You can identify Spice Route since it's the only large building with a distinct door (and no name plate) on King Street West.
Through the large wooden doors of Spice Route, you enter a really nice Asian themed restaurant with a huge central bar in the middle of the restaurant.
Note: The bathrooms were really cool. They each had sliding doors with individual toilet stalls & sinks in each room. The interesting part was the one-way(?) window to a courtyard.
The service was rather slow.
The spice rack with wasabi mayo, soy sauce and a spicy salsa
Complementary buns
They were pretty interesting; a little crispy from being lightly deep-fried on the outside and doughy inside.
Viet rack of lamb - lemongrass marinated with mint sauce $26
The lamb was flavoured really well and the meat was tender and juicy. I also really liked the slightly spicy fish sauce that I used for dipping on the side. The chef put 4 ribs for the plate, but these were relatively small portions. Therefore, the dish wasn't very filling even with the bed of gai lan underneath the ribs.
Mongolian sirloin beef with dry chili, scallions, fresh ginger + crispy rice sticks $20
There was a spicy kick to the sirloin beef that wasn't evident at first, but eventually I started feeling the heat.
I liked the sauce and the combination of the dry crispy rice sticks and moist chewy beef in sauce.
Dessert Menu
Really delightful and interesting! The candied ginger was really nice; however there was no sign of the chocolate chopsticks?
The crème brûlée had tiny hints of lemongrass, but it wasn't very obvious.
Raspberry chocolate brownie with caramelized mandarins and tangerine cream
This dessert was nicely done: the brownie had the right texture and the cream on top was light and packed with flavour.
Overall: It was a nice meal, but definitely a little pricey for Asian fusion. It's understandable that the costs are higher due to real estate costs in the King West area, but I wasn't wow-ed by the food either. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great, hip and intimate with a club like feel.
Website: http://www.spiceroute.ca/
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