
I'm actually 30 minutes early for the table I've booked - couldn't wait to get out of work! It's Friday night! And I enjloy a breather with a pineapple cocktail and my Kindle.
I'm soon joined by my dining companions and we're looked after well with drinks orders taken and menu assistance given. We decided to go with their banquet menu and leave it in their hands.
Quickly following come:
- 19th street crispy pork w/ lemon, cumin & chilli
- Potato cake filled w/ spicy slow roasted lamb belly, cabbage salad & minty yoghurt
The potato cake is possibly the most delicious potato cake. Crunchy and crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy and flavoursome with a beautiful piquancy from the yoghurt. This as super tasty but pretty hefty on the stomach!
- Pickled tea leaf salad - Tea leaves, tomato, peanuts, sesame seeds, crunchy broad beans & cabbage
- Shan noodles w/ rough chopped slow cooked chicken, peanuts, green onion, chilli, coriander & crispy shallots
Main courses are:
- Rockling cooked in turmeric, lemongrass & tomato w/ noodles, mustard greens & egg AKA Funky Mohingha, a take on a Burmese classic
- Beef cheek curry with pickled green mango & eggplant
Our other desserts were the:
- Sago & coconut pudding w/ coconut & seasonal fruits
- Coffee & ginger cheesecake with burnt white chocolate & crystallized coconut
I didn't feel as full as I have done following Red Spice Road banquets. I also didn't feel it was that different in cuisine type and could have been at Red Spice Road! The food was universally good and suited us as a small group and the service was very attentive which isn't always the case at Red Spice Road as they get too busy at times.
A friend of mine told me that when Red Spice Road first arrived on the Melbourne dining scene it was ahead of its time as it was the first Asian / fusion, not $10 a meal, sharing and hip type restaurant. What has since happened is that it's reached a plateau and stayed at that friendly, approachable, likeable but not amazing level and others have overtaken it. But it's dependable, welcomes reservations and fairly consistent so it has found it's place in the market.
It's not somewhere Steve and I would go ourselves as we're probably a bit more adventurous but it's an option to go in a group where everyone will be catered for.