Secret Kitchen is located on the corner of Exhibition Street and Little Bourke Street which provides innovative and higher quality Chinese food. If you’re walking by, you’d definitely not miss this GINORMOUS building but then, when you’re vertically challenged like myself, everything is GINORMOUS! Secret Kitchen hosted a ‘Road to Coonawarra’ wine pairing banquet and I was luckily enough to attend.
I arrived super early and they were still setting up. I decided to take a seat and everything was folded nicely and I waited for everyone to arrive.
The teas came out and they were oh so fancy (I’m so fancy, I already know oh oh!), all on top of of a candle to keep it warm.
First dish of the night was the suckling pig, honey pepper spare ribs and chili cured jellyfish. This reminded me of asian weddings and I found the suckling pig to be pretty good. However, the chili cured jellyfish was quite bland and the spare ribs was average. The matching wine was the 2015 Katnook Estate Sauvignon Blanc and it was amazing.
Suckling Pig, Honey Pepper Spare Ribs & Chili Cured Jellyfish
The second dish was the steamed king prawn on egg whites and this was very smooth and silky. The prawn itself was absolutely succulent. The matching wine for this dish was the 2014 Katnook Estate Riesling.
Steamed King Prawn on Egg Whites
The third dish for the night was the roasted spring chicken with salt and pepper and this was AMAZEBALL! My favourite dish of the night. The skin was super crispy and the meat itself was was plump and juicy. The flavour was on point! Matched wine was the 2014 Katnook Estate Chardonnay.
Roasted Spring Chicken with Salt & Pepper
The fourth dish was the grilled lamb cutlets with black pepper sauce which I had forgotten to take a photo of. This had a bit of a lamb-y smell to it but was quite tender and perfectly cooked. Matched wine was the 2012 Katnook Cabernet Sauvignon.
The last savoury dish of the night was the wagyu beef with black truffles, seasonal greens and fried rice. The fried rice was, well, fried rice and wasn’t anything special. The wagyu beef was quite tender and cooked very well. I quite liked it. Matched wine was the 2010 Katnook Estate Prodigy Shiraz.
Wagyu Beef with Black Truffle, Fried Rice and Seasonal Greens
This dessert was a bit spongey and dense and I wasn’t a big fan of it. I love my desserts to be either super fluffy or super rich and I was a tad confuzzled with this one. It wasn’t that sweet either which was a shame. This dish’s matched wine was VN Katnook Founder’s Block Sparkling Brut.
Chef’s Homemade Dessert
The event was great fun with good food and amazing matched wine. Every wine matched each dish perfectly which I didn’t realise you could do with Chinese food.
Disclaimer: I was invited to dine by Secret Kitchen and all opinions expressed are my own.
222 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9988 7778
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