Spice Temple, Southbank

Stir fried Spanner with whole garlic, chilli and coriander -- $55

Handmade yellow noodles with Wagyu braised brisket, chilli and Sichuan pepper -- $24

Stir fried corn with smoked pork and chives -- $14

Stir fried quail and peanuts with steamed egg custard spicy, crunchy, creamy -- $38

Hot, sweet, sour and numbing pork with chilli, sugar, black vinegar and Sichuan peppercorn -- $38

Three milk cake with pomegranate and pistachio -- $18

Caramel, chocolate and peanut parfait -- $18

I was so excited about coming to Spice Temple after hearing so many people rave about it. It was a place I resisted for a long time because the price was incredibly expensive to me, especially for Asian food. I'm the same with true blue Italians who hardly ever pay for an expensive Italian meal at a restaurant for so many reasons I'd rather not say. That said, I finally decided to give it a go when my good uni mate who's moved back overseas was here in Melbourne that week for a short trip.

In short, I found Spice Temple to be very, very overpriced. Taste of the food was really underwhelming. We only enjoyed 2 out of 7 of the dishes we ordered, especially disappointing when we paid $75 per person for the meal (without drinks). It is so damn rare that I spend that much on a meal, but if it's a rare occasion (like my friend visiting from overseas) and the food is good, I'd say it's value for money. But in this case, it wasn't.

The spanner crab was clean, fresh and beautiful. But it was $50 for a tiny plate. Fair enough, as they shelled the crabs for you as well. Noodles was beautiful. Slippery and flavourful, but there was barely any meat/Wagyu in there. Corn was way too salty from the smoked pork and though the egg custard was smooth, I make egg custard like that at home almost every month. 

The famous numbing pork was the most disappointing of all as I feel like they didn't even get the basics right. Sauce was good, but the pork was so tough, dry and overcooked. Plus, the batter didn't stick to the pork at all and was completely separated from the meat. I'm sure it was just our experience that night as I believe other people when they tell me it was good when they came. In terms of dessert, the milk cake was ridiculously sweet and nothing else. I was looking forward to the parfait but was hoping it had more crunch, which I found it lacked.

Again, we struggled to enjoy 5 out of 7 of the dishes. Very shocking for a 2 Hatted restaurant. I really wanted to say that I enjoyed the food here as I think it's good to have a Modern Asian restaurant with a setting as nice as this in Crown but I didn't. Anyway, hope that this experience was a one time thing and others have better luck with it than me. Doubt I'll come back.

Red Spice Road, CBD

Red Spice Road's interior cannot be beat...

Ahhh... Red Spice Road... Why are you so good to me?

Your food, your setting... Oh, how it gets me so...

I came here with some friends a while back after wanting to eat here for the longest time. The whole vibe of the place was just amazing from the moment we stepped in.

I absolutely love the design of this part of the restaurant. 

How the massive, red lantern was majestically situated in the centre of the room with ultra high ceilings, surrounded by the semi-circle tables, and acted as the backdrop to everyone's evening... Simply beautiful...

What I also love about the whole restaurant's layout is how generous they are with space and that it's split to several very distinct sections, almost with an entirely different theme and decor of their own. It's great.

These were the biggest communal table I've ever seen at a restaurant, which was actually quite nice to sit at...

No matter which part of the restaurant you find yourself sitting in, you're sure to be surrounded by people happily chatting away and having a good time.

Now, I completely apologise for not getting the full name and price of every dish. I, err... Thought I could just refer to the menu on their website anytime, but had no idea the menu had changed since. Sorry! 

School prawns

DELISH! Light, crisp and could taste the natural sweetness of the prawns. Very addictive!

Quails

Nicely fried and pink with great flavours. I really enjoyed that they served it on a BED of coriander and not just use it as a garnish, very refreshing... The dressing also cut out a lot of the sharpness of the fresh herb so it was actually really enjoyable to eat with the fried quails.

Twice Cooked Lamb Ribs with Chilli jam -- $17.00

ZOOOOMG these were the best!! Braised till soft then flash fried, moist yet super crunchy on the outside... Awesome! Best part was the chilli jam, which tasted more like sambal than sweet, sticky, spicy jam. Never knew sambal could go so well with lamb ribs. 

Damn good with a big bowl of white rice. Totally went nuts over these...

Pork Belly with Apple Slaw, Chilli Caramel and Black Vinegar -- $35.00

YUM! Again, crispy on the outside while being moist and tender on the inside. Just like the lamb ribs. What I loved most was the sauce. Almost nectary sweet but carried the pork as well as the bountifully fresh vegetables very well. Kept spooning it onto my rice, so gewd... Another favourite for sure.

Soft Shell Crab Stir-Fried with Snake Beans, Wild Ginger, Basil and Black Pepper Sauce -- $34.00

Was definitely taken aback by this at the start... Soft-shelled crabs... STIR FRIED...?? Don't think I've ever had soft shelled crabs that wasn't deep fried.

But since the waitress recommended it, we decided to give it a go. In fact, I was totally wrong. Def a very tasty dish and loved how generous they were with the soft shell crabs.

Veal Shank Curry

Lots of fresh, flavour profiles (from the pineapples, tomatoes, etc) in this monochromatic curry. Veal was delicious and falling off the bone.

Lychee Filled Jam Doughnuts with Cinnamon Ice-Cream -- $14.00

Doughnut was quite dense, felt like it needed more sauce to help it go down. Still, interesting concept.

Lemongrass Panna Cotta with Mango Marshmallow -- $14.00

Ermm.... This was way too weird for me. Couldn't get past the strong lemongrass flavour in the dessert and it almost tasted like curry leaves! Pass...

Passionfruit Brulee with Puffed Wild Rice and Coconut Ice-Cream -- $14.00

Really liked the ultra thin crust at the top. Custard was delicious but only wish that it had set a bit more because it was a tad runny. In their defence, passionfruit was an AMAZING flavour to use for a creme brulee and now I want to make this at home too. That aside, BEST COCONUT ICE CREAM EVERRR!

Will just stick to this dessert from now on...

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this place is AWESOMEEE... First, the whole ambience of the place was fantastic. Lots of buzz but thankfully the high ceilings and wide open space drowned out the noise. Decor was simple, yet classy.  Again, that room with the massive red lantern in the middle... Stunning...

BEST part about this was that even though I expected to pay $35 per person for a meal at a place like this (which we did), I was surprised by how big the portions were (especially the mains). Hugeeee... Even if the portions were cut in half (which I sure as hell hope they won't), they would still be considered a fair quantity in many other similar Modern Asian restaurants. 

And, yes... The food was deliciously executed and we all enjoyed the entrees and mains very much. 

Another thing that we found to be a vital factor for the enjoyment of our meal was the unlimited supply of rice. I know, I know... Sound so Asian. No, really. The mains were really tasty and pairing it with white, fluffy Jasmine rice made it so much better. 

Would SO gladly come back here over and over again. IMHO, my experience here was WAY better than the one I had in Chin Chin or Longrain. Easy to book, nice environment, prompt food/service, delicious food and value for money. Again, that's just me. I came back here a coupla weeks later with my mate Adrian for a simple catchup one night after work and it was just as awesome.

Red Spice Road... You have definitely won me over (twice in a row). Now, I look forward to coming in to your new branch at QV for more lamb ribs awesomeness in January!

Chin Chin, CBD

NOTE: ALL the photos in this post was taken by my cousin and VERY-soon-to-be hubby (but edited by me), because I accidentally deleted ALL my photos of this meal from my camera before uploading them to my computer. Bah!! Aren't they boootifuuul...? All credits for these amazing photos goes to both of them =]

Howdy, y'all!

I know I'm a little late to the party, but I'm glad I FINALLY got the chance to blog about Chin Chin even though this meal happened over 6 months ago (along with the butt load of other reviews still sitting in my drafts folder). It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I hadn't caught up with my cousin for so long. And neither of us had tried Chin Chin before so we were all really looking forward to it.

Okay, seriously. Who hasn't heard of this place? It's been the talk of the town on Urbanspoon and also word-of-mouth from friends for yonks. But, I must be honest. When I think of Chin Chin, I can't help but think of Ms G's in Sydney too, and vice versa. These two restaurants are soooo similar to one another in too many ways and I'll explain why another day. Another restaurant that I have yet to blog about (because it's awesome!!!).

First of all, I think the whole interior is set out really well. High ceilings, good table layout with an even better bar. The buzz of the restaurant really does bode well with its reputation of being a "hip and happening" restaurant in Melbourne's CBD.

Now, let's get on to the FOOD...

STARTERS:

Kingfish Sashimi with Lime, Chilli, Coconut and Thai Basil -- $14

Beautiful dish. Fish was fresh and so were the strong contrasting flavours that seemed to come together in absolute harmony. Nice.

YUM!

Chin Chin Pork "Roll Ups" -- $18

(red braised suckling pigs with pancakes, slaw and sour herbs)

This was really tasty. The pork had just enough of fats to give it more moisture and flavour without being too rich.

Oh and you should know that our table was pretty funny because the 3 of us had our Canon DSLRs and was crazily snapping away at everything in sight lol. That's me at the right ;p

MAINS:

Crispy Skinned Mandarin Duck -- $33

(braised in Master Stock with yellow bean)

Beautiful on the plate. Skin was still crisp and the meat was just alright with the wings a tad overcooked. This dish wasn't bad but neither was it "wow".

"Scud City" That's Real Hot! Jungle Curry -- $30

(with Moreton Bay Bugs, pickled garlic and ginger)

I'm sorry that we didn't have a nicer photo of this! I did have a really good one but it got lost UGH. Shame...

Anyway, this dish was a huge miss. I get that it wasn't the creamy curry but that we're normally used to but more so like a light broth with a lot of aromatics in it. Similar to the Northeastern Thai cuisine I had at House in Sydney. Still, it was only spicy but really tasteless. Bugs were so mushy, unfresh and bland as well.

The additional roti that we ordered was pretty fail too. Not heated through properly and still tough and doughy. Really...?

DESSERT:

Palm Sugar Ice Cream Sundae -- $14

(with salted honeycomb and lime syrup)

This was amazing. The texture of the ice cream was phenomenal unlike anything I've had before. It was so smooth and creamy yet had sort of a chewy, elastic bite. And the addition of lime syrup to this dessert was pure genius.

Overall, I'm glad I finally got to give this place a go because now I know. However, there's a couple of reasons why I actually WON'T be coming back, at least not anytime soon.

First, even though we went there just as they opened for lunch and before it got busy, there was a 1.5 hour wait JUST for our first entree to arrive. Then about another 30min for the rest to come. Even though we had a great time catching up, it was seriously WTH. This was WAY too long... C'mon. And I don't think many people could afford to take more than a 2 hour lunch, honestly. Thank goodness I had fantastic company with me. Still, this was quite a huge turn off.

And though they had a few good and some okay dishes (with the dessert being most memorable), but the mains were a pretty big flop. They really are better for their entrees and dessert. Still, it's not like this place was super cheap or as affordable to make me want to come back again anyway. And I'm not some hissy diner who can't wait for a table, because I'm not. I've waited way longer than this before. I just found that this time round, it wasn't as worth the wait as compared to, say, my meal at Porteño.

I know, I know that there really are some signature dishes that I didn't get to taste but given the price and the wait and not-so-great dining experience, I think I'll pass because I don't think I'd be too keen to try them soon anyway. Let's just say I'm prolly one of the few people who's not really on the "Chin Chin-fanboy-bandwagon" for now. Sorry...?

Hope no one is too taken aback by what I'm saying here. It's just my personal opinion but I did realise later that there's a fair number of people who felt the same way about this place too. Despite everything, I really did have an AMAZING catch up with J and H (who's getting MARRIED tomorrow omg!!), so I appreciated that a lot. We had a blast just chatting away even though our food took forever to come.

So there you go. My "verdict" on Melbourne's most talked about restaurant. My meal at Ms G's (whom I regard as Chin Chin's Sydney counterpart), however, was something else. Must say that it was a lot better (food et al.). Seriously can't wait to blog about that someday, so stay tuned! Hope you're having a fantastic long Easter weekend, everybody!