By ANNA USHER

Calamansi, a modern Asian restaurant from MasterChef star Sarah Tiong, opened this week on the Cremorne corner that locals watched sit empty for years, and the lower north shore girl behind it says it feels like coming home.

Tiong, 35, opened the doors on Tuesday at Shop 7, 307 Military Road, the old Papaya Thai spot on the Spofforth Street corner, near the Orpheum end of the road. It is her second restaurant, and she is in the kitchen for every service.

She grew up in Northbridge, went to school at Neutral Bay Primary and then SCEGGS Redlands – and still calls the lower north shore home.

“I actually grew up in this neighbourhood, so it’s a little bit like a coming home story, really,” Tiong told Mosman Collective. “I love the vibe of Cremorne, Neutral Bay and Mosman. It just feels like the right spot.”

The name is a nod to her mother. Calamansi is a small Southeast Asian citrus, and Tiong grew up with the tree in her childhood home.

“Mum used to put the calamansi fruit in all sorts of things, in dressing, sauces, even make a cordial out of it,” she said. “So that’s why I decided to call this Calamansi, which is a nod to her.”

Malaysian flavours, small plates

The menu leans on small sharing plates with a heavy Malaysian and Thai accent, the flavours Tiong grew up eating.

Two dishes are already running hot. The Char Siu pork belly skewers are an early best seller, salty and sweet, and almost every table orders her mother’s chicken curry, a Malaysian yellow curry with tender chicken in a rich coconut cream.

The room is licensed and BYO, with a wine list Tiong describes as playful and curious, rotated as often as she can.

It seats about 65 across 23 tables, with a small kitchen crew of three and up to four out front.

“I’m in the kitchen every day,” she said. “I am cooking the food that comes to your table.”

Tiong is no stranger to a camera. She was a MasterChef fan favourite in 2017 and returned in 2020, and has two cookbooks to her name. Her Surry Hills diner Ogni, which she runs with fellow MasterChef alum Rashedul “Rashie” Hasan, pairs her Chinese-Malaysian heritage with his Bangladeshi cooking. Closer to home, she also runs Neutral Bay Coffee Roasters, opposite Chargrill Charlie’s, with her brother.

Locals already rebooking

One week in, she says the response has floored her.

“People have been so grateful that something has opened, and they have absolutely loved the food,” she said. “They’ve described it as something different, something really unique.”

The best sign, she says, is the locals already booking their next visit before they leave.

Calamansi is a welcome light back on a corner that has been dark too long, a few doors from the Orpheum and an easy walk from the ferry.

Calamansi by Sarah Tiong

Where: Shop 7, 307 Military Road, Cremorne (access via Spofforth Street)
Open: Tuesday to Saturday, 5pm to 10pm
Licensed and BYO
Bookings: calamansi.restaurant

Mosman Collective is giving one local reader a $200 Calamansi voucher. Details in Friday’s Mosman Mail.