Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Red Spice Road

27 McKillop Street, Melbourne Ph: 9603 1601



Does anyone really know where in Melbourne, McKillop Street is? I didn't, until I discovered Red Spice Road. Now I believe they should rename the entire street - Red Spice Road. Seriously! The food here is THAT good. I visited here on a recommendation from a friend and have been back many times since. The food here is brilliantly fresh, tasty, vibrant and of course- spicy!


Red Spice Road is like a cross between, Longrain and Gingerboy, but you can leave there with money in your pocket and your tummy is much more satisfied.



You can order, of course, from the a la carte menu, which is good value, but you cannot go past the lunch or dinner banquets, which are UNBELIEVABLE value! At lunchtime you can have an appetiser plus 5 mains for $25 or at dinner you can have 7 courses, plus dessert for $50! My tip is though... don't plan on completely finishing every course, because it's most likely that you're going to end up, very, very full!



The dinner banquet consists of:
  • betel leaf with spanner crab, chicken, chilli and kaffir lime
  • oyster with cucumber, green chilli, shallot and salmon roe
  • crispy five spice quail with jicama, shiso, watercress,
    cucumber salad
  • shredded chicken, pomelo, coconut, mint salad
  • pork belly with chilli caramel, apple slaw and black vinegar
  • beef cheeks with spiced star anise sauce, mushrooms &
    viet mint, bean sprout salad
  • wild barramundi with mushrooms, coriander, sugar
    peas and spicy coconut broth
  • steamed jasmine rice

  • mango brulee with coconut ice cream



The food here I believe is similar to that of Longrain, but I believe is a hell of a lot more tasty. I think that Longrain bases their dishes on heat, lime and more heat. At Red Spice Road, the spices, the fresh herbs, the sweet palm sugar and wonderful textures are in each and every dish.
The stand out dish, is by far the pork belly, which is crispy on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside, with just the right amount of fat in there. The dressing can be a little too sweet, but the acidity of the shredded green apple helps to cut through the sweetness and the richness of the pork.

My other fave was the beef cheeks, which are so tender, they literally melt in your mouth.



On the day of your visit, just make sure you skip at least 1 or 2 meals, so you can enjoy the huge banquet that is Red Spice Road.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh good. I despaired of your return and actually stopped checking in for a while. I know it was almost a year ago but I never noted to thank you for introducing me to The Commoner.

Adski said...

Thanks! nice to be back... however, i'm thinking it's time to upgrade the page a little.