Restaurant Review: Red Spice Road, QV

Red Spice Road has consistently been a favourite of ours for years, and for that reason we have decided to review the new(ish) restaurant located at QV.  

Nestled just off the street in the QV complex, the restaurant is picturesque and romantic at night. In keeping with this theme, unlike the other Red Spice Road (McKillop street) this restaurant offers a more intimate dining experience with the option of private (as opposed to communal as is the case at the McKillop street venue) dining in a smaller restaurant space. The staff are extremely friendly and overall we had a great night. 

For Greta's birthday we chose the $79 banquet, which consists of 10 different dishes. Every dish was delicious and generously sized, and by the end of the night the seams on our clothes were almost bursting. The idea of this post is to provide pictures of each of the 10 dishes provided by the $79 banquet... if only this blog had scratch and sniff!

The first dishes to arrive at our table were the Steamed Bao of Shredded Duck, Crispy Shallot and Coriander (top left), Betel Leaf with Smoked Chicken, Avocado, Shallot and Lemongrass (top right), Scallop and Corn Puree Cucumber, Green Chilli and Soya Beans (bottom left) and the Oysters with Smoked Pork Belly, Sesame, Green Onion and Soy (bottom right). 

My mouth was salivating by the time these dishes came, and they did not last very long as our chatter soon became the sound of chewing. Greta's favourite were the oysters, while I most enjoyed the scallops. Every dish was lovely. 

The second lot of dishes to reach our table were the Prawn, Pomelo and Coconut Salad with Roasted Chilli Peppers (top left), Pork Belly with Apple Slaw Chilli Caramel and Black Vinegar (bottom left) and steamed rice (right). 

Again, these dishes were delicious! The salad set the taste buds burning with its chilli rich flavour, and the pork belly was very lean with only a thin layer of fat under the crackling. Perfect. One thing I dislike about pork belly is that at some restaurants its fat content exceeds its meat content, but at Red Spice Road the pork belly was mostly lean pork meat and it literally melted in my mouth with the sweet sauce. 

The third lot of dishes to make it to our table were the Rockling Jungle Curry with Snake Beans, Cauliflower and Crispy Shallots (bottom right), Wagyu Shin slow cooked with Five Spice with Mushrooms and Smoked Eggplant Nam Prik (top) and Goat slow-cooked with Chilli, Tamarind, Tumeric and Sweet Potato (bottom left). 

By this stage the rice was no longer wanted. We were stuffed to the brim and forced fed ourselves only a small portion of each of these dishes. The rockling, goat and wagyu were all cooked beautifully and super soft. All three dishes were beautiful but I had to save room for dessert, and I am glad I did! 

The final dish to put a big smile on our faces was the Passionfruit Cream with Basil Seeds, Coco de Nata, Lychee, Coconut Ice Cream and Sesame Tuille. 

We finished every bit of this dessert, and in fact I wanted to lick my plate clean. We could not finish the mains and left a lot, but the dessert was simply too irresistible.

I washed down all the food with a bottle of Cavalier Brown Ale - a dark ale with mostly coffee and dark chocolate on the palate which faded into a slightly bitter and yeasty finish.

We both loved the food at Red Spice Road QV. That said, we prefer the ambiance of the other Red Spice Road (if, of course, we are in the mood for communal dining).