Swanston Street staple Noodle Kingdom is no more. The Sze family’s beloved restaurant has passed down to daughter Tiffy who has transformed the space into what is now Mr Kwok, an homage to her father as part of the newly formed Next Week Group, and a push towards the LanZhou and Gansu regions of China and it’s many flavours. What’s more is that this new opening is accompanied by a sister bar to the building’s popular Goldilocks rooftop, fashioned as a “a place to drink for the not quite mad, not quite bad, but quite possible a little dangerous”, going by the curious name, House of Correction.
Former Eau De Vie mixologist will man House of Corrections’ extensive bar with food taken from the Mr Kwok menu, while the new Chinese restaurant will operate nearby, introducing a few Melbourne flourishes to Noodle Kingdom favourites.
Family recipes and Gansu cuisine from the insland North Western region of China will define the majority of the menu, Tiffy working alongside wandering chef Laura Melville to produce a menu that includes handmade dumplings, noodles pulled to order (right up until 3am weekdays and 5am weekends) and other delights such as vegetable and mushroom steamed buns, LanZhou beef noodle soup (a signature of Tiffys with unlimited broth top ups), and side dishes like pigs ears.
Mr Kwok & House of Correction
Address: 264 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Hours:
Mr Kwok – Sun-Thurs 11am-3:30am; Fri-Sat 11am-5am
House of Correction – 7 days; 4pm-3am (note that House of Correction will open to the public from Feb 8th)
All images taken by Kimberley Salmond for the AU review. Words by Chris Singh.
———-
