After two years with not much going on, the St. Hotel has been revamped from what was once an old bank. You will find a mix of clientele here with everyone dressed to impress to hit the party scene on a Saturday night.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE
This Asian-inspired double story restaurant has something for everyone. Whether it’s the public bar for an after work drink, the dining room with a relaxed courtyard space, the swanky supper club lounge, or the 200 patron nightclub (licensed until 3am).The swanky space is fitted with small tables and bench seating as well as high exposed ceilings with funky Asian decor.
Make your way up to the second level on a weekend, which is transformed into a supper club space with pumping tunes and a lively atmosphere. Small eats are available upstairs including $5 pizzas and an all-you-can-eat Mediterranean grill.
Created by the talented Paul Nguyen and Simon Blacher, who are the masterminds behind Saigon Sally, Tokyo Tina and Hanoi Hannah, it’s no wonder this nightlife space has taken off so quickly.
Service is a bit hit and miss & unfortunately on this occasion it was a bit lacking. I think our waitress had forgotten about us on more than on occasion as I had to stare her down to get our order taken and didn’t pour our wine when it arrived at the table. She was definitely friendly, however maybe a bit short staffed?
FOOD
With a menu based around modern Asian cuisine, all dishes are designed to share which I love. Our waitress had recommended we order two small dishes and a few larger dishes to share. Since we weren’t overly hungry, we just went with one small and two large dishes and would see how we went from there.
We started with the ‘Grilled Sweetcorn’ with salted coconut cream, roasted chilli and peanuts. Probably not healthy for you in any way, but it was so full of flavour, juicy and left me wanting more. The roasted chilli gave it just enough kick without being over powering.
Shortly after we have finished our mouth watering corn, our first main arrived, which was the ‘Hopkins River Beef Rump’ served with chilli and Thai basil. I was surprised it wasn’t as spicy as the corn, and the beef was slightly overcooked. It packed some great flavours, but wasn’t a winning dish for me.
A few minutes later our second and final main arrived being the ‘Red Curry of Roasted Duck’ with lychees and Thai eggplant and served with a pineapple achar pickle. Again not really another memorable dish for me. There was no meat on the duck what so ever and the juice being the tastiest bit of the dish. With no meat, I paired the juice with Jasmine rice to fill me up.
Overall the food left me feeling a bit under satisfied. There wasn’t anything that really stood out for me besides the corn. Don’t get me wrong, the food was okay, but compared to the other restaurants, this one falls a bit short. The vibe of the space was great, and will need to come back on a weekend to check out the supper club.
