Spice world
Spice Bar, 4/19 First Ave, Mooloolaba
Ph: 5444 2022
Spice Bar, 4/19 First Ave, Mooloolaba
Ph: 5444 2022
Where do you begin with a night out this good? Well, this is the review I have been waiting to do, so I hope you are ready for a rave. Being only six weeks old, I hadn’t heard all that much about the Spice Bar so I went with an open mind and appetite ready for something a bit different. What I didn’t expect was to be totally blown away by what was without a doubt one of the most pleasurable dining experiences I have had in a long time.
The Spice Bar is in Mooloolaba on the sedate First Avenue strip. Everything about this new little treasure screams ambience. The restaurant has a sophisticated funkiness about it — rich luxurious colours, mood lighting and sleek timber furnishings, with comfy cushioned seating lining the wall. The menu splayed across the entire wall on a gigantic chalkboard is quite a novel feature.
Speaking of the menu; where to begin? Eclectic would be the best way to describe it; a combination of taste sensations borrowing from various cuisines. My dining buddy and I had equal difficulty deciding. Fortunately the Spice Bar caters for just this situation by having ‘small plates’ and ‘large plates’ rather than mains and entrees; the small plates are ideal for sharing. So small plates it was and lots of them.
First up was edamame ($5.90), which are salted soy beans in the pod, delicious and seriously more-ish. Then came the house- cured ocean trout carpaccio with extra virgin olive oil, soy ponzu, jalapenos and dried miso ($14.90). Wow is all I can say. This dish was the highlight for me. Such fresh zesty flavours with the jalapenos giving it just that little bit of punch.
Then another little treat — a special for the day — oysters, which could be bought singularly ($2.50 each). One was grilled with ginger and soy sabayon topped with a splotch of tobiko (flying fish roe) and the other was dressed with finger lime pearls and olive oil. Both were magnificent and, yes, very ‘special’. I might add the recommended wine 12was particularly nice, too (Babich organic single vineyard sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region, $44). Crisp and fresh it went beautifully with our chosen dishes.
To fill the leftover gap we chose a large plate each, though we could quite happily have dined on a further assortment of small plates. Lamb backstrap with eggplant puree, beetroot powder, sichuan pepper and yoghurt ($26.90) was my choice with roasted duck with shitake mushroom, lychee and lime ($26.90) for my dining buddy, served with a bowl of steamed greens (snake and green beans) with fermented tofu and sesame ($6.90). Another wow, from both of us, from the tenderest lamb to melt in your mouth duck and a perfect combination of ingredients. We loved every morsel.
At this point we were starting to fill up. But I had noticed a dessert on the chalkboard at the start of the night and there was no way I was going home without it. So the layered liquorice allsort ($14.90), which consisted of a hip looking layer of mango puree, aniseed cream, pineapple jelly and the most exquisite raspberry foam, accompanied by a ball of liquorice ice cream, found its way to our table. Can I keep saying wow? Even the cappuccinos ($3.20) were fantastic, though by this time we were so enamoured with everything on offer we wanted to marry the chef!
Everything about the Spice Bar was perfect, especially the service. Kym-Sarah, one of the owners (and the chef’s very lucky wife), served us with a warmth and efficiency that made us feel like she was an old friend welcoming us into her home, exuding passion for the food and the diners. Seek out this little treasure. I know I will be spending many more nights there working my way through its absolute jewel of a menu.
Petra Frieser’s visit was unannounced and she paid for her own meal and beverages.
Spice Bar
4/19 First Ave,
Mooloolaba
Ph: 5444 2022
Open Wed-Thurs and Sat 5pm-late, Fri and Sat noon-3pm, 5pm-late
Cuisine Eclectic mix of Asian and modern Australian cuisine
Cost Small plates $5.90-$14.90, large plates $19.90-$26.90
Desserts $13.90-$14.90.
Story: Petra Frieser, from Issue 616, March 4th, 2010.
The Spice Bar is in Mooloolaba on the sedate First Avenue strip. Everything about this new little treasure screams ambience. The restaurant has a sophisticated funkiness about it — rich luxurious colours, mood lighting and sleek timber furnishings, with comfy cushioned seating lining the wall. The menu splayed across the entire wall on a gigantic chalkboard is quite a novel feature.
Speaking of the menu; where to begin? Eclectic would be the best way to describe it; a combination of taste sensations borrowing from various cuisines. My dining buddy and I had equal difficulty deciding. Fortunately the Spice Bar caters for just this situation by having ‘small plates’ and ‘large plates’ rather than mains and entrees; the small plates are ideal for sharing. So small plates it was and lots of them.
First up was edamame ($5.90), which are salted soy beans in the pod, delicious and seriously more-ish. Then came the house- cured ocean trout carpaccio with extra virgin olive oil, soy ponzu, jalapenos and dried miso ($14.90). Wow is all I can say. This dish was the highlight for me. Such fresh zesty flavours with the jalapenos giving it just that little bit of punch.
Then another little treat — a special for the day — oysters, which could be bought singularly ($2.50 each). One was grilled with ginger and soy sabayon topped with a splotch of tobiko (flying fish roe) and the other was dressed with finger lime pearls and olive oil. Both were magnificent and, yes, very ‘special’. I might add the recommended wine 12was particularly nice, too (Babich organic single vineyard sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region, $44). Crisp and fresh it went beautifully with our chosen dishes.
To fill the leftover gap we chose a large plate each, though we could quite happily have dined on a further assortment of small plates. Lamb backstrap with eggplant puree, beetroot powder, sichuan pepper and yoghurt ($26.90) was my choice with roasted duck with shitake mushroom, lychee and lime ($26.90) for my dining buddy, served with a bowl of steamed greens (snake and green beans) with fermented tofu and sesame ($6.90). Another wow, from both of us, from the tenderest lamb to melt in your mouth duck and a perfect combination of ingredients. We loved every morsel.
At this point we were starting to fill up. But I had noticed a dessert on the chalkboard at the start of the night and there was no way I was going home without it. So the layered liquorice allsort ($14.90), which consisted of a hip looking layer of mango puree, aniseed cream, pineapple jelly and the most exquisite raspberry foam, accompanied by a ball of liquorice ice cream, found its way to our table. Can I keep saying wow? Even the cappuccinos ($3.20) were fantastic, though by this time we were so enamoured with everything on offer we wanted to marry the chef!
Everything about the Spice Bar was perfect, especially the service. Kym-Sarah, one of the owners (and the chef’s very lucky wife), served us with a warmth and efficiency that made us feel like she was an old friend welcoming us into her home, exuding passion for the food and the diners. Seek out this little treasure. I know I will be spending many more nights there working my way through its absolute jewel of a menu.
Petra Frieser’s visit was unannounced and she paid for her own meal and beverages.
Spice Bar
4/19 First Ave,
Mooloolaba
Ph: 5444 2022
Open Wed-Thurs and Sat 5pm-late, Fri and Sat noon-3pm, 5pm-late
Cuisine Eclectic mix of Asian and modern Australian cuisine
Cost Small plates $5.90-$14.90, large plates $19.90-$26.90
Desserts $13.90-$14.90.
Story: Petra Frieser, from Issue 616, March 4th, 2010.
