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POW Kitchen is Now on the Menu for Good Food Gift Card

POW Kitchen is Now on the Menu for Good Food Gift Card

by Mireille Kilgour : June 16th, 2016

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Good Food Gift Card is always excited to welcome new participating restaurants to the program, and we are happy to announce that brand spanking new POW Kitchen – part of the Melbourne Pub Group (which also owns two-hatted Circa) – has come on board for lucky gift card recipients to enjoy.

But before you book a special lunch or dinner with them, how about we tell you a little bit about this exciting new venture?

About the setting

St Kilda has long been home to a vibrant and busy food scene. The beachside suburb has a little bit of everything – cheap eats, sophisticated wine and tapas bars, traditional pub grub, fine dining – you name it, St Kilda's got it. But new kid on the block, POW Kitchen, has something the other restaurants don't offer – a plus-sized personality infused with Southern Asian soul.

POW Kitchen is located on St Kilda's mightiest mezzanine – the Bandroom Balcony of the iconic Prince of Wales Bar. This local watering hole has been home to many a St Kilda native, and is one of Melbourne's oldest gay-friendly pubs. It's a place of profound inspiration to local musicians and artists, and serves as a meeting place for those wanting to let go of life's responsibilities and dive into a glorious bubble of booze and muze. On it's own POW Kitchen packs a flavour punch, but served side-by-side with some of St Kilda's most colourful and diverse entertainment, it's set to completely blow your mind.

POW Kitchen's vibe is cheap and cheerful, designed by Six Degrees (responsible for the awesomeness of the Newmarket Hotel and Auction Rooms among others). It's home to brushed copper tables, exposed pipes, and coconuts filled with rum and cocktail umbrellas.

The dining room seats 55 inside and lies beside a space still used for live music and epic DJs after dinner. Another 45 can be seated on a covered balcony overlooking spirited Fitzroy Street.

About the food

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POW Kitchen's menu is the brainchild of Executive Chef Daniel Hawkins and Head Chef Woosun Choi. Daniel's career started at St Kilda's The Stokehouse, but it was his time at Longrain as Sous Chef that turned him into one of the suburb's hottest young chefs. Recruited to assist in opening the Newmarket Hotel as Senior Chef, he then went on to become Executive Chef before the lure of the Bandroom Balcony came a calling. Woosun Choi is a master of Southern Asian flavour, and together with Hawkins is turning out dishes which travel from Korea to Thailand with effortless pizazz.

Must try dishes include:

Salted fava beans with wasabi peas & POW spices ($5)
Thai Ma Hor with chicken, pork, prawn & peanut relish on sweet pineapple ($8)
Mochiko fried chicken ribs with green chilli kewpie ($15)
Xinjiang style cumin rubbed lamb ribs with chilli hoisin & sesame ($15)
Issan style hot & sour steak salad with snake beans & roasted rice ($16)
POW XO Cloudy Bay clams with crisp Chinese doughnut ($24)
Vegetarian curry of Jap pumpkin, eggplant and baby corn ($20)
'Kalbi' sticky beef short rib with sesame, nashi & shiitake ($26)
Pandan chiffon cake with coconut cream & jackfruit ($10)
Black sticky rice with sweet mango & coconut sorbet ($10)

Alternatively, try the South East Feast at $45pp when sharing with two or more people.

As you can see, the menu is bang on trend with Melbourne's fascination with Asian fusion. POW Kitchen stands to compliment the already popular cuisine, and has already been liked to Melbourne favourites Flowerdrum and Red Spice Road – also partners with the Good Food Gift Card.

About the drink

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Now you may be asking, "What's the point of serving up excellent food without exquisite drinks on the side?" Well fear not, POW Kitchen has that covered too. POW Kitchen is just as much about the drinks as it is great food, and its menu of 16 tap beers, frosty cocktails and bottled wines are designed to go hand-in-hand with the flavourful menu.

Tap beers include:

POW Golden ale ($5)
Kirin ($5)
Little Creatures Pilsner ($6)
Furphy Refreshing Ale ($5.50)
White Rabbit Dark ($6)
Pipsqueak Apple ($5.50)

Cocktails you should definitely try include:

Sun Tzu's Courage – soju, plum, hazelnut, lemon & vanilla ($17)
Mekong Mary – POW's answer to a Bloody Mary ($15)
Tom Yum Rum – white rum, lemongrass, ginger & chilli ($18)
Basil Fawlty – Pisco, strawberry, purple basil & lime ($20)

Love your cocktails long time? Why not order a pitcher of Go-Go Rollar Girl, consisting of gin, plum wine, Asian herbs and alcoholic ginger beer for only $32.

POW Kitchen is St Kilda's hottest new restaurant. You'd have to be mad to miss an afternoon or evening at this fun-filled joint! Next time you're given a Good Food Gift Card, why not treat yourself to a summer fling with a Singapore Sling, a sunset session with some vinyl concession, or a club night with a flavourful bite? Serving authentic Southern Asian flavours at curbside prices and a passport-proud selection of tap beers, bottled beers, cocktails and wine, St Kilda just got a whole lot more interesting.

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Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour has been an entrepreneur for 35 years in the hospitality sector. French born, she has been an accomplished business owner and operator for a number of Sydney venues. Leading the industry with high profile institutions such as Lamrock Café Bondi, she has endless passion for the industry, and now has the pleasure of supporting restaurants to fill their tables with the new Good Food Gift Card program.