Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page said six restaurants had been “tested”, described staff, rooms and meals that MELBZ never observed, and printed prices we could not find on the venues’ own menus. It has been rewritten. Every place below was checked against its own current website or menu, its address was confirmed at a second, independent source, and every price was copied from the venue’s own menu on 1 October 2026.
Brunswick’s best Asian food sits along Sydney Road: Thai curries and a Malaysian laksa at Tom Phat, a modern Thai menu at Rin Sura, bún chả Hà Nội and phở at Hanoi Rose, and two ramen bars, Misoya for miso and Shujinko for tonkotsu. Cross to East Brunswick Village for Korean mandu and meat feasts at Dodam. Each pick below decodes the menu one dish at a time and gives the listed price, so a first visit starts with the right order.
Sydney Road is an easy strip to work: tram route 19 runs the length of it from the city, and five of these six kitchens sit on it between number 62 and number 206. Menus change, so give them a squiz before you head out.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Order this first | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysian laksa, Thai curries | Tom Phat | Malaysian laksa special, chicken | $24 |
| Modern Thai | Rin Sura | Traditional pad thai with king prawns | $32 |
| Vietnamese phở and bún chả | Hanoi Rose | Bún chả Hà Nội | $32 |
| Miso ramen | Misoya Sake Bar | Misoya Special Ramen | $27 |
| Tonkotsu ramen, open late | Shujinko Brunswick | Shujinko Tonkotsu Ramen | Menu board only |
| Korean mandu and meat feasts | Dodam, Brunswick East | Handmade mandu | See its own menu |
Tom Phat — 184 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Tom Phat calls itself Sydney Road’s neighbourhood eatery since 2004 and describes its food as South East Asian-inspired fusion, with a special focus on Thai. Its own site says there is no MSG in the food and that its beef and chicken come from certified halal suppliers. The menu is built to share: Shanghai dumplings (pork, steamed to order, in black vinegar and chilli oil) are $12, grilled roti with house-made peanut satay sauce is $12, pad kra pao (minced Angus beef stir-fried with Thai basil and chillies, a fried egg on top, with rice) is $28, and rendang beef is $32. Thai mango sticky rice is $16 to finish.
Decoder: laksa is a coconut-curry noodle soup from Malaysia and Singapore; Tom Phat’s version uses hokkien noodles with a crispy-noodle and shallot garnish.
Menu says: Malaysian laksa, listed as a special, $22 with tofu, $24 with chicken, $26 with prawn.
Order this first: the laksa with chicken, $24, because it is the dish that shows the kitchen’s Malaysian side. Specials rotate, so check it is still on.
Rin Sura — 206 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Rin Sura calls itself a modern Thai restaurant, and its menu pairs Thai curries with cuts such as wagyu beef cheek and lamb shank. The wagyu beef cheek massaman curry is $34, and so is the braised lamb shank panang curry.
Decoder: massaman is a mild curry built on dry spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, often with peanuts; panang is a thicker relative of red curry.
Region: the menu names one region, for the san choi bau gai, “Southern Thai hot chicken mince” in baby cos leaves, $20.
How to order: for two or more, the Rin Sura Tour is a five-dish chef’s selection at $58 a head (minimum two guests). The menu adds a 10% surcharge on Saturdays and Sundays.
Order this first: traditional pad thai with barbecued king prawns, egg, crushed nut and roasted chilli, $32.
Hanoi Rose — 161 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Hanoi Rose’s own menu says no MSG is added in its cooking and that its beef and chicken come from Halal certified suppliers. Sliced beef phở is $22 and the vegan phở is $21.50. The charcoal-grilled chicken on a rice vermicelli bowl is $25, and the crispy roast pork belly bánh mì is $14.50. Its booking form says it is closed on Tuesdays.
Decoder: phở is a rice-noodle soup in a clear, spiced broth; bún chả is grilled pork with cold rice vermicelli, fresh herbs and a light fish-sauce dressing, eaten by dipping noodles and herbs into the bowl of pork.
Region: the menu names one city, Hà Nội, in its bún chả Hà Nội.
Order this first: bún chả Hà Nội, charcoal-grilled pork belly and meat balls, $32, the dish the restaurant’s name points at.
Misoya Sake Bar — 165A Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Broadsheet describes Misoya as a small shop that specialises in miso ramen on a chicken or vegetarian broth base. Its online ordering menu lists the Misoya Special Ramen at $27, in two versions: white, egg noodles in a chicken paitan soup flavoured with Saikyou miso, and red, the same base with Hacchou miso. Vegan miso ramen on rice noodles is $29, the miso tsukemen is $29, gyoza are $15 and the yuzu-marinated tori karaage is $17.
Decoder: Saikyo miso is a pale, sweet rice miso; Hatcho miso is a dark, long-aged soybean miso. Tsukemen is ramen deconstructed: cold noodles served apart from a thick sauce you dip them into.
How to order: pick white or red first, then your chilli oil; the menu sells its spicy oil in levels 1 to 3.
Order this first: Misoya Special Ramen, $27. Start with the white if you have not had Hatcho miso before.
Shujinko Brunswick — 62 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
The Brunswick branch of Shujinko describes itself as a dedicated ramen and sake bar, and its own page lists hours until midnight. The house bowl is tonkotsu: its page describes a broth made from pork bones cooked for twelve hours, with aburi pork belly, bean shoots, scallion, black fungus and seaweed. The karakuchi ramen is the spiced version of the same broth, and the Black Ramen blends bonito with tonkotsu.
Decoder: tonkotsu is a pork-bone broth boiled hard until it turns cloudy; aburi means the pork is seared with a flame just before serving.
Menu says: the Shujinko Tonkotsu Ramen, which the restaurant calls its most ordered bowl at Brunswick. Its prices are published only as menu images, so we have not printed them here.
Order this first: the Shujinko Tonkotsu Ramen; the restaurant’s own page says it is the bowl to order on a first visit.
Dodam — Retail 2/7 Bluestone Way, Brunswick East VIC 3057
Just over the border in East Brunswick Village, Dodam was reported by Broadsheet on 31 July 2025 as opening the next night, and it has since marked its first anniversary. Broadsheet reported hand-pulled noodles in a beef noodle soup at lunch, mandu filled with pork or with cabbage, carrots, chives, mushroom and tofu, and grilled-meat “Meat Feasts” served with seasonal banchan and ssamjang. The restaurant brews its own makgeolli in-house.
Decoder: mandu are Korean dumplings; banchan are the small side dishes that come with the meal; ssamjang is a thick dipping paste for wrapping grilled meat in lettuce; makgeolli is a milky, lightly sparkling rice liquor.
How to order: Dodam’s own website, dodammelbourne.com, has its menu, online ordering and table bookings, so check it for current dishes and prices before you go.
Order this first: the handmade mandu, the dish the restaurant marked its first birthday with.
Quick answers
Where can I get good Asian food in Brunswick?
Sydney Road is the strip. Tom Phat (184 Sydney Road) for Thai curries and a Malaysian laksa special, Rin Sura (206) for modern Thai, Hanoi Rose (161) for Vietnamese phở and bún chả, and Misoya (165A) and Shujinko (62) for ramen. Dodam in East Brunswick Village, Brunswick East, does Korean.
Is there good ramen in Brunswick?
Two ramen bars on Sydney Road do different styles. Misoya Sake Bar, 165A Sydney Road, specialises in miso ramen; its Misoya Special Ramen is $27 on its online menu. Shujinko Brunswick, 62 Sydney Road, is built around a tonkotsu (pork-bone) broth and is open until midnight.
Where can I get Vietnamese pho in Brunswick?
Hanoi Rose, 161 Sydney Road, lists sliced beef phở at $22 and a vegan phở at $21.50 on its own menu. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Where can I get laksa in Brunswick?
Tom Phat, 184 Sydney Road, lists a Malaysian laksa as a special on 1 October 2026: $22 with tofu, $24 with chicken, $26 with prawn. Specials change, so check the menu before you go.
Is there Korean food in Brunswick East?
Yes. Dodam, Retail 2/7 Bluestone Way in East Brunswick Village, is a Korean restaurant known for handmade mandu, grilled-meat feasts with banchan, and makgeolli brewed in-house. Its menu is on its own website, dodammelbourne.com; we have not printed its prices here.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each venue’s own website or menu and copied every item and price exactly as printed: Tom Phat’s menu page, the menu PDF linked from Rin Sura’s menu page, the full-menu PDF linked from Hanoi Rose’s site, and the online ordering catalogue on Misoya’s own ordering site. Shujinko publishes its Brunswick prices only as images, and Dodam’s prices have not been checked for this page, so neither has a price here. Each address was confirmed at a second, independent source: Best Restaurants, Broadsheet, the Australian Good Food Guide, HappyCow, the Sydney Road Brunswick Association, Zest or Mato. Online ordering prices can differ from dine-in, surcharges apply at some venues, and specials rotate. The photos are illustrative, from Unsplash: they show the kind of dish, not the venue’s own food.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- Tom Phat: tomphat.com and its menu; address also at Best Restaurants and Broadsheet
- Rin Sura: rinsura.com.au/menu and its menu PDF; address also at Best Restaurants
- Hanoi Rose: hanoirose.com.au and its full menu PDF; address also at AGFG
- Misoya Sake Bar: its own ordering site; address also at HappyCow; description from Broadsheet
- Shujinko Brunswick: shujinko.com.au; address also at Sydney Road Brunswick Association and Zest
- Dodam: Broadsheet, 31 July 2025, Mato and its own site dodammelbourne.com
