You might have seen this yellow and green cake that looks like a washing-up sponge on various reels or TikToks, but where do you actually go if you want to try it? This is your answer…
‘Shall I pour on the washing up liquid?’ said my friend, waving a small bowl of what looked like Fairy’s finest. Over it went, cameras clicking, attracting the attention of one of the women at the next table who muttered ‘why are they eating a sponge?’
Excellent question! The Dirty Sponge, or Kue Spons, as it’s named on the menu, is the newly viral treat from the Indonesian restaurant chain Kantin in Melbourne.
It’s a sponge cake with a bright yellow layer at the bottom. A slightly rough dark green layer lies on the top, and this is dabbed with fluffy white cream foam that looks like suds. Some ‘dirty water’ syrup on the base of the plate also adds to the effect.
You can eat it unadorned, but even with the lemon-flavoured sides and ‘water’ syrup, the cake is fairly dry, so adding the sweet green ‘dishwashing liquid’ pandan syrup on top adds both an extra sugar rush and some moisture.
We split one cake between us as we’d already had lunch and it was enough of a sugar hit to get us through the rest of the afternoon.
So, now that you know what it is, where can you find it?
Where to Find It
Kantin has a couple of branches in Melbourne – one in Carlton, one in the CBD.
Checking out the menus on the website before we visited, Carlton wasn’t selling it, but it was at the branch located smack bang in the middle of Melbourne’s CBD – which was handy!
Kantin’s CBD branch is located in the Emporium Shopping Centre. It is on the 3rd floor in the Food Court area. Once inside, head toward the Lonsdale Street side of the food court.
Look for either Mad Mex or Sushi Jiro, and you’ll find tucked away behind.
The Kue Spons costs $15.50, and the shop is open seven days a week from 11-7 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; 11 to 9 pm Thursday and Friday; and 10.30 to 7 pm on Sunday.
The cake is a limited edition so double check the menu on the website linked above to make sure it’s still available when you go and visit
If you’re hungry for more than cake when you arrive the restaurant sells a selection of classic Indonesian dishes, including Chicken Satay and Nasi Goreng. The beef ribs (iga sapi) get a lot of love in the reviews. Some of the dishes do err on the spicy side, so bear that in mind when ordering.