Spice Bar

If you're looking for the paradigm of modern Asian cuisine, a visit to Spice Bar should be high on your agenda. A wall of wines, a collection of red lacquer pots and an origami kinetic sculpture as well sassy mismatched tableware and music set the mood for vibrant, original dishes. Cuttlefish crackers, several coloured with black ink, are a playful nod to the ubiquitous prawn cracker, here juxtaposed with lush ocean trout tartare with green chilli pickles. Okonomiyaki, or a crisp-bottomed Japanese-style pancake, ennobled with duck and flakes of dried bonito fish, reveals chef and owner Aaron Ruttan's skills honed in South-East Asia. A spiced Kilcoy scotch fillet with madeleines made with Chinese sausage with a corn bavarois, silver beet chips and a green peppercorn jus crosses boundaries of cheeky ingenuity. You won't want to share the XO-based Mooloolaba king prawns with intense but well-balanced spice, nor the steamed buns. A smokin' (thanks to liquid nitrogen) espresso martini dessert is a fitting finale.