It’s been a busy two weeks for me, as I’ve been in Melbourne for 5 nights for a conference (and some great eating), and I’m currently in New Zealand for a few days visiting friends (more great eating!).
One of the things I was looking most forward to in Melbourne was catching up with friends and eating at a few new-to-me restaurants.
It was a real treat to eat at Spice Temple. I’ve been a fan of Neil Perry’s restaurants since I first ate at Wokpool in Sydney shortly after it opened. At that time the majority of my income went to paying the rent, so fancy restaurants – actually, pretty much all restaurants – were a luxury.
My friend I dined with suggested a few other places – I must confess, I can’t recall their names as I was a bit fixated on Spice Temple. We were not let down.
This is what we ate:
Tea smoked duck breast with pickled cabbage and Chinese mustard
Gua bao with char sui pork
Gua bao with braised lamb and chilli paste
Peanuts with aged black vinegar
Stir fried quail and peanuts with steamed egg custard
Hunan style crisp pork belly with mushroom soy, fresh and dried chilli
Stir fried Wagyu brisket with lucky money dumplings and chilli paste
Three milk cake with rose water meringue, pomegranate and pistachio
My pick of the night? Hard to say as it was all amazing. The peanuts were the most unexpected surprise and I could have just slurped up all of that black vinegar. However I have to say the tea smoked duck was my favourite. I do also wish I had left a bit more room for the Wagyu brisket as its flavour was divine.
Would I eat at Spice Temple again – oh yes. In a second. And next time I won’t eat for a few days before hand!
I ate there last year & was simply blown away – and I tend to be little cynical about anything that is over-hyped. My friend did the ordering & we had an amazing eggplant dish, if I remember correctly.
I was ridiculously impressed Amanda. I’m keen to go again.
How wonderful! The Hunan style crisp pork belly looks divine as does the teat smoked duck breast. What superb offerings, I will have to eat here when next in Melbourne.
That pork belly was pretty good Merryn! But the tea smoked duck was stunning.