POW Kitchen

One of Melbourne'e best kept secrets, The Bandroom Balcony at Prince Of Wales houses an extremely delicious Southern Asian eatery and bar, POW Kitchen. 

The drinks menu features a comprehensive selection of brews from the tap or tin; several wines by glass and bottle; and a stunning array of cocktails. If you like your cocktails with a bit of bite, we recommend the Tom Yum Rum - a heady mix of white rum, lemongrass, ginger and chilli. It's not for the faint-hearted and really packs a punch.

On the food front, Executive Chef Daniel Hawkins is turning heads with a flavour-laden menu of enticing Southern Asian street style dishes, curries and delectable desserts. We loved tasting our way through the menu.

To start, the Sichuan salted tofu is a mixture of sweet, sour and salinity that makes your mouth water. We loved the balanced flavours and the textural element that the tofu delivers. Just beautiful! Another showstopper is the Coal grilled kingfish collar - This dish transported us to the streets of Thailand - there is a beautiful smokey barbecue flavour to this charred dish and the crisp chilli relish and Asian herbs are a flavour bomb.

For mains, do not go past the Kalbi Jim with Korean style beef short ribs served with shitake and pine nut. The beef short rib was stunning - Tender, falling off the bone, juicy and packed with flavour. A memorable dish combining flawless texture with equally superlative flavours, it was particularly noteworthy for its fragrant and complex beefy flavour.

Dessert time continues to excite at POW Kitchen. Think Vietnamese coffee creme caramel with crispy pandan noodles and Black sticky rice with sweet mango and coconut sorbet. It's all good.

Authentic flavours from Southern Asia with prices that won't hurt the hip pocket, a passport­proud selection of beers on tap, cocktails and wine, POW Kitchen is a compelling proposition.

Location: 29 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Phone: (03) 9536 1180
Link: http://princebandroom.com.au/pow-kitchen/