The ST. Hotel in St Kilda opened late last year reinvigorating the Fitzroy street area and becoming one of the hottest places to visit for a tipple after work or on the weekend.
The revived ST. Hotel has been beautifully renovated, with large spaces and natural light filling the venue, meaning it’s the perfect place not just for a drink or two, but also a wonderful space to sample the beautiful menu that has been concocted by Chef Sean Judd (formerly of Chin Chin) who has worked with his team to develop the Thai inspired menu. The menu features a mixture of Thai dishes that are well known as well as some lesser known dishes that are all inspired by the different regions in Thailand.
On our visit we kicked it off with a Moscow Mule cocktail. I loved this cocktail. The sharpness of the ginger beer with the sourness of the lime mixed with vodka was the perfect match to the Thai flavours we were about to have.
We started with the Grilled Scallop, Mar Hor (a minced prawn and chicken mix cooked in palm sugar and peanuts) and Pineapple Nahm Jim. Beautifully cooked, the sweetness of the scallop matched with the sweet, sour and spiciness of the Nahm Jim and the crunch of the Mar Hor was the best way to start this meal. Definitely put this on your list as a ‘must-order’.
The other starter we sampled was the Lamb Tartare, Issan style with Bitter leaves. To be honest, I’ve not really had lamb tartare before and so was a bit intrigued by what this dish would deliver. It was actually really good. The sweetness of the lamb was enhanced with a citrus dressing with lemongrass and spring onions throughout the mixture. Wrapped in bitter leaves, the dish worked very well.
For mains, we tried several dishes. First up was the Heirloom tomatoes with prawns, pomelo and fried shallots. I loved this dish – it was fresh and flavoursome. Different textures – the super crunch of the fried shallots with the softness of the prawns and the crisp tomatoes worked really well together with the light dressing.
Our second main was Garlic and Peppercorn Softshell crab with salted duck egg relish. Lightly fried with a subtle garlic and spiciness flavour, I loved it with the relish. You don’t often see salted duck egg on a menu but it added another layer to the dish.
We finished our mains with two other dishes. The first a Stir Fried Chicken with chilli jam and Holy basil and a Yellow Curry of Blue Cod and plantain. The former was a beautifully executed dish. Sometimes you can get this dish with too much oil and the sweetness can overpower the dish. This dish got it just right. If I’d had more room, I would have definitely ordered another one of these. It had a small kick of chilli but just enough to give it a bit of heat.
The Yellow Curry with Blue cod was also very good. A nice balance of flavours and the consistency of the curry was perfect (which is very important to me!). My only note on this dish was that it had a lot of Plantain (a type of little banana that is cooked) and whilst it was great to give the dish texture, I could have probably done without it.
By this stage, we were pretty full but there’s always space for dessert right? We tried the Palm sugar meringue, kaffir lime curd, banana and coconut. I have to admit, I love sweet desserts, like overly sweet desserts so I really enjoyed this. The meringue was sweet, soft and sticky, offset by the tartness of the Kaffir Lime curd with a taste of coconut from the toasted coconut on the top of the dish. My eating companion thought this was too sweet for her liking so if you’re not into super sweet dessert I’d probably avoid this.
Overall I really enjoyed my meal at the ST. Hotel. The dishes were fresh, flavoursome and really well presented. It’s honest food and the menu takes a few risks but the flavours work together really well. The wine list is also extensive meaning you can find the perfect drink to accompany your meal.
If you’re looking for a beautiful Thai inspired meal and don’t want to wait the 2 hours at some other establishments, then definitely head down to St. Kilda to try out the ST. Hotel. You won’t be disappointed.
ST. Hotel
54 Fitzroy Street St. Kilda 3182 Ph. 9534 2944
Bookings available
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