Serai Kitchen was opened by Ross Magnaye, Shane Stafford and Ben Waters, three Melbourne hospitality figures who built the restaurant around Magnaye's promise of Filipino over fire. An open woodfire sits at the centre of the kitchen, imparting a smokiness to meats and sauces that's difficult to replicate on a conventional grill, and both Magnaye and Stafford picked up new scars learning to cook over it before opening. The industrial laneway space runs shared tables and an open kitchen, giving the room an energetic, communal feel. A Salo-Salo lunch feast, running Thursday to Sunday for $49 a head, brings wood-fired pork, roti and sides together in under an hour, while the multi-course Chef's Table option immerses larger groups in seven or eight dishes served directly by the kitchen. Cocktails lean on Filipino ingredients like ube, pandan and calamansi, paired with a hand-picked all-natural wine list. A Wine Down snack menu runs Friday to Sunday afternoons, offering Serai's dishes and drinks at a lower price for anyone dropping in outside a full dinner booking. Vegan and gluten-free options are available throughout. Bookings for groups over ten go through the restaurant directly, reflecting how central the shared, communal format is to the whole experience.
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