for this one. The top part of the salad was under seasoned. Oysters - we ordered the Sydney rock oysters. Fresh. But one could probably order these in any top restaurants. Szhechuan chicken salad with sesame and chili oil - pretty good but not inventive. Solid flavors of Szechuan cuisine. SKIP: Szechuan pickled vegetables. Just a normal dish. Nothing spectacular. Vegetable dumplings - liked the presentation and texture. The flavor is a bit bland - can use a splash of chili oil on this one. I also liked the herb perched on top of the dumplings. read more

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Food was cool. Price was good. Service was amazinggggg! Really cool ambiance as well.

If you order right, can be a really great meal. Loved the sesame bread with avocado dip and the lamb shoulder with eggplant, which was served in a spicy Szechuan-esque sauce. The fried custard with ginger sauce was delicious but one piece is all you need so better to share an order with a few people. Snack of Szechuan pickles was very average, as was the scallop on Nori cracker. read more

Hmm. I was pretty disappointed in Supernormal and I think it had way more to do with the experience and the cost of everything than the taste of the food itself. The main thing -- the ridiculous wait time. We arrived at 7pm on a Saturday night and were told in no uncertain terms we'd be seated after 9:15pm at the earliest. So a two hour and fifteen minute wait. That's ludicrous, even for a Saturday night in the CBD. Supernormal is a popular, trending Melbourne restaurant, and people in Melbourne jump on the "trendy" bandwagon like no other Australian city. Which means long queues at trendy restaurants that don't take bookings, and restaurant managers/workers who don't give a crap if that annoys you because they're smugly confident someone else will be willing to take your place. So you sigh and suck it up and wait the 2+ hours on an uncomfortable chair with people constantly bumping into you as they walk past and you sip on an overpriced wine or beer, trying desperately to make it last the full wait time so you don't get wasted on alcohol on an empty stomach before you're even seated. Australians, don't put up with it!! If we all voiced our objections to the ludicrous "no bookings for small groups" policy at popular restaurants and voted with our feet out the door, we'd all have a much nicer dining scene in Melbourne. Restaurants can give up the reserved table if you don't turn up within 5 minutes and turnover will still be high and they'll still make their money. I dunno, I just feel like Australians are willing to put up with a lot of poor customer service that people in other countries aren't. The food here is not amazing enough to put up with a 2+ hour wait due to a no bookings policy. So yeah, rant over, that was my main gripe. Also, the place was loud and didn't feel "special" -- for the price we paid and the special occasion (it was a friend's birthday), the atmosphere was too crowded, cramped, dark, and noisy. Service was also poor. We had two different waiters due to a shift change halfway through our meal, and there was a lot of confusion about what we ordered. THREE TIMES, the wrong food was brought to our table. Three times! For the amount we paid per head ($80+), it's pretty inexcusable for these kinds of mistakes to keep happening. I wouldn't care so much except that it's a waste of food when you start touching the dish assuming it's yours and then it can't be served to the other table. On to the food. We were a group of four and ordered a bunch of stuff to share, which is par for the course here. Two of us are vegan and one vegetarian-leaning and one meat-eating, so we got a mix of things. Supernormal is vegan-friendly and the waiter knew right off the bat what we could and couldn't eat, which was awesome. We got: - Purple sprouting broccoli, smoked potato, miso and furikake (mostly because we enjoyed saying "furikake") - Vegetable dumplings (2 servings, 12 pieces) - New England lobster rolls (1 for the meat-eater, 3 with tofu for the rest of us) - Some fish thing for the meat-eater, some tofu thing for us - Sauteed greens in a black bean sauce - Steamed rice - House sake The flavours were pretty awesome, except for the vegetable dumplings, which were bland a.f. I could've ordered some veggie dumplings anywhere in Chinatown for a fraction of the cost and they would've tasted better. The "lobster rolls" (ours were identical to the meat-eater's, just with marinated tofu on the inside) were heavenly. This is Supernormal's signature dish and even if you're not a tofu fan, don't worry -- this is amazingly delicious. If I went back I would probably just order like 4 of these and some rice and call it a day, lol. Really really good. The purple sprouting broccoli and potato was nice, and the greens were OK. The sake was nice and went down nice and smooth. All in all, the food was nice and the flavours were definitely "gourmand," but I would never go back again and pay $80+ per head for what I ate, ESPECIALLY given the almost 2.5-hour wait and the crappy service and the food screw-ups three times. read more

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Every dish here was a winner! We stumbled upon this place as we were walking along looking for a place to eat and were fortunate enough to get a table without waiting, but likely because we were there very early. Highly recommend this Japanese fusion restaurant and will be back for another meal read more

Some of the best Asian food I've ever experienced in my life! Super trendy, contemporary & neon styled restaurant with dim lighting during dinner service. We were brought complimentary roasted pumpkin seeds for snacking before the meal. Items were brought out tapas style with raw bar specials and extensive wine list. They constantly change up the menu so you're sure to grab plenty of items while they last!! Entire menu was created to be shareable between 2 or more people. This bowl included snails, clams, kingfish & lobster with their asian inspired mignonette and it didn't disappoint! read more

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Melbourne is the place for Asian fusion dining and Supernormal did not disappoint. Had the set menu for one. Waitress was flexible to substitute Kingfish for clams. Sometimes these testing menus are hit/miss, but I enjoyed every course read more

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"I make wine disappear. What's your super power?" If you love wine you have to try a wine bar in Australia! 20 by the glass backed by 250 selections by the bottle, half Australian, the rest old world. Wine snobs covered but the real fun is in discover. Australian gin and whisky. Sake, shochu, and libations from around the world. Jovial atmosphere but far from hipster. This isn't NoCal "chic". Oh and they also serve food. In general, the food is Australian Asian in a contemporary style with a simplicity and boldness of flavor. Unlike American wine bars, not all dishes are designed not to pair with wine. Some require drinking it as an essential component. For example, the whole snapper in burnt butter topped with mustard leaves and a toothsome shaved konbu. Natural glutamates from the kelp bring out the a gentle sweetness in the delicate flesh. The nutty butter adds an earthy richness. It too screams for an acidic zing of a racy white and could easily support the stone fruit, citrus notes. The same can be said for the Typhoon Shelter prawns, giant, split, grilled finished in a brown herb butter. Firm, just cooked through, incredibly sweet flesh. Again, the acidic component is lacking and begs for any racy acidic white. For a pairing, the prawn and chicken dumpling with chili and vinegar sauce, very good. Not straight up Chinese, the wrap is more toothsome, the filling flavorful with a soft texture. The chili sauce brings the dish together. A slight charred, burnt taste from being cooked out in the chili oil adds an incredible depth of flavor that, along with the vinegar, brings the dish together. Its earthiness and bold flavor pairs beautifully with a spicy shiraz. Very reasonable pricing. Bottle prices range from 70 - 300AUD with the average bottle at 100AUD. Very friendly, knowledgeable service. Worthy way to experience another dimension of Australia's foodie scene and show off your super power. read more

Really great atmosphere and ambiance. However, I felt that the servicing sizes were a tad small. Would go again!

The staff were amazingly attentive. Food was delicious and as this is not our usual choice of restaurant we're so glad we tried it out as it was an all round fantastic dining experience. read more

Great buzz to this restaurant with lobster roll on my " last supper" list.High ratio of kitchen & floor staff to customers ensures exemplary service read more