Spice Temple

Spice Temple Restaurant Review:

Those who have followed the career of chef Neil Perry will have realized that he has a deep affinity for Asian food. The heat, the spiciness, the endless palette of ingredients suit his love of diversity. And Australian diners, poised as they are at the edge of Asia, are very comfortable with tropical flavors. In Spice Temple, Perry chose to explore mainland Chinese cuisine, veering away from mainstream Cantonese, and serve up distinguished dishes, many still with their poetic national names attached: fish drowned in heaven facing chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, is more prosaically "Leatherjacket Sichuan style," for instance. And you’d guess that hot sweet-and-sour numbing pork or tingling prawns contain Sichuan peppercorns as well. Three shot chicken is explained only by “beer, chili and soy.” And how could anyone resist stir-fried Wagyu brisket with chili paste and lucky money dumplings? Considerately, the spiciest dishes are marked in red, and most are meant to be shared, as they would be in China. Like many of Perry’s menus, there are dozens of dishes --- several with live-from-the-tank seafood. The choices are extensive, so much so that one of the two banquet menus for the whole table may seem the only sensible way to relax and try as much as possible. With his usual attention to detail, Perry has made sure that the 100 wines are meticulously picked to best enhance the often-tricky flavor combinations of his cuisine. And, of course, they do.