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Trevor Pepys reviews A Taste of Spice
Okay, the first thing to say is it’s not flash. It looks like the takeaway it is, and a bit of a down-at-heel one at that. But all of this in a good way.
Trev has done enough road miles in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India in the past decade or so to know that the law of inverse proportion is seldom wrong, which is to say the grungier the joint, the better the food. Trev was pondering this as he wandered through the kitchen to get to the dunny the other night at A Taste of Spice, the Indo-Malaysian restaurant that’s been wowing locals, first in Noosaville, now in Noosa Junction, for almost two decades.
As he and the missus joined a couple of old friends at a rickety table behind a plastic drape, Trev’s mind wandered from a two-table treehouse in the high tea plantation country in Sri Lanka to a shack on the beach on Tioman Island, Malaysia, where the South China Sea splashed our legs as the tide came in. In places such as these, just when you think this place could not possibly be a restaurant, some one emerges from a space that could not possibly be a kitchen with a meal to die for.
A Taste of Spice is a bit like that. Owner/chef Anil Dutt and his crew know their stuff, and they know the customers don’t come here for the frills.
Our friends being regulars at Spice and well-known foodies, we placed ourselves in their capable hands with the order while we enjoyed the rare treat of sipping on our corkage-free BYO Torresella Pinot Grigio and Lulu French rosé (both about $10 at Dan’s). This eminently sensible wine policy is a major factor in keeping the local trade, and is accompanied by a smile, an ice bucket and good wine glasses, whereas the few places around town that still offer BYO generally accompany their ridiculously high corkage fee with lashings of resentment, hoping to dissuade you from ever bringing a bottle from home again.
We started with a round of steamed wontons ($9.50 for six pieces), then moved into chilli king prawns ($21.50), sweet and sour pork ($17.50), Massaman beef and potato curry ($18.50) and a special fried rice ($13.50). The wontons were about as good as they get, served with a delicious light soy, and this set the tone for a free-flowing meal that was difficult to fault. If Trev is going to be picky – and you know that’s his nature – then the Massaman curry lacked a bit of kick. But this was made up for by the chilli prawns, and the special fried rice actually was quite special, showing yet again that this humble kitchen can give a lift to even the most humble of Asian dishes.
The verdict: An old mate of Trev’s, celebrating his earthiness in a beaten-up trucker cap, brushed past the table on his way out and whispered: “Best and cheapest feed in town, mate. About time you caught up with it.” He was right. Trev will be back, again and again.
A Taste of Spice, 36 Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Junction. Phone 5448 0311.