Red Spice QV
Where? Red Spice QV (Melbourne CBD, Melbourne, Australia) Map Menu
When? Monday December 29, 2014
Who? Ants, Jo, Ben and Jill
Food Style? Modern Asian Food with Melbournian Attitude
Slowly trying to get through all my Melbourne reviews. So much food to write about!
On the Tuesday, we had spent a bit of time wandering around town, trying to find a place that would sit all five of us AND be open over the Christmas/New Years period. There was a two hour wait at Chin Chin, and Rice Paper Scissors was closed, so we kept walking and in the end, we arrived at the Queen Victoria Village, or QV as it's known by the locals, and we chose Red Spice QV. We were seated at the end of a very long table that could have easily fit 30 people. Red Spice have a couple of restaurants in Melbourne and their philosophy is similar to Gingerboy's: vibrant Asian flavours meets Australian produce and ingredients. The dishes are intended to be shared, just like a traditional Chinese meal. We ordered three dishes and a few drinks between the five of us.
Slow Roasted Goat Shoulder
With spicy eggplant, smashed tomato, coriander and crispy beans
So hearty and very well cooked; the meat just crumbles under the fork. Great tang in the salad and tomatoes, and loved the texture of the crunchy nuts and crispy beans.
Pork Belly
With chilli caramel, herb salad and black vinegar
Fantastic textures, good balance of sweetness in the hoisin sauce and the sour in the black vinegar. Pork belly is such a wonderful comfort food - it is also one of Red Spice's signature dishes. A must try!
Chilli salt fried pandan soft shell crab
With picked cucumber salad
I cannot get enough of soft shell crab. Wonderful seafood flavours with a nice hint of chilli and lime that only added to the natural taste. Couldn't really detect the pandan, but I wouldn't expect it to be a prominent feature in this dish.
Overall, the meal was enjoyable but definitely not one in Melbourne's upper echelons of restaurants. It's the kind of place you'd go with heaps of people for a decent feed. We ended up going to Cookie Beer Bar for a quick drink afterwards. Good times!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:54am on Sunday March 1, 2015 :: 0 comments :: 