Restaurateur Jason Jones and interior designer Brahman Perera opened their hotly anticipated restaurant, Hopper Joint, on Friday March 21. The Greville Street venue (diagonally across the street from the couple’s French restaurant Entrecote) is, in Jones’s words, “a party every night”.

There’ll be snacks including paddu (a fermented rice batter dish with a prawn filling) and pan rolls (“Sri Lanka’s answer to the iconic Aussie Chiko Roll”). But the namesake hoppers will be the main attraction.

Hoppers are typically made from a fermented rice flour batter and named for the pan in which they’re made. The team will serve two types: a hollow, bowl-shaped pancake-like hopper (which comes in a set of unlimited plain and one egg), and string hoppers (idiyappam) – soft and pillowy discs shaped with thin strands of batter and then steamed.

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The hopper sets come with two sambals and two curries. Diners can choose from a list that includes okra curry, market fish curry and spicy prawn curry. More plain hoppers are availble upon request. All diners have to do is ring the bell at the centre of the table and a server will stop by with just-cooked hoppers.

Perera says the food “just tastes better” when eaten with your hands. So he designed the space with a tap in the centre of the room.

Though it has a practical purpose, Perera hopes the sink informs the venue’s communal and convivial atmosphere by encouraging diners from different tables to chitchat, talk about what to order and joke around.

Jones says, the idea for Hopper Joint first came about eight years ago when the couple was in Kandy, Sri Lanka, for their honeymoon. They had hoppers at the cricket club and knew they had to open restaurant dedicated to the food in Melbourne.

The restaurant also has links to Perera’s family story. “It’s Sri Lankan food, and it’s Sri Lankan culture, but it’s through our lens,” says Perera, a first-generation Sri Lankan Australian.

Head chef Ronith Victor Arlikatti, who has worked at Lake House, Marion and Sunda, has also helped interpret Perera’s family food. Perera admits to coming to Arlikatti with some “odd requests”, including asking him to create a version of his grandmother’s Sri Lankan dessert, mango fluff, which for reasons Perera is unsure of, his grandmother used to dye green. (Arlikatti’s take incorporates pandan, rather than food colouring).

Design details include low-lying fans, greenery and what Perera, who has fitted out venues including Ursula’s in Sydney and Entrecote’s current Prahran spot, describes as ad hoc furniture. Decor includes a pot from a temple that his grandmother gave him when the couple opened Stanford Park, and his grandfather’s old walking stick. “I sort of feel like they’re there,” he says of his grandparents' presence in the joint.

The restaurant is significantly smaller than the French venue across the street. Unlike Entrecote, where there’s room for more than 200, Hopper Joint and the yet-to-open upstairs bar, Ceylon Cricket Club, will seat around 60.

“I think it’s a nice story of how far the cuisine and culture’s come in Melbourne, and in this country,” says Perera of Hopper Joint. The excitement from the Sri Lankan Australia community and other first-generation people has been affirming for him too, “I think it’s really nice that it’s so embraced”.

Hopper Joint
157 Greville Street, Prahran

Hours:
Mon to Thu 5pm–late
Fri & Sat 12pm–late

@hopperjoint

This article was updated on May 10, 2024