Jason Margaritas is no stranger to spice. His resume includes stints as head chef at Melbourne’s Spice Temple, Donna Chang and most recently Same Same on James Street. While Margaritas made a name for himself with wild and playful flavour-fuelled food, his new restaurant, Longwang, is a shift towards what Margaritas describes to as “My own voice, my style of pan-Asian cooking.”
Inspired by his East Timorese heritage and his love of Chinese and Cantonese cooking, Margaritas’s new menu will showcase the nuance that spice can deliver when led by a steady hand.
Longwang is a narrow, high-ceilinged building between two CBD office buildings. The interiors are beautifully executed by Clui Design. The space blends an appreciation for formal tradition with a nod to comfort and familiarity. It feels dynamic, which aligns with Margaritas’s approach to the menu.
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SUBSCRIBE NOW“I want [to serve] things people have never eaten,” Margaritas tells Broadsheet. “I’m pulling [ingredients] from different regions of Southeast Asia. I’m obsessed with pickles, preserved vegetables and heaven-facing chilies.” The menu includes everything from balanced light curries to spicy stir fries with smokey peppers, and steamed fish with pickled vegetables. Queensland mud crabs, Tasmanian rock lobsters and South Australian pipis come in serves of 750-grams to one-kilogram and are cooked to order with a choice of sauces and sides.
There are also a series of banquets ranging from a $58 to $118 per person. The lunchtime banquet includes crispy chicken bao, calamari with tom yum, kingfish curry, a Westholme Wagyu fillet stir-fry, and a creamy mango pudding topped with granita and coconut sorbet. The most expensive banquet includes tuna, seared scallops, stir-fried bug tail meat “kung pao” with crunchy cashews, and a lamb shoulder massaman. Also included are roti, wok-tossed greens, and deep-fried ice-cream with tamarind caramel and peanut candy.
“It is going to be new for Brisbane and we won’t stop here,” Margaritas says.
The venue is a part of the Tassis Group (Yamas, Opa, Massimo, Rico and more).
Longwang
144 Edward Street, Brisbane
(07) 3211 8880
Hours:
Daily 11.30am–late
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