Tiny room, huge ambitions – exclusive Noodle Room coming to Dairy Road
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Fire-cooked dishes, dry-aged duck and beef, and the freshest of raw seafood is on the menu in a new chef-centred dining experience coming to Fyshwick.
The team behind Ramen Daddy and Canteen, John Leverink and Eddie Tsai, are bringing to life a tiny but lofty dream of a ten-seater omakase style dining room which promises to be inventive, intimate and seriously high-end.
Construction is due to start at the end of this month with a plan to open the first quarter of next year.
At less than 50 square metres, it’s not a lot of space to make over, but the specs are high end.
The space is next to Canteen in the former furniture and leather making shop. And while the pair’s Ramen Daddy and Canteen credentials might have you anticipating another casual noodle fix, this project is heading somewhere altogether more rarefied.
Think bespoke details, dry-ageing fridges and cooking over fire. The vision is a multi-course, ultra-fine-dining experience that feels a world away from the warehouse precinct outside.
With a discreet entrance and a separate exit, Noodle Room is a dimly lit space where Eddie will stand at the heart of the operation.
“You can say that it is very loosely inspired on the Omakase experience, but rather than promise a traditional progression of dishes, we will be following our own instincts, and doing things in a more inventive way,” says John.
“We will be aiming for a little more freedom and creativity”.
While the concept maintains centring Eddie in the middle of the action, and including raw dishes and a strong seafood presence, John is excited about the dry-aged duck and beef dishes, and the fire-driven cooking processes, which are all part of the picture at Noodle Room — if not traditional omakase menus.
“We want to make it much more our style,” he says.
And yes, there will be noodles. The name is a clue, but clearly not the whole story! The noodle machine is being moved into a corner of the compact space, and noodles and ramen are intended to find their way onto a menu that is not bound by convention.
With the fit out designed by Melbourne architect Craig Tan, who worked on Canteen, there is a dark entrance antechamber before diners enter the small dining room and leave through a separate exit – the whole experience exuding discretion and a little bit of mystery.
Branding is by Swell and John says he and Eddie are going all out to create Canberra’s most exclusive and fine-dining experience.
While John accepts that cost-of-living pressures can make fine dining a precarious business proposition, he reasons that such a tiny place will not be as daunting to fill.
“We want this to be incredibly special and when diners come here we want them to feel they are transported into another world, not in a warehouse at Dairy Road.”
Having spent 18 months thinking through every aspect of the project, John and Eddie are itching to break ground in the coming weeks.
“This is completely different to anything we have done and even though it is tiny, we have put so much thought into every square inch of the place. We are excited to get cracking!”
