Spice Klub, 4/203 Ballarat Road, Footscray. Phone: 0439 159 417
There are many interesting things for us to try when we return to Spice Klub.
On the menu (see below) are noodles, rice, desserts and more.
But it’s going to be tricky.
Because I simply can’t see us hitting Spice Klub without ordering the beef rendang.
It is brilliant – and I strongly suspect those with a deeper knowledge of and experience with Indonesian food will concur.
Called here rendang sapi, it costs $13 and is served with plain rice.
In modern parlance, this meat would be referred to as “smashed” or even, heaven forbid, “pulled”.
But let’s go old-school and refer to it as cooked down.
It is meat of high quality; no gristle or globs of fat here.
It’s quite sweet, has a nice chilli kick and is just sufficiently oily for the recipe to work.
Best of all, the flavour is a full-on orchestral blast of blended spices.
Gosh.
Bennie and I do good with the rest of our meal, too, though unsurprisingly not quite as spectacularly.
(We are guests of management – see full disclosure below.)
Lumpia semarang (chicken and prawn spring rolls, $10) are gorgeously lumpy in a way that denotes house-made food.
The chunky prawn and chicken mince inside, quite fishy in flavour, is equally rustic.
Our rolls are served with nice tamarind sauce with a strong whiff of ginger.
Nasi bakar ayam ($13) is “BBQ rice” cooked in banana leaf and studded with boneless chicken pieces.
It’s served with a crunchy mix of toasted coconut, chilli and salt, along with a sticky soy/chilli concoction.
It’s enjoyable, though probably better categorised as an entree than as a main.
Despite Spice Klub’s official address being on Ballarat Road, it’s actually on the strip of shops on Gordon Street familiar to all in the inner west as home to … not much.
But now there’s a cool Indonesian joint in place, hopefully we’ll be more frequent visitors to the neighbourhood.
Bizarrely, given the technicolour multitude of food riches in Melbourne’s west, Spice Klub is – as far as we can ascertain – our only Indonesian restaurant.
(Consider The Sauce dined at Spice Klub as guests of the management and we did not pay for our meals. We ordered whatever we wanted. Spice Klub management neither sought nor was granted any input, oversight or pre-publication access to his story.)
consider the sauce 
Rice banana leaf chicken look wonderfully tastyš
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Hi Kenny,
I am thoroughly confused. Is this predominantly an Indian restaurant with an Indonesian heritage or the other way round? Or has it simply changed cuisines but kept the same name?
In any case a good beef rendang is something to savour particularly with this place allowing BYO.
I’ll give it a visit.
Pablo
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Hi Pablo! Yes, they went with old name – and signage – as it works with what they’re doing!
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Have you been to this one kenny https://www.menulog.com.au/restaurants-curry-ya
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No.
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YES! I love a good beef rendang. Fingers crossed the mee gorgeng is good too. We really are bereft of Indonesian places over this way. Might even just save that veritable car park of traffic driving to Laksa King in Flemington at 7pm on a Saturday night.
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Hi Kenny, do you know their trading hours?
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Hi Amanda! Sorry, no. I think they’re still finding their way on various levels.
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Good work Kenny, we love Indo food and knowing there is somewhere local to try is awesome!
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Wow Kenny. Some interesting dishes there that I have never tried. Sounds great.
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Thanks tips.mouthwatering
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How is the parking kenny?
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Terrible. But we usually find somewhere in Jerrold Street or one of the streets that run off it.
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Bad parking can cause unstable eateries,they cone & go too often
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Love the indian & pizza there,now indonesian wow.but i don’t like parking side of things that area,nut great location f9r foodie and heaps of potential
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Iāve been to Spice Klub 3 times and can heartily recommend it. The couple who run it are lovely and the food is great. I lived in Indonesia for a while some years ago and still love the food. They e got a good range of dishes from across the archipelago. The Soto Ayam (chicken soup – a street food staple) is just how it should be… hearty and warming. The Ayam Bakar is delicious and the chicken sate was yum as well. Would love people to give this restaurant a go, we need good Indonesian food in the West!
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the food looks good
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So, it is an Indonesian restaurant? Not , yet-another-Indian-restaurant at the area? YAY, starting my car now.
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Yes. It is Indonesian.
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Unfortunately, the restaurant seems to be permanently closed now. Hope to see another Indonesian restaurant in the area soon.
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Indonesian closed; replaced by a new Uyghur place.
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Looks good
What is the address?
What is the telepresence number?
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This restaurant is now closed.
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