Supernormal Melbourne: What We Liked At This Fusion Spot

During our visit to Melbourne, Australia, I made reservations to dine at Supernormal, a restaurant specializing in fusion flavors.

First Friday Feast is a monthly series debuting on the first Friday of each month and elaborates on a recent dining experience. For avoidance of doubt, this post was in no way sponsored by the restaurant.

We’ve been trying to have a date night each month this year (and post about it on the first Friday of every month). Sometimes we bring the kids along for date night and sometimes they stay at home. But that’s fine by us–the kids are more than welcome to tag along if they want. This time, we decided to have a nice dinner during our trip to Melbourne, Australia.

Arrival to Supernormal (Melbourne, VIC, Australia)

Official link to Supernormal: https://supernormal.net.au/melbourne

Supernormal is just a short walk away from our hotel, but it’s also easily accessible from many hotels given the free public transit Melbourne has in its center. And while we could have also taken the light rail a stop or two to get here, we instead decided walking was more peaceful.

The restaurant almost felt like it was in a dimly-lit, back alley. But thankfully, it never felt scary to walk with how crowded the streets were with pedestrians. And on the window are a pair of neon red cherries with eyes, suggesting we made it to the right place.

Those cherries are looking at you walking by

I made a reservation on their website, which was absolutely necessary for dinner given how packed the restaurant was. Shortly after checking in, we were shown to our table. The restaurant, which specializes in Asian flavors, seemed popular with both Asians and non-Asians.

Our table had a view of the kitchen behind us and the kids immediately started figuring out what they would want to eat.

The menu

On the cover of the menu is another cherry eyeball, which continued the theme of the restaurant. Rather than coming as a book, you simply unfold the menu to see all the options for food.

In terms of cuisine, it seemed more like a fusion rather than deriving completely from one culture. On the menu were elements of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. There were even items that weren’t from Asia (like New England lobster rolls). For a fusion place, I certainly don’t mind it, though I would question it if the restaurant tried to pass itself off as a particular cuisine. The name is written in Japanese Katakana, but don’t take that to mean it’s a Japanese restaurant.

The lefthand side of the menu is the a la carte selection while the righthand side describes a pre fixe meal.

The drinks all came in a separate menu. Much of the menu contains alcoholic drink options but the last two pages have non-alcoholic drinks.

Drinks

Before we get into the drinks themselves, look at how cute the coasters are. They only handed these out for the adults who ordered drinks, making the kids a little jealous.

We ordered two drinks: a Supernormal Sling and a Fifth Avenue. The Supernormal Sling was very similar to a Singapore Sling in that they’re both gin-based. But the difference is more in the underlying flavor–the Singapore Sling is more pineapple-based while the Supernormal Sling is mango-based. It’s modestly sweet, making it refreshing to drink.

The Fifth Avenue is a combination of bourbon, raspberry and rosé. Bourbon has that strong taste, which is the case for this one. You could probably tell that means it’s my drink and not Jenn’s. The rosé made the drink a little bubbly and lighter, so I thought it was easy to drink, but if you’re not a bourbon fan, you might not agree.

The food at Supernormal

Korean rice cakes

Let’s start with the Korean rice cakes, which came out first. These rice cakes are fried all around, taste like they’re sauteed in soy sauce, and sprinkled with sesame seeds and sweet chili. They’re chewy like you’d expect rice cakes to be. This is a dish where Jenn and I disagreed on our assessment of it. I liked them as a simple snack, though they are filling since they’re made from rice. Jenn didn’t like them as much because she was hoping for thinner, oblong discs that weren’t fried. For her, the fried part removed some of the fun from eating them.

Lobster roll

When you go to a restaurant that serves plenty of Asian food, you would naturally order the lobster roll, right? I’m of course speaking facetiously, but we were hoping for some big chunks of lobster. While the sandwich was mostly comprised of lobster, it was also pretty small. Maybe that’s just the expectation these days with how much things cost, but for $24 AUD (~$17 USD), we were hoping for something a little larger. It’s snack-sized and you’re not going to get full just eating one on your own unless you’re a light eater. Flavor is good though!

Bass Strait scallop roasted in kelp butter

These roasted scallops come in a beautiful scallop shell. Each of these were priced at $12 AUD (~$9 USD), making them a tad expensive. The flavor of these were distinctly Asian, with some bits of roasted seaweed on them. If you’re a fan of scallops, the taste and texture are both good. But I still didn’t consider them the best scallops I’ve ever had, which were from dining at the Ritz Carlton Maldives.

Szechuan white cut chicken

Looking for something simple that the kids might enjoy? Consider ordering the white cut chicken, which came with plenty of fried shoestring potatoes on top. The chicken is modestly flavored with sesame atop a small bed of spinach. You might think of Szechuan cooking as being spicy, but despite its name, it isn’t all that spicy. Thus, if you’re looking for something that the kids might want who otherwise would be picky, this one works. Both Jenn and I found it a little on the bland side.

Pan-fried pork dumplings

These dumplings are exactly as you would expect and want. Pan-fried dumplings come in groups of 6 here and are crispy on the bottom, soft on the top, and juicy inside. The flavor of the pork inside was also pretty standard, which isn’t a bad thing when you’re craving dumplings. On the side is some Xinjiang spiced vinegar, which was a little tangy and a good offset to the dumplings.

Duck bao

Here’s something that ends up a bit different than you expected and likely it’s because you’re at a fusion restaurant. When you order Peking duck, you have a generally good idea of what you’re getting. In fairness, it wasn’t described as “Peking” but the plum sauce was a hint as to what you’re getting.

This duck was twice-baked and our server mentioned how it’s a popular dish, so why not try it? But this variant is covered in a layer of what tasted like a slightly burnt flour coating. Crack through that shell and you’ll get the familiar duck you’re looking for. It’s just that shell itself that could be a little off-putting if you’re not really expecting it. We weren’t a fan of the exterior, and this isn’t a traditional version of the dish, but it can work if you’re looking for duck and something that reminds you of Peking duck. Just don’t expect it to fully satisfy your cravings.

Rice and nori

Sometimes you just feel like eating white rice and nori. That’s what happened with our daughter Char. White rice is simple enough to order at any Asian restaurant, but the question was the nori. Normally you won’t find a line item for nori, but when you see it as an ingredient, you might be in luck. Sometimes it comes in sheets and sometimes it’s already in strips or smaller.

In this case, it came in sheets, which worked perfectly for us. Char enjoys eating some onigiri. And that’s exactly how she ate it, wrapping up the rice into the seaweed to make a nice snack. We never expect getting this for free and they mentioned it would show up on the check at the end, but we ended up not charged.

The Sunday surcharge…

If you’re not familiar with dining in Australia, first of all, welcome to the country. A common occurrence you’ll see on any menu is a reference to a surcharge on prices on Sundays. Just take a look at the bottom of this menu, where a 10% surcharge is disclosed.

Why is this the case? In Australia, certain workers including those in hospitality earn more money for working Sundays and holidays. Australians called this surcharge “penalty rates”, which were reduced in 2017, and were intended to compensate workers for not being able to relax on the weekend. It was meant to be a way to ensure employees aren’t taken advantage of. But the rules inspired some companies to just not operate on Sundays to control costs.

What you’ll find for those that remain in operation on Sunday is that a surcharge for dining on Sunday is common. Disclosures are everywhere, and some add on a surcharge for Saturdays too. They pass the cost onto you as a consumer.

We dined here on a Sunday, and our bill was about $20 AUD higher because of it. What are you going to do as a visitor? Not eat anything? If it truly matters to you, seek out restaurants that do not charge extra on Sundays. Simple, right?

Recommendation: Yes and no

I’m a bit waffling on my recommendation of Supernormal Melbourne. While we weren’t a fan of some of the flavors, that’s not to say that the quality isn’t there and clearly it’s a popular restaurant. I’d say you might enjoy it if you’re specifically looking for some Pan-Fusion (or Asian-fusion, however you want to say it). On the other hand, if you’re coming here expecting traditional dishes, you might walk away feeling a little unsatisfied.

We’ve been to some Asian-fusion restaurants before where the food is poorly done. But that’s not the case here. Rather, the food all is well-executed, but it didn’t align with what we were expecting coming in. It’s deliberately fusion food, which is great if you’re into a blend of cuisines or even just want something a bit more familiar.

food.wada.travel

experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children