Spare Me Kitchen - Review
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Spare Me Kitchen , located at
393-395 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (upstairs) has a great reason you should schedule a visit - it has brought David "Davey" Stewart (owner and Head Chef of
Ascot Food Store ) on board and is offering a new menu.
Davey's menu for Spare Me Kitchen consolidates his food experiences. He draws flavours from everywhere he has cooked, worked, eaten and explored. Growing up in Gippsland on a farm, Davey's passion for food was ignited by the paddock-to-plate cooking style from his grandmother. "It was always about eating off the land. Pick, wash, prepare and cook!" says Davey. "There are no rules here because the space at Glamorama is so different, the new menu is a bit daring and a bit left of center to reflect this," he adds.
Last week, we visited Spare Me Kitchen to sample some of the dishes from the new menu.
We tried three of the entrees:
- Jamon, duck liver parfait, saltbush and pickles (GF) - $10
- Madras spiced trawler prawns - $8
- Hiramasa Kingfish, lemon oil, shoots (GF) - $15.
For me, the pick of these dishes was the prawns. They are small prawns, spiced and flash fried, and eaten whole, with a hearty crunch, a little like whitebait. Delicious!
The Kingfish was delightfully tender and melt in the mouth, and will be a hit with anyone who likes to eat sashimi. The jamon was a well-rounded dish. It was an inspired idea to pair it with the duck liver parfait.
For main course, my partner Dave ordered the Gippsland beef fillet, with shaved fennel and parsley (GF) - $28, while I went for a lighter option, the grilled haloumi burger with spiced pumpkin and pickle - $13. The burger was a delight to eat, with a generous quantity of melting haloumi oozing out the sides. Dave readily cleaned his plate, enjoying the aromatic tang of the fennel complementing the rare beef.
Finally, we tried a dessert - and it was divine! Described as 'whipped goats curd, mascarpone, shaved grana, vanilla almond soil, lemon gel, chocolate marquise, peanut praline, salted caramel', this dessert can best be described as resembling a 'deconstructed lemon meringue pie' - only better. It was a flavour sensation, with so many elements on the plate. The balance between sweet, sour and salty was masterful.
The dishes we tried were not huge portions (with the exception of the dessert, which we happily shared between the two of us), but we feel this is reflected in the reasonable pricing.
There are also set course menus available: two courses for $45 and three courses for $55 per person.
Click here to view the full menu. To reserve a table
click here .
But don't just visit Spare Me Kitchen for the food! There is also a large, well-stocked bar, featuring an extensive range of Australian whiskies. We can attest to the fact that the bar staff make excellent cocktails, Dave putting them to the test on a dry martini which was executed to perfection. For the full drinks list,
click here .
What distinguishes Spare Me Kitchen from other restaurants and bars is that after 11pm, the venue is transformed into a dance floor. The music is provided via a custom-fitted top of the range, Funktion-One surround sound system.
Spare Me Kitchen is
open Wednesday to Sunday, from 5-11pm, with the venue staying open until 3am on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights, and 5am on Friday and Saturday nights.
With these super long opening hours, Spare Me Kitchen is the place to go for an early evening meal, early morning dance or for a whole night's entertainment.
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212676 - 2023-06-16 06:48:04