Whether it’s the best Japanese sushi, a steaming bowl of Pad Thai noodles or Vietnamese pho soup, Asian food is amongst the best in the world. But like most things, I don’t see the point in rules. Sometimes I want a Vietnamese spring roll alongside a Peking duck wrap. For that, the best Pan-Asian restaurants offer excellent menus celebrating the best of Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Mayalsian and Indian dishes, all on one menu. Check out my favourites from around the world and get to know the dishes you can expect to discover.

Signature Asian dishes

Each country is best-known for one or two dishes – make sense of what they are here:

• Sushi: Raw fish dishes emanating from Japan. Note, sushi dishes have rice. Raw fish without rice is called ‘sashimi’. ‘Maki’ indicates a rolled sushi dish. ‘Nori’ means rolled in seaweed.
• Pho: A Vietnamese soup and noodle dish of infinite variety (pronounced ‘fer’). Flat rice noodles feature, with beef stock and beef shin. Add Thai basil, red chillis and lime to taste.
• Pad Thai: Well known Thai wok-fried rice noodle dish, includes a sweet and sour sauce, eggs, shrimp, tamarind, chilli and is topped with crushed peanuts.
• Rendang: Traditional Indonesian dish popular in Malaysia and Singapore, combining Chinese and Malay Indian influences. Slow-cooked beef infused with ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemongrass and chillies.

Now try three of these pan-Asian restaurants:

• Hong Kong: Cucina may serve Italian from one of its two open kitchens, but it’s the pan-Asian kitchen that demands your attention, not to mention the waterfront views. There’s a strong wine-matching offering here too.
• London: Will Ricker's E&O (that’s Eastern & Oriental) in trendy Notting Hill runs the full range from tempura and sushi to Korean barbecued meats and curries and there’s a buzzy cocktail bar vibe (Asian-influenced cocktails rock here).
• Sydney: Seafood specialists Rockpool recently moved closer towards Chinese cuisine, but this place is much more about fresh seafood and Asian-influenced flavours used cleverly in new fusion dishes than the classics you might be expecting.

A quick word about drinks:

Asian foods can be hard to pair with wine, but aromatic gewurtzraminer from Alsace and German Rieslings work well, as do spicy Australian shiraz. Lychee and ginger infused cocktails bring out the best in Asian flavours. Alternatively, rice-based beers like Tsing Tao and Asahi dry quench a thirst well. Of course, you could always experiment with the array of teas available and avoid alcohol completely.

Lastly…eat.

Asian food rewards those who dare. You might find the local restaurant at the end of your road knocks up an awesome Malaysian laksa curry and a pad thai, but it might look like nothing from the outside. Gather some friends and experiment on venues. Then you can take a date to this ‘little neighbourhood place’ and take all the credit.