Bentleigh’s Asian dining scene is small but reliable — a handful of Vietnamese, Japanese and pan-Asian kitchens scattered along Centre Road and the cross-streets. For a casual cold-day soup lunch, what’s available locally is enough; for serious destination ramen or hot pot, the trip into Carnegie, Caulfield, or further into Box Hill or the CBD is the alternative.
Centre Road — The Local Options
Centre Road has several Asian restaurants running pho, ramen, and broader noodle soups. The dining is mostly local-trade — kitchens that run lunch and dinner sittings with consistent quality but not destination-grade.
Standard pho prices around $14–$18 for a large bowl. Ramen at the few places that run it $19–$24. Most are open 11.30am–2.30pm and 5.30pm–9pm.
Carnegie’s Koornang Road
A 5-minute drive from Bentleigh, Carnegie’s Koornang Road has a deeper Asian dining strip — particularly strong on Korean and Chinese with several pan-Asian kitchens running noodle soups, hot pots, and dumpling soups.
For a destination soup day, Koornang Road is worth the trip. Korean stews (sundubu jjigae, kimchi jjigae, galbitang) and Chinese hand-pulled noodle soups are some of the southern suburbs’ best winter eating.
Caulfield’s Hawthorn Road
Caulfield’s Hawthorn Road has additional Asian dining options — a mix of Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and pan-Asian kitchens. Wider selection than Bentleigh’s local stock.
Box Hill — The Long Drive
Box Hill is 25–30 minutes from Bentleigh by car along the inner-east arc. For destination Asian soup eating in winter, Box Hill is one of Melbourne’s deepest precincts — multiple ramen specialists, hand-pulled noodle soup, hot pot, Asian dumplings. Worth a Saturday-lunch trip rather than a midweek dinner run.
What to Order on Cold Days
For maximum warming on a 9°C day:
- Korean sundubu jjigae — soft tofu stew, bubbling-hot when served, deeply warming
- Tonkotsu ramen — pork-bone broth, the heaviest single bowl
- Bun bo Hue — Vietnamese spicy beef noodle soup, the warming upgrade over standard pho
- Sichuan hot pot — bubbling chilli-oil broth (Box Hill or city only)
- Chinese hand-pulled noodle soup — Lanzhou-style with clear beef broth
Save standard pho for milder days; on coldest days, the spicier and richer options are more effective.
Combining With Other Winter Activities
The Bentleigh soup lunch combines well with:
- Centre Road shopping — village stores, deli, bookshop
- A cafe afternoon in one of the fireplace cafes
- A Carnegie or Caulfield run for additional cafe and shopping
- Pub dinner at one of the winter pubs in Bentleigh
What This Means for You
For a casual Bentleigh soup lunch, walk Centre Road and pick the busiest small Asian kitchen. For a wider experience, drive 5 minutes to Carnegie’s Koornang Road for Korean and Chinese options. For destination-grade Asian soup, the 30-minute drive to Box Hill on a weekend gives you Melbourne’s deepest selection.
For more, see winter pubs in Bentleigh and indoor things to do in Bentleigh this winter.
Jack Carver writes about Melbourne’s middle and southern suburbs for MELBZ.
