15/20

Updated October 26, 2026,first published November 11, 2024

15/20

Spice Temple

Chinese$$$

A titan of inner-city dining that never fails to bring the heat.

There’s a reason this elegant subterranean restaurant has thrived for over 15 years. It’s a real sum of its parts. A combination of a low-lit chocolate-box dining room perfect for subdued lunch meetings, and multiple private spaces for group feasts; of a wine list with depth and breadth; a menu that explores a broad spectrum of much-loved classics and soon-to-be-favourites inspired by Yunnan, Jiangxi, Hunan and Sichuan cuisines.

Longtime chef Andy Evans departed in 2026, but the lamb pancake still features fresh dough stuffed with lamb mince, fried until crisp, and served finger-scorchingly hot with smoky house-made chilli sauce. Fillets of precisely steamed flathead bathe in soy, sesame and green onion, and “strange flavour chicken” stars delicate poached chicken shreds coated in a sweet-sour-nutty sesame-based sauce.

Everything is best enjoyed with rice and house-made pickles. The real showstopper though? It’s still the tres leches – a fluffy milk cake covered in swathes of soft meringue and fresh pistachio. Gloriously OTT.

Good to know: The bar is an under-the-radar, underground gem for cocktails and noodles.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up

Last visited: August 2026

More:

From our partners

Source: The Age

At a glance

Topic
World
Country
🇦🇺 AU
Publisher language
EN
Added to Allnira