Red Piggy

The Verdict

Say a warm welcome to Melbourne’s newest rooftop bar and restaurant.

Red Piggy brings a twist on traditional south-east Asian flavours, with their share-style menu. If you’re a sharer and with a group, we recommend choosing the ‘feed me’ option, mainly because you get five dishes each and you won’t want to stop eating.

The menu is relaxed but packs a punch with zingy and bright flavours—think crispy rockling fillet with a coconut and jackfruit salad, slow-cooked lamb neck in a rich Thai red curry, served with sticky rice, and crispy rice paper prawn cups topped with a cashew and rambutan pistou (rambutans are like the spikier cousin to lychees).

You can thank their head chef Kim-Maree Moore for the fresh-to-death menu—she’s got more than 20 years of experience in some of the best Australian and Indonesian restaurants. Queenslanders would be familiar with her old workplaces, like The Gunshop Café and Harveys, and more locally she has worked for Botherambo and Mahalo Poké. There’s a spicy theme here.

On the drinks side of things, you can’t ignore the extensive cocktail list. An obvious choice to start the night comes in the form of The Party Starter, which blends gin, Spice Royale, lime juice, Angostura Bitter and almond essence. Quirky but it works.

If you’re after something lighter, then give the East Meet West a go. It’s a tasty concoction of Bacardi 151, soju, Soho, lime juice, cranberry juice and crushed mint. Sorry wallet, I’m buying five.

Weather permitting, opt to sit outside, under the fairy lights to get killer views of Swanston Street and St Paul’s Cathedral. We can see Red Piggy becoming the place to be on hot summer nights.

Image credit: Annika Kafcaloudis