23 Aug Red Spice Road, Melbourne CBD

A group of us decided to celebrate the end of block 3 with dinner. Originally we were going to go to Chin Chin, but for various reasons changed the location to Red Spice Road (the MacKillop St branch).

We were fortunate to score a table in the private room, which was much quieter than in the main area. I assumed the menu was the same as what was on the website so I didn’t take a photo. As a result, some of the descriptions for these dishes are rather vague.

Pork Belly with Apple Slaw, Chilli Caramel and Black Vinegar ($35)- RSR’s signature dish and the best one we had tonight. We ordered two of these. The belly had a decent amount of meat, wasn’t as fatty as I thought it would be and had a nice caramelised crust.

Soft Shell Crab stir-fried with Snake Beans, Wild Ginger and Black Pepper Sauce ($35)
– This was my second favourite dish, but there wasn’t much crab in it.

Goat Rendang – Malaysian Goat and Potato Curry ($34)- Not really much to comment on. The meat was nice, but the flavours weren’t that special.

Beef Cheek with Spicy Masterstock, Mushrooms, Basil and Lemongrass- Cooked until very tender

Pork ribs- Also very tender and tasty, but again, not really that special.

Crispy duck with mushrooms- This one had a very robust flavour, including basil.

Tofu salad
– I only ate one piece of tofu, and it was the first thing I tried so I’ve forgotten what it tasted like, other than having a thicker outside skin with a creamy inside. When we were ordering, I didn’t know the tofu would be fried in a batter, but I would have thought the batter should be more crunchy.

All together the bill came to $311 for the 8 dishes for 10 people. The food was good, but I didn’t think it was worth the price we paid. It could be partly because I’m not huge on Thai food, but even the ones that were more Malaysian/non-Thai didn’t seem that wonderful. Having said that, I did enjoy my time tonight and it was also a good opportunity to try a wide range of dishes.

Red Spice Road
27 McKillop St
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
(03) 9603 1601
http://www.redspiceroad.com/