Obsession Restaurant Bar

Obsession Restaurant Bar
http://www.obsessionchinese.com.au/



Isn't it great when you stumble across a great shop, bar or restaurant by chance? This rarely happens to me. Almost every time I dine spontaneously, the experience is less than memorable. That probably goes some way in explaining why I'm adamant about pre-planning everything. EVERYTHING. Yes. I'm one of 'those' people.

The other day, I had a moment of 'go with the flow' and we were in Southbank just wandering around, looking for somewhere nice to eat. I was ready to dive into Ginga sushi train but Charlie said he was in the mood for 'anything but sushi'. After more wandering, we suddenly stopped in front of a restaurant and I thought 'oh! I've never seen this place before'.



I think Obsession is relatively new. It's located next to Viet De Lites so either it wasn't there when I ate at Viet De Lites or I didn't notice.


The place is decked out beautifully in a fusion of contemporary Asian and jazz bar. The staff were very friendly and inviting and we made the decision to eat there based on that and the enticing menu options.


For drinks, we asked for a bottle of water and got a fancy bottle of Voss water (I still have the bottle - it's sexy!) The plates and bowls are just gorgeous, as was the menu itself. I love this attention to detail. We sat outside but I was nice and toasty because of the heater behind me.

When we got to ordering, we kept it nice and simple: calamari for entree and 2 main dishes to share with rice. I chose the Singaporean chili bug and Charlie chose the almond steak.

Five spices calamari - lightly battered calamari, deep fried with freshly toasted chilli, pepper, ginger, onion and garlic

Food came out at good intervals. The calamari came first. It was absolutely delicious. I originally wanted to pick some other entrees because they were 'different' but I'm glad we went for the calamari. When it's something you've tasted many times before, you can really appreciate it if a restaurant manages to produce a stand-out version. This calamari was very light and crisp - the meat was tender and not rubbery. It wasn't very oily and it was perfectly seasoned. Great way to start the meal.

Almond steak - a tender fillet of steak in garlic, almond and fresh mushrooms, with abalone sauce

After the calamari, our expectations were raised quite a bit. The mains arrived not too long after. The almond steak dish looked stunning - beautiful, glistening colors. The steak pieces were tender and great quality. Charlie was CRAZY about this dish.

Singapore style chili bugs - Moreton bay bugs with fresh chilli, tomato, onion, coriander and garlic sauce

The Singaporean bugs looks really impressive. I had obviously heard of Singaporean chili crab before and it's on my list of 'must-try' dishes. I thought it would be interesting to start with the bug version. This dish was also delicious - the tomatoey sauce by itself was great and went excellently with the rice. I haven't tasted a lot of bug before but it seemed good to me! Quite a lot of meat too.

Digging into the bugs

Overall, we had such a good time at Obsession. I already mentioned that the staff were fantastic. The atmosphere was divine and food was top notch. It's slightly more expensive than other Asian restaurants but this is my idea of fine dining Asian and so the prices are justified.

We're definitely going back to check out more dishes.