For my last night in Brisbane I waited until the last minute to find a restaurant. After some research and converging information I choose and book at Spice Central Kitchen.
It turns out (even if it is not a reliable criterion) that it is one of the best rated restaurants in the city on TripAdvisor.
But the restaurant’s promise appeals to me, even if, as we shall see, its name is a bit misleading.
My only fear after a very very brief look at their site? That it was a little too flashy and noisy for my taste.
Let’s see how it went.
You will find at the bottom of the page all the articles about this trip in Australia.
The concept of Spice Central Kitchen
Simply put, Spice Central Kitchen is a restaurant that explores the different cuisines of the world through local markets.
It means everything and nothing, or rather it just means “international cuisine”.
When I say that the name is misleading, it is because for me it spontaneously evokes some restaurants in Dubai or Doha that I liked a lot and where the term “spice” had all its meaning in reference to a half Asian and half Middle Eastern inspired cuisine. And with the clientele that goes with it.
It turns out that here the “spice” has, in my opinion, no other interest than marketing (and it works). As for the Central Kitchen it just describes the layout of the room with its central kitchen.
The setting of Spice Central Kitchen
As I said, after watching their site for a few seconds and the video in the background of the homepage I was expecting something maybe a little too flashy and bling.
In fact, the restaurant is composed of a very large room in the middle of which sits a large open and central kitchen.
For the rest the decoration is of good taste but very simple, the “charm” of the room coming from its weak luminosity. A classic trick.
In fact the room is like a huge refectory or a dinner with a nice decoration and a light enough subdued to give it a style.
This can sometimes work, but that evening the restaurant will be almost empty, which, given the size of the room, will give a rather impersonal and cold atmosphere. And therefore not bling at all, at least not that night. And that’s great news.
The Spice Central Kitchen menu
It comes from all over, the food is varied and reinforces the promise of an international “market cuisine” and it is finally quite appetizing.
The dinner and the service
Coming from W Brisbane where I stay I will walk a bit (20 minutes) but will return by Uber. When I arrived, letting myself be guided by my GPS, I was surprised to realize that the Spice Central Kitchen is none other than the …. restaurant of the Novotel.
I pass the reception desk and see a large, dark, empty space to the side. That’s not it, is it? I ask at the reception and it is indeed the restaurant.
What a discrepancy with their communication. I imagined something trendy with a bit of atmosphere (maybe too much), I find myself in the lobby of a Novotel.
And it’s totally empty.
They don’t accompany me to my table but they point to it from afar and send me there.
The music is not too loud, it’s good.
A waitress arrives quickly to take care of me and gives me the menu. Nice to be able to order half-portioned dishes to try things or share…
The order is taken quickly and the waitress, very friendly and smiling, answers all my questions and advises me.
I asked for a sparkling water and they bring me Perrier. It starts badly. For me, Perrier is not a water you drink with a meal at the restaurant, unlike Perrier Fines Bulles. And I prefer San Pellegrino or Chateldon. Anyway…
There is only one other table next to me and…they speak French. Obviously four salesmen on a seminar or business trip. This confirms the adage that “the French fly on Air France and sleep at Accor”.
As a starter I had the scallops with speck and butternut purée.
It’s a good thing I didn’t take a half portion, you’d need almost two full-sized entrees to get something decent.
The presentation is very successful.
The scallops are very well cooked and with the Speck it gives a nice land-sea taste. The purée is good but served lukewarm, which breaks the dynamics of the dish a bit.
Finally it is very good and with the scallops, the speck and the butternut it is a very successful mix of land and sea and salty-sweet.
The main course will be pasta with prawns and squid ink. I will add pont neuf potatoes and mashed potatoes as a side.
Again it’s well presented but the size of the dish allows for one or two sides to be taken on the side.
The prawns are very good but the pasta lacks salt or pepper, not spicy enough. The olives are too salty, disgusting.
I chose the puree because I was intrigued by this “mustard puree”. The purée will be melting and the mustard taste will be almost absent.
The potatoes are cooked to perfection and are delicious. The tomato relish that come with is a treat! I would have eaten a plateful.
Finally it was very successful.
For dessert I will have a blueberry-armagnac / vanilla-lemon sorbet
Surprising but very good.
I will finish with a coffee and ask for the bill, which will arrive quickly.
It’s about time, I was the last customer and it looks really gloomy.
The atmosphere
I was expecting, given the site, something trendy and noisy. Even too much so. In fact it was empty and very quiet and the only customers I saw were not particularly bling.
Maybe another day, maybe a weekend…
But that Monday night at 8pm it was dead.
At least I had a quiet dinner and I won’t complain about it.
The service
Cold reception, but the waitress was very friendly and efficient.
Bottom line
Well, in the end it was a great meal.
The main thing is the plate. And while I can’t compare Spice Central Kitchen with Elska it is much better than Southside and at least as good as the restaurant at the W for much less money.
The dishes were finally quite elaborate with somewhat creative but fair combinations of ingredients.
As for the atmosphere…I was really afraid of something too noisy and trendy…it was just the opposite. I think the site is selling the upscale side of the restaurant very well, if not overselling it, and the reality must be between what I saw and what I was afraid to find.
Finally I regretted that there was not more atmosphere but maybe the restaurant shows a different face on other days of the week.