Okra is considered as a pioneer and mature semi fine dining restaurant located in one of the most popular suburbs in Melbourne, Hawthorn since 2001.
They offer Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian dishes into an irresistible Southeast Asian dishes.
All dishes are prepared expertly and meticulously by head chef Michael Tiu.
We’re glad to be invited to come and have food experience at Okra.

The restaurant has the intimate look and feel with clean and neat table settings.
The manager was funny and entertaining; Customer staffs were very attentive, fast and efficient;
They won’t let your table full of dirty plates, they’ll clean up your table as soon as you finish your dish.
The vibe and atmosphere were cosy and romantic.
Complimentary side dish – crackers will be served as soon as you have ordered the dishes.

Okra has a newly opened sister’s restaurant specialising in Vietnamese food, Pho Anh located in Camberwell.
Check out on Pho Anh, Camberwell if you want to know more about their amazing Vietnamese dishes.

Entree

• Tangy oyster | shooter
  Fresh oyster served in shoot glass, the taste was refreshing, flavourful and not too strong.
  What a great way to start off your food journey.
  
• Braised ox tongue in star anise and spices.
  The portion was generous; The ox tongue was perfectly cooked and well seasoned.
  It was tender, juicy and not dry. Loved this dish.
  The taste was also balance and not too strong.
  

  Braised ox tongue in star anise and spices

• Five-spice soft shell crab
  One of our most favourite dishes for tonight. Again the portion was generous.
  The soft shell crab was perfectly deep fried, it wasn’t greasy.
  It was very crunchy on the outside and had a nice texture. Fried shallot sprinkled on the top to add more flavours.
  The taste was balance and seasoned perfectly.
  Each component of spices played different role to enrich this delicate dish.
  Definitely MUST TRY dish!
  
• Duck san choi bao | stir-fried duck mince on lettuce leaves
  The stir-fried mince duck served on lettuce leaves and sauce on the side to enhance the flavour.
  Honestly, We loved the stir-fried duck mince by itself because it was well seasoned and had balance taste already.
  From our point of view, the overall taste would ruin by adding the sauce on top of this stir-fried duck because it would make the taste slightly too strong and sweet.
  However, If you’re the sweet dish or like strong taste dish; You would definitely enjoy this dish with the sauce.
  

  Duck san choi bao

In this adventure, we wanted to try different dish from different cuisines (Malaysian, Thai, Indo).

• Massaman beef curry with nuts, potato and basil
  The dish was beautifully made and had rich taste. The meat was so tender, soft and juicy.
  All spices immersed perfectly inside the meat
  The curry was outstanding and flavourful! It wasn’t too thick or heavy which kept you going to enjoy this beautiful dish.
  
  

  Massaman beef curry with nuts, potato and basil

  

  Massaman beef curry with nuts, potato and basil
• Pad Thai | rice noodles with chicken, prawns, bean shoots and peanuts
  The portion of this dish was so generous, noodle was cooked well.
  Overall, their Pad Thai dish was good but not outstanding as we’ve had better Pad Thai on other places; However, the taste was still above the average.
  
• Tumis balacan okra with chilli shrimp paste
  Hands down to this dish! It’s the best okra dish we’ve ever tried.
  MUST TRY!!
  

  Tumis balacan okra with chilli shrimp paste

Finally, it’s dessert time:

• Sticky black rice with custard, palm sugar syrup and coconut ice cream.
  The dessert was beautifully made;
  On the side, two generous scoops of coconut ice cream which weren’t too sweet.
  We truly enjoyed every scoop of this dessert and clean up this dessert plate.
  Very creative and delicious dessert!! Highly highly recommended …
  

  Sticky black rice with custard, palm sugar syrup and coconut ice cream

Overall, definitely worth of penny to spend on this restaurant if you’re visiting Okra.
The portion was generous, top-notch taste and great vibe / atmosphere; So what are you waiting for?
Let’s go Okra when you’re around Hawthorn.

Note: We’d like to say thank you to Lawrence and Okra’s team for having us.

Disclaimer: Honest opinions expressed here are purely on our own and are based on our experience at that time

Yay: Tangy oyster, Braised ox tongue, Duck san choi bao, Massaman beef curry, Tumis balacan okra, Sticky black rice
Nay: N/A

Taste: 4.5

#whatepieats 

Location: 159 Camberwell Road, Hawthorn, Melbourne
Phone: 03 8658 3132
Website: okrarestaurant.com.au