Hopper Joint - Sri Lankan Restaurant

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Posted 2024-12-22 by Jen ⇒ follow

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I finally got to Hopper Joint at 157 Greville St, Prahran yesterday, and it was certainly an experience. I had been a little blasé about it since it opened because I grew up eating Hoppers for breakfast and damned if I was going to pay for it in a restaurant. Finally, I succumbed and thought 'let's go check it out!' Familiar with Entrecote , a Parisian Steakhouse & Bar across the street, Hoppers Joint is also run by the same restaurateur Jason Jones and Interior designer Brahman Perera. It's a huge nod to its Sri Lankan heritage, where Hoppers are the hero needed to mop up every bit of deliciousness on the plate. The style of meal really calls for eating with your God-given hands, and unusual as it may seem, there's a handwashing station on the floor, right in the centre of the room so you can wash your hands before and after you eat, without having to enter the facilities - making it feel like a more hygienic experience.

The Open Kitchen is another positive because you can watch the art of hopper making by the chefs who produce one every two minutes. All eight burners are going full bore all at the same time, which was fascinating - because the chef would have to be super conscious as to which ones he put on the fire first. I watched this hopper-making expert on the day, and before he poured the batter, after he oiled the little wok-like miniature pans, he would bring it up to his ear, as if listening to what the pan had to say. I teased him and asked if he was talking to the pots and pans. It seems the pans get too hot to touch, and he feels for the perfect temperature before he pours the batter, by the level of heat he feels the pan generates by bringing it up to his ear.

A spacious restaurant with exposed ceilings, its frontage opening out onto Greville Street, you'll find custom rattan chairs, hand-blown amber glassware, and plaster hand lights by Sydney artist Max Rixon. The embroidered marigold serviettes are sourced from Sri Lanka, and while not tied to any particular style, the ceiling fans, and slatted window fittings did remind me of being somewhere in exotic Asia during the time of the British, while retaining its warmth and intimacy. We decided to go for the whole experience with a traditional hopper set at $49.90 pp. Each guest must order their own hopper set, and each set comes with one egg hopper, and unlimited plain hoppers. You get a choice of two curries, and it's served with two condiments - a jammy caramelised onion, and fresh coconut ground with lime juice, chillies and salt. You might think the curries look small, but we were absolutely full, and even left some behind that we couldn't finish.

My friend chose the pork curry and prawn curry, and I chose the goat curry and fish. I haven't eaten goat in forever, and I wasn't disappointed. It was the most tender of all four curries put together, though mind you, the prawn curry cooked with coconut and fried green chilli was pretty tough to beat. We shared so we could taste a bit of all four curries, and thought OK, next time we go, we'll order, prawn, prawn, and prawn - Hah. No reflection on any of the other curries, as the pepper pork was pretty wonderful, and I certainly had no regrets about my tender goat with Jaffna spice, tomato and crispy shallots. The fish was firm, and surprisingly not top of the list for us. Your other choices of curries were chicken, white eggplant, heirloom cucumber curry, and blackened pineapple curry. There are a few sides you can order as accompaniment, but it wasn't really necessary.

There is also a feed me option for $74.9 pp, but we were not that hungry and were very satisfied with our plump egg hopper, of which we got one, and of course the plain you could order as many as you want. There was a bell on the table to ring for the next hopper, but it wasn't necessary as the staff were very attentive and knew when you were running out of the one you were consuming. I can tell you that after two extra hoppers, I was too full to have anymore. I loved the plain ones - all hoppers made of fermented ground rice and coconut milk, just on its own, and it was like having a not too sweet dessert batter for me. The kids menu is $39.9pp, and they can have their little kids hopper set with one egg, one plain hopper with one curry and more. There are short eats on the menu, which are like little snacks before dinner, entree perhaps - that ranges from around $9 to $27 for devilled cashew nuts, chilled rassam soup, pan rolls, bbq jackfruit cutlet, kombu cured scallop etcetera.

The dessert menu called 'bonus' completely resonates with me. I had a cheeky aunt who would go to the market and no matter what meal she ordered for breakfast, she'd ask for a bonus. Usually, it was a Burmese laksa type meal aka mohinga, and she'd argue with the vendor for her second bonus, meaning she basically wanted more of the hot, tasty gravy soup to sip on, that hits the right spot on every level. However, at Hoppers Joint, I had no room left for the bonus. You can get an ice cream sundae, a milo biscotti pudding, mango kiripani, golden syrup dumplings, Sri Lankan love cake, and saving my choice for last, if I could have fit it in, it would have been the strawberry falooda, which has cherry pearls, basil seeds, toasted cashew, rose-coconut chantilly, and maraschino cherry. Not quite the falooda I know, which is more like a milkshake drink with condensed milk and rose water in it, along with the bits and bobs like the jellies and basil seeds we used to call fish eyes, custards, ice cream and so on in the drink. The best! The staff were wonderful and added to a very pleasant experience of nostalgia, and eating something you wouldn't cook at home every day. You can make a booking on the website, or do a walk-in like we did on the day. I just wasn't into booking online and handing over my credit card details.