Tham Dynasty Restaurant

Run by the Tham family for over three decades, this Paynesville mainstay plates dependable Cantonese classics right along the Esplanade. It is the kind of welcoming dining room where personal greetings and framed family photos set the tone before the first plate lands. Regulars returning from Raymond Island ferries or days out on Gippsland Lakes settle in with their own bottles—the room is strictly BYO—and dig into plates of Mongolian beef, crisp honey chicken, and garlicky king prawns. Across the road, lakeside park benches also double as prime real estate for quick lunch packs of sweet and sour pork, dim sims, and fried rice. Meals finish the old-school way: coconut-crusted fried ice cream drizzled with syrup.