Reviews Rising Embers

We came across this place by chance and what a delight!

It was not your typical packed out 5* Chinese diner.

Music was on point, beef was superior to that which we are used to, service perfect (not over the top, but helpful and respectful)

The sauces and marinades on point, complementing the 9score Wagyu without taking anything away.

One of the better bbq places. The service and atmosphere were incredible. The meats also had lots of flavour. Definitely recommended for bbq lovers!

Xmas with Rising Embers - Staff are attentive. The service is quick. The strawberry oolong tea is tasty! There is variety in the menu. Interesting concept - Sichuan BBQ.

Nice place to go in the CBD

🥩 who’s up for a wagyu feast
🏚: Rising Embers
📍: Chinatown Melbourne
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📝: How about a massive BBQ feast in the middle of Chinatown? Serious can not get over this amazing spread at Rising Embers.

❤️: From Wagyu Tataki to Grilled Wagyu and Seafood, everything was incredibly delicious, even the sides and desserts. Absolutely loved the sauces and chilli powder given to us to dip in.

This new BBQ spot is definitely a must go if you’re in the city and looking for a good dinner to share on a night out with friends.

Its the first time im having sichuan food in Melbourne . And the its surprising look. Seasoning to perfection , food looks fresh with generous portion.

Located in the heart of Chinatown, Rising Embers is the Dainty Sichuan group’s newest venture. They creatively combine two of the best things - BBQ and Sichuan cuisine.

Upon walking up the stairs to the venue, we were immediately in awe by how beautiful the place was. It’s so clean and spacious, bright and modern. I loved the open kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepping the ingredients and grilling the skewers (the smell will have you salivating!).

Ordering is conveniently done via an iPad at the table. The menu is extensive, from signature homemade drinks, to entrees, to premium meats, seafood, skewers… the list goes on!

We started off with the homemade drinks - Dragonfruit Yoghurt and Fruits Mix Oolong. The yoghurt drink was so pretty and colourful, and I really enjoyed the tartness of the yoghurt. It wasn’t too sweet nor too thick, and the perfect accompaniment for some spicy food. The Oolong was sweeter and very refreshing - this was my favourite!

The BBQ comes with 3 different sauces, and a housemade chilli powder dip. The chilli powder was honestly the best thing ever - I don’t know what they put in it but it’s seriously amazing! I wouldn’t mind taking a bucket of it home!

I tried the BMS9 Wagyu Beef Combo (3 cuts - 300g), and all I can say is I was in wagyu heaven! The meat was literally melt-in-your-mouth - so soft, tender and juicy. The marbling was perfect, and I savoured each and every bite.

The Heritage Berkshire Pork Belly was also of high quality, and very delicious too. I love it when the fat of the pork belly gets slightly crispy on the grill - paired it with the chilli powder - so good!

The Seafood Combo was huge, and had a very generous portion of large prawns, scallops, cuttlefish, and fish with chilli sauce. The fish was super delicious, and I really like how they cook it in foil so the flavours and juices are still kept inside.

The Housemade Egg Tofu is another MUST-TRY here - the tofu is so delicate and silky! Definitely one of my favourites, I couldn’t stop eating it! We also had to get the Steamed Bun, because grilled steamed bun? Yes please! It’s served with condensed milk and chilli sauce, and when you grill the bun slices they get very crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. What a brilliant idea.

The Skewers are also a must-order here. The Lamb Skewers were probably the best lamb skewers I’ve ever had! The lamb was cooked perfectly - it was very tender and juicy, and so much flavour. The Squid Skewers were also amazing, and the Grilled Chinese Sausage are definitely a winner - crispy, sweet and salty. Amazing!

I loved Cheesy Purple Sweet Potato in Cast Iron Pan - it was so addictive, I almost finished the whole thing by myself. It’s so simple, but it works so well - the combination of mashed purple sweet potato with the salty melted cheese is just heavenly. And although we didn’t order it this time, I’d highly recommend getting the Fried Sweet Potato with Sour Prune Powder because they’re probably my favourite snack ever.

We normally don’t order rice with BBQ, but I was so glad we ordered some. We tried the Spicy Fried Rice with Wagyu Beef, and it was honestly one of the best fried rices I’ve tried (no joke). The teppanyaki-cooking-style gives it the most amazing aroma, bringing out the spices and flavours. The portion is also huge so I would definitely recommend sharing - or you can take it home! But no matter what, it’s worth a try!

Despite being so full already, we couldn’t leave without trying their beautiful desserts. We had the Matcha Tiramisu, Fruit in Sour Prune Powder, and Banana Boat. I absolutely loved the tiramisu! It had a nice and strong matcha flavour, and the texture was extremely light and delicate. It wasn’t too sweet either. The fruits were very refreshing and the sour prune powder just makes everything better (I would honestly buy a tub of that stuff). The banana was also very refreshing with the ice cream, which was the perfect ending to the meal.

Furthermore, the service was incredible throughout our whole experience - very efficient, friendly and accommodating. There was honestly nothing to fault. I would highly recommend this place, and I will definitely be coming back!

Thank you so much for having me!

Rising embers is the newest addition to the powerhouse food chain that is the Dainty Sichuan group. While it is a style of restaurant that is a little different to Dainty Sichuan's usual joints, it is an absolute success in my opinion! The whole experience from the customer service to the taste of the food to the presentation was overwhelmingly glorious! 

To start, location wise, it is in a prime spot; situated right in the middle of the hussle and bussle of china town on little bourke street, it is easily accessible and is filled with a lovely atmosphere. As I entered I was shocked at just how busy the restaurant itself was. Knowing it was a very new restaurant I did not expect it to so busy already! The service was amazing also and I found that myself and my friends were really taken care of. The whole experience was so exciting especially due to the amazing touch screen ordering screen which also doubled as a menu. We had a lot of fun with that. In terms of the food, It was spectacular. 9+ graded wagyu and some high quality fresh seafood was served along side some delicious and flavourful sides! We got to try such an array of delicious sichuan flavours with wagyu, beef cheek, a range of veggies, squid, prawn, scallops and a whole lot more. I could go on forever about how impressed I was by this experience but I think the best way to understand is to see it for yourself! This place is an absolute must on everyone's foodie bucket list!!!

My friends ask me to try Sichuan style bbq. Really special, the best thing in here is the colourful drinks. And also have some street food.

Saw this restaurant on Zomato a couple of times already but never visited until now. I should visited much earlier. It's so spacious and great for a group events with friends. Love the A5 Wagyu beef and love their dessert as well. I will be back for more

BEST BBQ WE HAVE EVER BEEN TO!

We were fortunate enough to visit Rising Embers with a group of people to experience Sichuan dishes and BBQ and we were thoroughly impressed!

ORDERING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
The restaurant is very modern and each table is fitted with an IPad with the menu with visuals of each product. This makes the ordering process really easy and allows you to order more anytime you want. Customer service was very prompt and efficient and dishes came out without too much waiting!

MENU AND FOOD
The range of meats here was incredible! They have Grade 9 Wagyu beef and being able to try that was an absolute experience for us! They also have a range of more affordable meats that wont break your wallet and still equally delicious! There are plenty of side dishes and other main dishes to choose from. The drinks menu is equally impressed!

VENUE
Located in Chinatown, this is a very spacious venue on an upper level. It is very modern and clean with an industrial style. There is an open kitchen that allows you to watch grill meats which is a great watch! Depending on the number of people in your group, there is a mixture of both table and booth settings.

We absolutely loved doing BBQ here and we cannot wait to return! It was a fabulous experience with the highest quality of ingredients and we were just impressed by all of it.

Rising Embers is just another proof that the Dainty Sichuan group can do no wrong. Bringing BBQ with Sichuan influences to Melbourne, Rising Embers shares similar traits to Korean BBQ but retains all the things I love about Sichuan cuisine.

Ordering is done through an iPad, and there's also cooked to order dishes such as skewers, rice and grilled veggies. I got to try the BMS9+ wagyu and did they melt in my mouth! Gorgeous marbling, and so soft with a buttery-like consistency. The seafoods are fresh as, and the pork belly was marinaded in a most delicious sauce.

The lamb skewers is not to be missed. So tender, juicy and meaty. I also enjoyed the purple sweet potato fries and the cheese sweet potato in cast iron pan. So moreish and so flavourful.

I highly recommend this place if you are a fan of BBQ and Sichuan cuisine. Thank your for the invite!

We were very kindly invited to Rising Embers for a meal in exchange for an honest review. This Chinese style BBQ establishment is somewhat unique amongst the many Korean/Japanese BBQ places around, and their menu is quite distinctly Chinese in flavour. The restaurant itself is quite spacious and open, and we were served by Anne who was friendly and accommodating. As with all Dainty Sichuan restaurants, the staff speak Mandarin well so Mandarin speakers should feel at home here. If you don't speak Mandarin, however, some of the staff speak English reasonably well, and at this place you order via an iPad on the table which has the menu in English or Mandarin so you shouldn't have any problems either.

We found the menu well thought out. There wasn't an extensive 20+ page menu that you'd find at some other BBQ places, but what was there was good and was there for a reason as opposed to creating choice overload for the customers. As an example, they had a small selection of homemade drinks - 3 of these were fruit flavoured yoghurt drinks and 3 of these were fruit flavoured oolong drinks. We ordered a strawberry oolong and a dragonfruit yoghurt drink, and both were very smart options because they helped soothe your mouth from the spicy cuisine (which they specialise in). At close to $9, they were a little pricey, but the strawberry oolong was filled with chunks of strawberry and was overall somewhat justifiable for the price.

For our actual dishes, we ordered the Japanese Wagyu (chuck I believe), the Australian wagyu oyster blade and rib, garlic pork belly, scallops, homemade egg tofu and the fried rice with preserved ham. As I don't take a lot of spice we stayed away from the spicy options, but they do serve a house made roasted coarse chilli powder that wasn't too spicy (if you don't dip too much of it) and was quite fragrant and my wife really liked. They also serve a trio of sauces - a peanut sauce, a sesame oil and a Japanese sauce that we don't usually see at other BBQ places and I ended up liking the best, but I didn't catch the specific type of sauce it was. They also serve a starter and salad at the beginning which was a nice touch.

All the BBQ dishes were excellent. All the wagyu cuts melted in your mouth and they're pretty hard to overcook. I was happy with all of them and couldn't tell much of a difference between the Japanese and Australian varieties. They also provide a handy picture guide for how long to cook each type of meat for and which part of the grill to place it on, which is nice. We love egg tofu and have never had it on a BBQ before, but we really liked that and it's also quite a distinctly Chinese dish. The fried rice came in an enormous portion that we couldn't finish, and there was lots of Chinese sausage in there so you'd enjoy that if you are a fan of Chinese sausage. Price wise, the dishes were fairly typical of BBQ places at $20-40 per 100g for the Wagyu, and less for the standard beef cuts. They don't look like much but they do fill you up more than you'd expect; however if you're a big eater you'll probably be happy ordering the egg tofu and a fried rice which should fill you up. The pork belly also comes in a larger portion, and I love my pork belly so no complaints there.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable experience and think that Rising Embers offers something different from your usual Korean BBQ that are quite commonplace in Melbourne. Thank you so much Blair, Anne and the rest of the team for allowing us to enjoy a wonderful meal at your restaurant! :)

Dainty Sichuan Group's latest venture is perhaps one of their largest projects to date, introducing Sichuan BBQ into Melbourne. As far as I know, it is not a thing in China/Sichuan province but more playing off the styles of KBBQ and yakiniku. It is predominantly Sichuan cuisine with minor influences from its neighbours. Having enjoyed the group's various restaurants in the past, I was delighted to be invited to give it a test drive.

We were greeted and given a rundown of the menu by one of the managers, one thing he noted was that the tables were gas-fuelled which had me pause a bit. The flavours of charcoal cannot be replaced but on the upside, we walked away that night with little to no smell on our clothing. If you are here for the BBQ (like we are) you can seek cooking assistance from a staff member or DIY. There are instructions on the table with cooking times, I didn't delve too much into that as we left it in their capable hands. For the most part, they were pretty efficient even though they were skipping from table to table.

We got a couple of drinks that night, I had their signature fruit mix oolong tea which helped increase my appetite and was quite refreshing, nice passion fruit flavour. My friend reported back that he quite enjoyed the strawberry oolong tea. We later moved onward to their sake tasting paddle which wasn't what we were expecting. They were fruity and sweet, plum, grape and yuzu (which was my favourite).

As a norm, diners are given some complimentary starters, a plate with a combination of sour and spicy radish, braised peanuts and kimchi which had a bit of a kick to it. We were also given a salad in Asian dressing. We picked at these between bites to switch up flavours throughout the meal.

For starters we got their beef tataki, thin slices of raw marbled wagyu, ponzu dressing and garnishes. The meat just melts in your mouth and the fried garlic was a nice touch. We also got some seafood patties which were generous with the fillings, fried to a crisp and served with aioli.

We got their Japanese A5 wagyu (one of the few places in Melbourne that stock it) plate which was a combination of premium steak and cubes, 300g worth. It's a beauty to feast your eyes upon, really. We had the steak cooked to medium rare and it was just a waterfall of meat juices that entirely coats your mouth. We added nothing to it and wanted to taste it in its natural state, it is only very lightly seasoned by the chef back of house. I felt it needed additional seasoning to truly bring out the flavours, no salt was offered but prior to dining they offer you their blended chilli seasoning. It really made a difference and I aliken the dry seasoning to Kettle's Chilli chips. There were a trio of dips available but I think I'd do the wagyu an injustice by dipping in them. The wagyu cubes on the other hand tasted less beefy and was less marbled than the premium, still gushed just the same though. We enjoyed our meats slightly more rendered, I think 100g per person is sufficient as it is quite rich.

We soon moved onto some good ole Australian lamb. This variation was with cumin which is exactly what you'd taste once it touches your tongue, soon after the Sichuan peppercorns take centre stage giving you that electric sensation that you've licked some batteries. I quite liked the intense flavours and the lamb itself was soft and juicy. We also got their jumbo king prawns and scallops which had been imported from Japan. It's just fresh produce at its very best, vibrantly bouncy, sweet and meaty I let the natural characteristics speak for themselves before dabbing on some chilli powder. The scallops did at times get stuck onto the grill from not being oiled enough. I again did not use the trio of sauces provided as I found the chilli powder to be more superior and less sweet. Unless you are however a real seafood fanatic I think land based proteins have a much heftier flavour profile or give one of their marinated seafoods a shot.

Accompanying the meals was also a basket of mixed vegetables, we mostly enjoyed the variety of mushrooms and it came with some bao which looked like white bread. It was lightly toasted on the grill and to be eaten traditionally like mantou with condensed milk. We sort of burnt the toast a bit but we got the gist of it, firm bread with a sweet creamy dip or a more savoury spicy dip which I could not stop dunking into. We finished off with some fresh fruit dusted in some plum powder. It really is the perfect way to cap off the night of just overindulging.

What I'd like to see is Rising Embers to establish their own style, as mentioned before there are sprinkles of Korean and Japanese influences which at times can be jarring. Which brings me to my next point, if all the modern Australian restaurants out there can do various cuisines, why can't Rising Embers? I personally think the Dainty Sichuan group is a leader in its own field and can hold its own. I believe they have more to showcase in terms of Sichuan cuisine (it's quite vast) and I'd love to see what else we can experience from that region. I'd like to thank the team for the invite, especially Gary who gave me uncle vibes and showed us the ropes.

With all the sichuan hot pot everywhere, finally one that is interesting. We came here when it was just opened not too long ago. It was a pretty cool experience and new bbq style in Melbourne. Fresh quality and juicy meat that melts when you put into your mouth. Can't wait to be back! Highly recommended to everyone.

Great place and great food. The dipping chilli powder is to die for. Service is great and great experience. Definitely go again. More detailed review will follow.

What a special experience here. It's not like any other Korean or Japanese Barbecue, the flavour is typical Sichuan style which makes it very special. The M9+ wagyu are soooo fresh and not freezed at all. The meat is almost melt in my mouth and pretty juicy. The dessert is sour and sweet, just love this place!

I've been wanting to visit this DIY barbecue restaurant for some time, so one evening we decided to come here without booking. We were advised by the host that the waiting time would be around 20-30min, but we got a table after 45min. It was clear that they were short of staff. The wait however was so worth it, as once we were seated, the ordering process was smooth. There is a tablet on every table, where you can choose all the meat cuts you want, in addition to rice options, salads, drinks, etc. The food came quick, and we got to enjoy barbecuing our own food. The meat cuts were fresh, the fried rice was delicious, and the kimchi was so tasty we ordered extra! The staff were attentive, despite the shortage, and made sure we were comfortable and safe with the BBQ. Overall a good experience, but make sure you book before you come because the wait can be quite long.

A fun night at Rising Embers. Food was good but took a long time to come out. The pork felt pricey for what it was, the crazy chips were crazy tasty! Would be back purely because it opens later than others in the nearby Chinatown area which is useful.

It's 11pm on a cold Melbourne Sunday night. My group of 8 are prowling China Town, faced with closed signs everywhere we go. Then we notice a nondescript entrance with a sign saying open to 2am. Walked up the stairs and had one of the best Chinese dining experiences in Melbourne or anywhere else for that matter. Staff were very attentive, the food was fresh and tasty and the servings were large enough to make us all waddle out with satisfied grins all round. Most importantly, the end hit to wallet was surprisingly lighter than I certainly expected. Well worth investing your stomach time on this place

I have been to this place several times now, and always satisfying visits every time. They serve top grade Japanese and Australian wagyu beef, Pork belly, Sichuan style grilled skewers and many other tasty dishes! Their dipping sauces and side dishes are all house-made, including their own roasted chilli powder mix which was a perfect match for the grilled meat. Here are the dishes we had: ^Japanese Premium A5 MBS9+ Wagyu Chuck Rib - Deliciously tender, juicy and melt in your mouth! ^Australian MBS9+ Wagyu Oyster Blade Equally delicious ^Marinated Pork Belly with Garlic Sauce - tasty and yumm ^Chives Pancake - crispy on the edges, very tasty. Delicious. ^Cheese Purple Sweet Potato in cast iron pan This Cheese Purple Potato is something you must try! It’s mildly sweet, savoury, cheesy & stretchy. Goes really well with grilled meats. ^ Grilled Enoki Mushroom - yummy ^Grilled Lamb Skewers - so good ^Grilled Chicken Wing Skewers - very good ^Black Sesame Panna Cotta with Dragonfruit Excellent idea and flavour. Although I think the texture should have been made smoother ^Pineapple Oolong - refreshing ^Dragonfruit Yoghurt - delicious combo Special thanks to Brian, the manager who was very knowledgable of the food they serve and very accomodating Thank you Rising Embers for having us. We will be back for sure!