Light Years | Earplugs please….

Pork Shu Mai - Light Years

After months of walking to work past this new kid on the William Street block of resto’s being fitted out, we decided to risk a precious date night on a hectic Thursday evening.

On skipping up the two steps to the concierge pod, we were greeted by, well, beige!

Don’t get me wrong this is a stunningly appointed space - beautiful furnishings, a speakeasy style bar and incredible lighting. But very, very beige.

The seating arrangements are a hit and miss combo of two and four seater tables, with the classic no-no of a round table for six at dead centre. (Who’s Your Mama classic mistake!)

Thankfully we were seated at the William street wall , which as it would transpire, made us completely invisible to the numerous servers. Oh well.

The menu is typical Byron Bay style - an edgy seafood focus, leaning into Korean, Vietnamese and Thai offings. And there’s even a striploin Waygu offering for the adventure averse at $78.

The wine list is serviceable and safe for a CBD diner, think Hunter and Barrel across the road.

We managed to squeezed a couple of delicious Italian Aquilani Pino Grigio’s out of the wine list and sank into the menu. 

Not big eaters, well not mains anyway, we arrived on a couple of smaller dishes - Lemongrass Pork Shu Mai dumplings $20 (4), Moreton Bay tempura bug roll $24, Ginger and Shallot Lobster dumplings $22 (4) and the Pickled Papaya and herb salad, a steal at $16.

The Shu Mai arrived quite quickly, bathing happily in a stunning black vinegar dressing, and was delicious, if slightly over steamed. The pork had nevertheless rendered perfectly and picked up the salt from the vinegar like they were born together.

The bug roll and papaya salad arrived just as were fighting over the dregs of the black vinegar. The salad was one of the best we have had since Maya in Ubud some years ago. Perfectly seasoned with crispy shallots, chilli, chilli oil and beautiful, bold lemongrass flavours. Absolute winner!

The bug roll was straight out of KFC with its presentation and after struggling to half it with no cutlery, it was delicious and tender.

The last dish, Lobster dumplings was a tasteless disappointment and seemed to be missing its main flavour components - Ginger AND Shallots!

Overall an excellent first, and probably only, night visit.

Maybe lunch will be quiet enough for the server to hear us order, without yelling at her.

Food *****

Ambience *

Price $$