Delicious Steamed Chicken
It took some time to find the entry to Spice Temple, a monogram door on a quiet and dark Bligh Street opened to a winding staircase which led my Valentine and me to our Szechuan escape.
Spice Temple is a part of Neil Perry’s world renown Bar and Grill, but a kept secret is around the corner. The cocktail menu offers 12 drinks, each based on the Chinese calendar, with surprising ingredients like bitter orange, buttermilk yoghurt and pistachio set the meal up perfectly.
Faced with quite an overwhelming menu and empty stomachs we chose to order the banquet, naturally. The first few courses of their $69 banquet are intended to open the palate and they did just that. Pickled veggies, cucumbers with smashed garlic and steamed chicken salad in spring onion oil.
The next course and one of my favourites was the steamed eggplant with three flavours: coriander, sweet pork sauce and garlic blanched three times said to remove the ‘nasty aftermath’ it would normally bring. Delicious.
Our table was dimly lit; the mood was elegant and romantic with wooden blinds and splashes of red. Each course is given an explanation on how it should be eaten and why it made it to the menu.
Next, the Hapuka fillet, spicy fried squid with chilli paste, the melt in your mouth Wagyu and more, left us feeling as though we could fit not another – then they bring their specialty. Never before have I seen the word ‘numbing’ on a menu. ‘Hot and Numbing pork’ is strategically put in red on the menu, as are all the fiery dishes Spice Temple serves. A pork so hot that your tongue soon becomes numb to the chilli. Don’t let that sway you. It works wonders and some green veggies in their house made oyster sauce are set to follow to quench the fire.
And lastly the watermelon granita, an icy dish with ginger syrup poured over the top.
This will erase every memory of bad Chinese takeaway you have, it’s an extraordinary experience.
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