Gastronomical ramblings

It seems as of late, I’m a little slow on the uptake of certain things. Only now has it just occurred to me (after typing the title) why Spice Temple is called such! I like to think that this delay is down to me using much of my brain power during the day in the lab, leaving me with little at night haha! Anyway Friday night’s eating adventure was spent at Neil Perry’s restaurant, Spice Temple, at Crown with fellow ex-bbmedders V and K. 

It was difficult to capture the vibe of the restaurant due to the lack of lighting but the interior had a modern oriental feel that was probably more suitable for a bar. Nonetheless, it was a very good looking venue. 

Guangxi style roast pork belly with tofu, coriander, peanuts, red onion and sesame seeds. 

The tofu in this dish was… interesting - the only thing about it that resembled tofu was the texture. Other than that, it tasted like smoked liquorice. How they managed to get the tofu to taste that way has me scratching my head. The pork (super crispy crackling) and the salad was good though. We thought maybe the taste of the tofu would ‘compliment’ the pork so we tried that… Still not good. 

King prawn wontons with aged black vinegar dressing

Not as spicy as I had first anticipated… although the wontons did come across as spicy when I accidentally inhaled whilst swallowing. 

Hot, sweet, sour and numbing pork - chilli, sugar, black vinegar and Sichuan peppercorn.

When they use the word ‘numbing’ in the name of the dish, they literally mean numbing! It was a very odd sensation (reminiscent of when the anaesthetic begins to wear off whilst at the dentist). Not very pleasant. The sensation, courtesy of the peppercorn, kicked in approximately 30 seconds after taking a bite and lingered for a few minutes. I eventually reached a point where I dreaded putting the stuff in my mouth and finally conceded, refusing to take another bite.

They also have numbing chicken, duck and wagyu beef. 

Three shot chicken - beer, chilli and soy

The waitress brought everything out to the table, added the shots into the pot and heated it up on a gas stove nearby before it was ready to eat. The dish went nicely with rice, just as long as you don’t heap spoonfuls of the soup onto the remainder of your rice. 

Caramel chocolate and peanut parfait.

The appearance reminded me of a circularised maxibon and it tasted like an ice-cream version of a snickers bar. 

Brown sugar, banana and white chocolate Swiss roll.

Definitely the highlight of the night. Great tasting, not too sweet with a very fragrant banana flavor. It was great that the best had indeed been saved for last. Even more great was the fact that we weren’t over full and could finish it. Mmmm, I would go back JUST for this dessert!

So spice temple, not that spicy after all. We had ordered two of their most spicy dishes, the wontons and numbing pork, and they weren’t deadly spicy at all. Save for the numbing effects, but I would hardly call that spicy! Still thinking about that banana dessert…

Spice Temple

Crown Complex 

8 Whiteman St.

Southbank, Victoria, 3006