Customs House

To be perfectly honest, Customs House isn't the first place that rolls off my tongue when I think of CBD restaurants. But recently I organised a work lunch, and we really wanted somewhere with a river view. After having a look at the menu, we ended up making a booking for Customs House.

I hadn't eaten at the restaurant at Customs House for over 5 years, so I wasn't too sure what the quality of food was going to be like. If you haven't been before, Customs House is a lovely old heritage building on the Brisbane River. The restaurant is outside, on the river side of the building, with a great view over the river and the Story Bridge.

It was a very warm day, so we were all a bit hesitant when we found out that our table was outside. But there was a gentle breeze coming off the river, and the table was in the shade, so it turned out to be quite comfortable.

We only had about an hour and a half until we had to be back at our desks (unfortunately), so an executive decision was made that we'd have a main course and dessert. That meant we all missed out on entrees like seared scallops with beetroot tart, orange & fennel marmalade and creme fraiche ($22), rabbit and porcini mushroom ravioli, green olive insalata and truffle dressing ($22) and salt & pepper prawns with green papaya salad and toasted sesame ($22).

There were eight main courses from which to choose, including the fish of the day, which our waiter explained was barramundi served on a Moreton Bay bug laksa risotto ($34). Other main courses covered veal scallopine with sand crab meat, asparagus, potato mash, dill hollandaise & light jus ($34), pork loin with coriander pesto, cous cous & butternut pumpkin coulis ($34) and spatchcock served both as a seared breast and confit maryland with soft truffle polenta and broccolini. I was considering ordering the spatchcock (as I don't eat it often) but it was such a warm, sunny day I couldn't go past the barramundi.

Considering how busy the restaurant was, we didn't have to wait long for the meals to arrive. My main course was a good sized fillet of barramundi, sitting on top of a generous serve of the laksa bug risotto. The barramundi had been cooked well - still retaining a lovely moist texture. However it was served with its skin on, which I didn't really enjoy. Usually when I come across barramundi served skin on, the skin is very crispy, which adds great contrast to the fish (as I'd enjoyed it a couple of days earlier at Jellyfish). Although this piece was on its way to crispy, it just didn't make it - it was chewy and ended up being left on the side of the plate. That was a fairly minor blip though, as the bug laksa risotto was excellent. Although my initial thoughts were that the risotto had been served with too much liquid, it worked really well with the texture of the barramundi fillet. The flavour of the risotto itself was fantastic - very fishy, but with a good tang & a bit of heat from the laksa. The risotto was also dotted with pieces of bug meat. The barramundi skin aside, I really enjoyed this dish,, which turned out to be the perfect summer lunch.

Our table also enjoyed the lamb rump with broad beans, new potato salad & watercress ($33), as well as the veal scallopine, which was plated up with a generous serve of sand crab meat (and looked delicious). We enjoyed a bottle of Brown Brothers pinot grigio, which was a good match for most of the meals on the table, and was quickly guzzled down on such a warm day.

By this stage of the afternoon it was time to decide on dessert - always an enjoyable task. A few of the desserts which really interested me were the goats cheese curd and lemon tartlet with blueberries and truffled honey ice cream; creme brulee with roasted cinnamon ice cream and cats tongue biscuit; and mango carpaccio with passionfruit syrup, lychee sorbet and crystallised ginger. All desserts were $15.

After a bit of deliberation, I ordered the creme brulee - one of my all-time favourite desserts. This one was served in a large, flat dish, which meant there was only a shallow layer of the custard. The custard was also served warm, which I found a bit unusual (although that was probably the result of the custard being served in a shallow dish). The best thing about the large shallow dish however was that there was plenty of the crunchy sugar top to mix through the custard. The cinnamon ice cream turned out to be a fantastic accompaniment, without overpowering the custard.

The service during our meal was very good. Although we didn't have a lot of time for lunch, we hardly waited for either course, which allowed us plenty of time to enjoy both the wine and the river view.

If you're a vegetarian, there was only one entree and one main on the menu, both of which contained very similar ingredients. It would be worth ringing ahead to see if there are other vegetarian options available.

The menu at Customs House doesn't push the envelope of haute cuisine, but each of the dishes we ordered throughout lunch was impressive. The view from the table is very hard to beat, which means Customs House is certainly worth considering next time you're looking for lunch or dinner with a river view.

What does all this mean? High quality food and good service with a fantastic view over the Brisbane river.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Outside tables with an excellent river view
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Good
Vegetarian - Limited menu choices

Customs House
399 Queen Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3365 8921
E - info@customshouse.com.au
W - http://www.customshouse.com.au/index.html?page=19847

e'cco

I've eaten at e'cco quite a few times, but for some reason I hadn't made it back there in the last couple of years. So when a friend from London and I were trying to find a restaurant that would let us bring along a few good bottles of wine, e'cco was the first place that popped into my head.

The room at e'cco hasn't changed much since the last time I visited. If you haven't been, there's a bar on the right hand side as you walk in, most of the tables are to the left and you'll find the kitchen at the back of the room. Despite the high quality food on offer, the restaurant still has a casual bistro feel to it, with wooden chairs and no tablecloths.

We sat down and our waiter opened up the bottle of 1997 Gardet Cuvee Charles Gardet champagne which I'd rustled up. In the meantime, we'd started on the hard task of choosing what to eat for dinner. The menu is fairly compact - there were 7 starters (including a soup) and 6 mains. I was surprised that there were no specials, as I'd had some great specials at e'cco in the past.

The starters included star anise cured salmon terrine, herb mascarpone, avruga caviar, croutons & green tea salt; grilled quail, salad of orange, witlof, bocconcini & pecan dressing, and grilled sardines, roast kipflers, watercress, smoked eggplant, capsicum & olive salsa. Each of the starters are $24.50, other than the soup of the day which is $14.50.

I was having a hard time picking between the salmon terrine and the sardines. I'd almost decided to go for the terrine, but changed my mind at the last minute and ordered the sardines instead. I'd never had sardines at a restaurant before, so I thought e'cco would be the perfect place to start.

I was pleasantly surprised when the sardines arrived - I'd been expecting the tiny sized ones you see in tins, but these were much larger - not far off the size of a small whiting fillet. It was a good starter - there were 4 or 5 sardines, sitting on top of the watercress and smoked eggplant, with the kipflers and salsa arranged around the edge of the plate. I enjoyed the delicate flavour of the sardines, as I'd been expecting a much stronger, fishier flavour. All the ingredients on the plate worked well together - I particularly liked the smoked eggplant and the kipflers. My only minor gripes were 1) there was too much watercress for the size of the serving (which I ended up leaving on the plate) and 2) there were slices of raw red onion that weren't mentioned on the menu (unless somehow they were part of a deconstructed salsa).

My wine buddy ordered the seared scallops with curry-spiced cauliflower, wild rocket, raisins and flaked almonds. When the dish arrived I was impressed with the size of the scallops - they were three of the biggest scallops I've ever seen. Although the raisins ended up being left on the plate, the rest of the dish got a vote of approval, with the scallops well and truly the star.

The Gardet champagne (which I hadn't come across until recently) was lovely - its good weight and power really stood up to the starters. If I kicked off every meal with a 12 year old bottle of vintage champagne I'd be a very happy camper.

I knew we were drinking a red with main course, which limited the menu choice to some extent. Mains at e'cco include roast spatchcock, sweet corn risotto, tomato pickle, chilli & spring onion; seared ocean trout, shaved fennel, zucchini flowers, pickled red onion & soft herb beurre blanc; lamb loin, scorched tomatoes, sumac croutons, Persian feta, sugar snap peas & olives, and chilli & fennel spiced pork belly, eggplant relish, bok choy & crispy garlic. All of the mains are $42.50.

Neither of the red meat dishes on the menu really jumped out at me, so I opted for the pork belly instead. Pork belly is one of my favourite meats, so I was really just looking for an excuse to order it. As it turned out, we both really enjoyed the pork belly - the pork itself had been subtly flavoured by the chilli and fennel, and was lovely and tender. However my favourite part of the dish was the excellently crunchy, salty top layer of the pork belly. I didn't realise I'd ordered two dishes in a row featuring eggplant, but the eggplant in this dish took more of a back seat to the other flavours. The thin slices of crispy garlic and the bok choy added some contrasting textures to the dish. All up, a great Asian-influenced dish.

With our mains we enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Le Cent Cornas La Geynale from the Northern Rhone. This is a shiraz made by Vincent Paris, one of the leading Rhone winemakers, with grapes sourced from the small La Geynale vineyard. Although there aren't too many bottles of 2007 Australian shiraz I'd attempt to drink with pork belly, this turned out to be a terrific match. Initially it was wonderfully spicy, which really worked well with the flavours on the plate, but over time the lovely fruit started to shine through. Although this wine won't be commercially available in Australia, if you're interested in a bottle or two, let me know. I will be putting a few away in the cellar.

We didn't have time for dessert, after spending too much time nattering on about wine, but there were six on the menu, including grapefruit & mint granita, lemonade sorbet & rose foam (which I would have ordered) and a strawberry & basil crème brûlée with vanilla madeleines. Each of the desserts are $16.50.

Although the food at e'cco was very good across the board as usual, e'cco is also a wine destination. Without a doubt it has one of the best wine lists in Brisbane - I could easily write a post entirely about the gems on the list. However e'cco also allows diners to bring up to four bottles of wine, at a corkage charge of $10 per bottle. As far as I know, e'cco is the only one of Brisbane's top 5 or so restaurants which allow you to bring your own wine. Personally I think it's an excellent policy, which means you can enjoy a special bottle or two from your cellar (as we did) or choose to drink from their own wonderful selection.

Service during the night was attentive, although a bit cold. I've had friendlier service at e'cco in the past, but our wines glasses were topped up without fail during the night and our meals came out in good time, with a nice pause between courses to allow us to enjoy the vintage champagne.

e'cco has now been open for 14 years, and has for much of that time been in the top handful of Brisbane's restaurants. If I had to pick a restaurant that summed up Brisbane, it would be e'cco - a relaxed, understated room, excellent ingredients cooked to perfection and an attitude to wine which is two steps ahead of its competitors.

Sorry there are no pictures - the low light meant that my photos came out far too grainy.

What does all this mean? e'cco consistently serves up some of the best food in Brisbane, has a brilliant wine list and even allows you to bring your own bottles - it's one of Brisbane's must visit food & wine destinations

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Relaxed, casual feel, but can be noisy
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Brilliant list or BYO
Vegetarian - Great

e'cco
100 Boundary Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3831 8344
W - http://www.eccobistro.com/

Alchemy

I've been wanting to eat at Alchemy for ages, so it was very fortunate that I managed to get an invite to a work lunch there recently.

Alchemy is in a great spot, overlooking the river next to Customs House. Although it doesn't have the wide frontage of Jellyfish, it's still a great view out over the river. Our friendly waiter came to the table with lunch menus - all the staff were wearing their "Vote for Brad Jolly GQ" shirts.

When I opened the menu, I was impressed with the range of food on offer - there were 12 entrees and 12 mains (including specials). The flip side is that with so many dishes to choose from, decisions are very tough.

Entrees that I wanted to order included the spiced sweetcorn soup with sautéed spanner crab ($24), cod brandade with coddled duck egg, herb vinaigrette and petite salad ($26) and the charcuterie of cold cured meats, venison bresaola, salami, prosciutto marinated olive and crusty bread ($28). After plenty of to-ing and fro-ing, I picked the scallops with slow roasted peppers, confit cherry tomato and garlic puree ($26). I'd had scallops as an entree for lunch at 1889 Enoteca the day before, so I thought I'd see how the two dishes compared.

After enjoying a refreshing gin & tonic (made with Bombay Sapphire - my favourite gin), we shared a bottle of 2007 Escarpment Pinot Gris from Malborough ($79). Although I'd had the Escarpment pinot noir before, this was my first taste of the pinot gris, which turned out to be a good match with the scallops.

We didn't have to wait too long for the entrees to arrive. The scallops were impressively presented and were perfectly cooked. There's nothing worse than a tough, overcooked scallop, but these were excellent - only just cooked in the middle. I found the flavour of the slow roasted pepper and cherry tomatoes overpowered the delicate flavour of the scallops, so I didn't end up eating too much of the puree, and focused on the lovely scallops instead.

In between the entree and main course, our table (and most of the restaurant) were startled by some very loud swearing being shouted around the room. I thought that some crazy person must have wandered in to the restaurant and started shouting some pretty terrible language. I won't repeat what was said, but let's just say it made Gordon Ramsay sound like a kitten. We were even more shocked when we realised that it had come from the kitchen - not what a diner wants to be hearing at a top Brisbane restaurant while enjoying a slow Friday lunch. If that's going to happen in the kitchen, then the door to the dining room should remain well and truly shut. As the person said sitting across from me - if her mother had been there, she would never return. I think that probably went for a few others in the room as well.

After that bizarre event, our mains arrived. All except one of us on the table had ordered the beef cheeks, which were one of the specials for the day. I had a really hard time choosing my main course from the menu, which included swordfish sous vide with tomato compote, celery & artichoke noodles and jus gras ($38), glazed pork loin with white wine cabbage, apple and cider purée, pork crackling and mustard dressing ($38) and grilled rare tuna with braised orange endive and red wine sauce ($38).

The beef cheeks were served with big, chunky lardons, button mushrooms and potato mash. As you'd expect, the beef cheeks were meltingly tender - our waiter told us they'd been cooked for 18 hours. Although I enjoyed the dish, it reminded me of a beef bourginon, and just lacked a bit of wow factor. Maybe I had just ordered the wrong thing off the menu.

We had a bottle of 2005 St Hugo cabernet sauvignon from Coonawarra ($75) which was drinking well, and went down very easily with the beef cheeks.

I hadn't really been blown away by my food so far, so I was really looking for something different by the time it came to dessert. Luckily I noticed on the menu that they were offering liquid nitrogen gastronomic nibbles, which was exactly what I needed. It immediately reminded me of the frozen chocolate I'd had as part of an amazing dessert at Absynthe.

Apart from the liquid nitrogen nibbles, there were some delicious sounding desserts, like coconut and palm sugar panna cotta with caramelized pineapple financier ($17) and hot chocolate marbre with crunchy honeycomb and vanilla bean ice cream ($17).

Our desserts took a long time to arrive, even though there were only four ordered around the table of six people. For the liquid nitrogen nibbles, I was invited up to the special station at the front of the restaurant. The chef put his industrial gloves on and poured in a decent amount of liquid nitrogen into a little bowl - it was all very theatrical. First up was a small chunk of honeycomb, which had been flavoured with a bit of mint. After a minute or so floating around in the liquid nitrogen, the chef popped it onto a little napkin and told me to throw it straight into my mouth. It pretty much disappeared as soon as it hit my tongue - even more crumbly than normal honeycomb. The mint gave it a great zing on the finish. This was my kind of dessert!

Next up was some apple sour mixture, which was probably my favourite of the liquid nitrogen nibbles - it had a fantastic tang to it after being completely frozen in the liquid nitrogen bowl. Finally I was served some black forest cake mousse, which was probably the least impressive of the three nibbles. While the chef was whipping these up, a few restaurant guests came up to watch and had a chat with me. It's great to be able to interact with other guests during a meal - I thought the liquid nitrogen stand was a great idea.

I had an espresso to finish up the meal, which was very well made - if only I didn't have to go back to work afterwards.

All up, the location and view over the river meant this was a really enjoyable lunch, on a perfect Brisbane afternoon. I walked in holding extremely high expectations, and although they probably weren't completely met, it's hard not to enjoy a lunch in this fantastic setting.

What does all this mean? A huge selection of modern Australian food, solid wine list, unique liquid nitrogen desserts and a super view out over the Brisbane river.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Modern, understated room with a fantastic river view
Value for Money - Ok
Wine - Good

Alchemy
175 Eagle Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 3229 3175
E - mail@alchemyrestaurant.com.au
W - http://www.alchemyrestaurant.com.au/

Urbane

I went back to Urbane a couple of months ago, but I have to admit I've been a bit slack in putting up this post. The main reason for my slackness is that our dinner was so good, I wanted to make sure my post did the meal justice.

I also have to confess that Urbane is my favourite restaurant in Brisbane. Since returning from overseas in 2003, I've consistently had excellent food there. Now that Kym Machin is back at the helm, I think Urbane is probably serving the best and most consistent food in its history. Although I love eating at Urbane, it also means that every time I go I have extremely high expectations. Luckily it's yet to let me down.

When you come through the fairly innocuous looking door on Mary Street, there's a bar which takes up the left hand side of the room as you walk in. Most of the tables are at the back of the room, in a fairly small area. I really enjoy the dark colours and the feel of the room at Urbane, although I'd like it even more if the tables were spaced a bit further away from each other. It can get a bit noisy in here when it's full, which takes away from the intimate feel of the room.

Once we'd settled at our table, we were brought out two small tastes to wake up our tastebuds. I had a small slice of trout served with potato cream. My wife was served a dehydrated cherry tomato with potato cream and an onion ring. They were both a delicious start to the meal.

For first course I ordered rare roast squab breast dusted in coca nib, with caramelised onion puree and jamon gelee ($26.50). I am a real sucker for rare squab, so it wasn't a hard decision to make. Other entrees included seared blue fin tuna with confit fennel, olive cheeks, crispy onion rings & tomato oil ($26.50) and spiced venison carpaccio, baby beets & cress, plum wine and blackberry gelee ($26.50). It was a pretty strong selection of entrees across the board.

The presentation of my squab was excellent. It came on a big round plate, which had a few different levels on it. The squab was really rare, as I love it, which means it's juicy, tender and has a delicate gamey taste. All of the other flavours on the plate worked really well - the coca nibs had a real bitterness and depth of flavour, while the onion puree and jamon gelee added a contrast of textures. This really was one of the best entrees I was lucky enough to eat in 2008.

On the drinks side of things, I'd ordered a bottle of the 2000 Curly Flat pinot noir (good value at $106 given its age) which was a beautifully perfumed wine, and a perfect match with the rare squab.

The vegetarian at our table ordered the beetroot & chevre tart with herbs, grapefruit, shaved fennel and shaved parmesan. Again, this was another well presented dish. Although I didn't try any (I was too busy scraping up every last drop on my plate), I was told this was an excellent combination of flavours, with no one ingredient overwhelming the others.

After two lovely entrees, we were both looking forward to our main courses. Mains included confit kingfish, tiger prawns cooked in coconut juice & chilli, ginger agre-doux and coriander paste ($40), Wagyu fillet 6+ "Wellington" style, with fricasee of garlic gnocchi, morels & broad beans and pan fried foie gras ($52) and roast rack of lamb with honey parsnip puree, polenta gems, ratatouille and jus gras ($41).

I went for the slow cooked pork belly, chilli & mandarin caramel, marron tail and apple ($41.50). The combination of pork belly and seafood is another flavour match I love, and this one didn't let me down. Although it was a small serving, each of the flavours was lovely. There was even some crunchy crackling on top of the pork belly, adding another level of contrast to the dish. The tiny pieces of sweet apple on the plate were excellent when coupled with a piece of the tender pork belly. As with my entree, I was scraping every little drop of sauce off the plate before it left the table.

We also ordered the black winter & summer truffle risotto, with sauteed & crispy fried mushrooms and cepe foam ($41.50). Although this must be one of the most expensive vegetarian mains in Brisbane, it delivered on the taste front. There were plenty of both the black & white truffles, which made for a perfectly rich dish on a cool night.

Although we probably didn't need to, we ordered a side serve of green beans, sugar peas and lemon oil ($9). The greens were perfectly cooked, still with a slight bite to them and were a great contrast to the rich flavours on both our plates.

After all this rich food it was time for something sweet. I had trouble choosing a dessert, but eventually opted for the rocky road bombe Alaska with coconut choboust, raspberry and puff chocolate panna cotta ($16). Again, this dish was presented in a very cool fashion. There was a big conical tower of the bombe Alaska, that was served with strips of the "panna cotta". The bombe Alaska had some extremely concentrated peanut butter ice cream on the inside, which I thought overpowered everything else on the plate. But apart from the ice cream, the rest of the dish was fun, with plenty of marshmellowly textures.

Our other dessert was the Turkish delight souffle, with rosewater jubes, marshmellow and chocolate sorbet ($16). The Turkish delight souffle was nothing short of amazing. It managed to perfectly capture the delicate flavours of Turkish delight. The chocolate ice cream was also filled with tiny pieces of Turkish delight. Obviously a lot of thought had gone into this dessert, and it's one that I'll remember for a long time.

In the past I've found service at Urbane to be a little bit aloof. However on this visit it was good to see that service has become more friendly and slightly less formal, whilst still being very professional. The end result means that diners like you and me feel much more comfortable in the restaurant.

I was also glad to see that the wine list has really improved. I was particularly impressed with a few cellared selections on the list at very reasonable prices (like the Curly Flat pinot which we enjoyed).

I think Urbane really is a must visit food destination in Brisbane. I know it's expensive, but if you want to enjoy the best food in Brisbane, it's not going to come at happy meal prices. It also means that there aren't too many people out there that can eat at Urbane on a regular basis, which means it really is a special occasion kind of place. I try to get there once every twelve months or so, and save my pennies in the meantime.

What does all this mean? Brisbane's most innovative modern food, with a well thought out wine list and approachable, professional service. Next time you're looking for a special occasion restaurant, put Urbane at the top of your list.

food bling ratings
Food - Top Shelf
Service - Great
Ambience - A small room with dark wood and a modern feel
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Great
Vegetarian - Great

Urbane
179 Mary Street
Brisbane 4000
P - (07) 3229 2271
W - http://www.urbanerestaurant.com/

Exchange Hotel

I used to eat lunch at the Exchange Hotel on a fairly regular basis, because I could get something relatively tasty for about $10-$15. Recently though the hotel has been closed while some fairly significant renovation work has been done.

I went back for lunch recently, to check out the renovations. The hotel certainly looks a lot better. It's much more modern looking, but thankfully some serious thought has gone into the renovations, unlike a lot of pub "modernisations" that have taken place around town. We sat in a dining area on the ground floor that was open to Charlotte street.

The menu is pretty compact, and certainly much shorter than it used to be. Under the heading Light Meals, you have options such as oysters ($18/6 or $33/dozen), an asparagus gruyere tart on a fig, rocket and Spanish onion salad ($15), salad of the house ($13), a steak sandwich ($15) or an oven baked Turkish bread with Italian meat, marinated "vege" and goat's cheese ($15).

Mains include fish and chips ($26 - grilled, crumbed or battered), sand crab omelette ($19), Tableland lamb on roast lemon potatoes with chorizo & saffron creme ($24) and a potato and sage pizza with pear, apple and blue cheese ($17). There are also a few steaks, if it's red meat you're after, ranging from $25 for the 200g petite eye to $36 for the 400g rib on the bone.

As it turned out, we all ordered the grilled fish and home made chips. The fish was very good. If I had to guess, I'd say it was snapper. It had been perfectly cooked, and was still lovely and tender. The chips were good too. However the fish and chips were also served with a little side salad, that I found very odd. It consisted of lettuce, tomato, olives and mandarin segments, amongst other things. I had one mouthful of mandarin and an olive, and it really wasn't a very enjoyable taste combination. It seemed to all of us to be a bit of a "lets throw whatever we've got in the kitchen" salad. As a result, all three of us enjoyed the great fish and chips, but left the side salad pretty much untouched.

If you're looking for something a bit less formal, there's also a tapas menu, which covers snacks like fried chorizo with marinated peppers ($12), Turkish bread with assorted dips ($14 - no mention of what the actual dips are) and fried olives ($12).

The Exchange Hotel now has a compact, but decent wine list. We ended up working our way through a few bottles of white wine over lunch. I was really impressed with the wine service. On both occasions the wine was served to us in a silver bucket, filled with ice and water. There was also good stemware, which is increasingly harder to find these days. Top marks for the wine service at the Exchange - someone has obviously put some serious effort into it.

After our enjoyable lunch, we headed up to the rooftop bar. Although it was a bit steamy up there, it was an interesting view of the city. It would be a great place to have a few drinks at night. There a few TV screens dotted around the bar, so you can keep in touch with any sport which might be happening at the time.

Based on the good lunch I had, the Exchange is a solid option for a quick CBD lunch. I'll certainly be heading back to try out a few more options from the menu. And if you're not there for lunch, order a few snacks from the tapas menu, head up to the rooftop bar and work your way through a couple of bottles of wine - it's the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

The Exchange Hotel
131 Edward Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3229 3522
W - http://www.theexchange.com.au

Absynthe

I've been wanting to visit Absynthe for a while now. Gourmet Traveller have considered it to be the best restaurant in Queensland for the last two years, which meant my expectations were very high.

Before you read too much further, I'm warning that this is a very long post. I wouldn't be doing justice to the 7 course degustation menu if I didn't write about each of the amazing meals we tasted. I also apologise for the lack of photos. It was a bit of a celebration dinner, and I was more focused on enjoying the food than madly trying to take photos of wasabi ice cream before it melted in front of me.

We managed to sneak into the bottom of the Q1 tower just before a storm broke on us. It was a cool feeling sitting inside this really modern room, at the bottom of an enormous tower, listening to thunder cracking around outside, with occasional flashes of lightning. I guess it just added to the whole experience.

The room was surprisingly half-full for a Saturday night. Perhaps the presence of schoolies still at the coast put off more discerning diners - who knows?

On Friday and Saturday nights, it's a degustation menu only at Absynthe. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were only too happy to put together a vegetarian degustation menu for my wife. The menus were on the table as we sat down, and were headed "A Journey into Taste".

The first stop on the journey was "soft green olive, vanilla crouton". The theatrics of this amuse-bouche added to our enjoyment of it. We had two Asian-style large soup spoons, each with a tiny vanilla crouton sitting on them. Our waitress arrived at the table with a jar of green olives, and ladled out an olive onto each of the spoons. We then devoured the whole lot in one go. Although you couldn't really taste a lot of the crouton, apart from its crunchiness, the olive was divinely soft. It didn't have the usual harshness of green olives, rather tasted like you were eating the best extra virgin olive oil you can imagine. It was a great start to the night, leaving us anticipating what was to follow.

Next up was the imaginatively named "Bite Me Un, Deux, Trois!!!". The un, deux, trois were a golden egg, a beetroot soda and a cauliflower velouté & pesto. The presentation of this course was amazing. The golden egg was an egg shell, filled with an extremely rich, eggy mousse. Perched on top of the egg mousse was a small square of soy & maple jelly, which was in turn topped with a piece of gold leaf. Just to complete the presentation, the egg was sitting in the coolest metal snail shaped egg cup I have ever seen (it even had little snail feelers sticking out of it). I enjoyed this, but after I'd eaten the soy & maple jelly with the first mouthful of mousse, I found the rest of the mousse extremely rich. The beetroot soda was served in a tall shot glass, with a handle on the side and a straw sticking out the top. It tasted like an extremely concentrated glass of borscht, and was fantastic. The concentrated beetroot flavour completely wiped out the richness of the egg mousse. The final part of the trio was the delicate cauliflower velouté, served in a small tea cup. The velouté had a spherified blob of pesto floating in the middle of it. The taste when the pesto sphere burst in my mouth was one of the highlights of the night. I'm not normally one to hunt cauliflower down in restaurant menus, but this was fantastic. This course was served with a glass of 2007 JE Ngeringa rose (made from pinot noir), which was a fairly good match for the disparate flavours on the plate.

Our journey then took us to "North Queensland" for cured trout, chocolate cannelloni & wasabi ice cream. The cured trout was beautiful, and just melted in my mouth. A small blob of wasabi ice cream was sitting on the trout, giving the dish a Japanese feel. The cold zinginess of the ice cream worked well against the rich flavours of the trout. The chocolate cannelloni seemed to be some kind of fish roe wrapped in a cannelloni of white chocolate. I didn't enjoy the cannelloni as much as the trout, but at least it added another contrast of flavours. This course was served with a glass of 2008 Ravens Croft Verdelho from the Granite Belt. Although it's great to see Queensland wines being served at a calibre of restaurant like this, I found it a bit underwhelming with the rich seafood flavours on the plate.

At this stage of the night we had our only real blip on the service front. Our French waitress brought out one of the North Queensland plates for my wife, who quickly reminded the waitress that she was vegetarian (we'd made that clear when we booked). The waitress quickly took the dish away. She also wanted to take mine away too, which I thought was an excellent way to handle the situation. I insisted that mine was fine, and could stay on the table. Eventually I had to start eating it though, as the wasabi ice cream was melting quickly. I should have listened to the waitress.

Our waitress re-emerged with a beetroot salad for my wife. This was presented on a cool, round glass plate. The small chunks of beetroot were accompanied by goat's curd, cherry tomatoes, shallots or leeks and a scoop of wasabi ice cream. Although I didn't get to try any of the goat's curd, I was told it was amazingly good. I did eat plenty of the rest of the salad though, and it was lovely.

The next course was simply called "The Ocean", which was a fillet of pan-fried barramundi with a horseradish crust and pumpkin & citrus puree. Although the barramundi was perfectly cooked, and I really enjoyed the pumpkin & citrus puree, this was probably my least favourite dish of the night. Not that there was anything wrong with it, I just enjoyed the other courses more. I found the Iron Pot Bay sauvignon blanc/semillon (from Tasmania) to be a good partner for this course. It was a more delicate style of the blend, which worked well with the barramundi.

The vegetarian course was a Burgundy black truffle risotto. This was listed as an optional extra course on the menu for $15, unless you're vegetarian. Although it looked small, it was beautifully rich, the rice still had a good bite and there were plenty of truffle shavings.

From the ocean I then went to "The Farm". At Absynthe, the farm consists of confit rabbit loin, potato gratin, chanterelles and pencil leek. It was served with a glass of 2006 Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage "Les Jalets", which was the perfect match for this food. I absolutely loved both this dish and the wine. The rich, gamy, mushroomy flavours on the plate were complemented by the beautifully perfumed shiraz. I was scraping every last drop of this off my plate at the end.

The next vegetarian course was a modified version of my rabbit, with a type of mushroom cannelloni, served with the potato gratin and chanterelles. My wife found the cannelloni casing a bit too meaty tasting, but enjoyed the richness of the rest of the dish.

It was now time to leave the farm and move on to "Heavenly Sweets", as you do at this time of the night. Not one, but two courses of heavenly sweets here at Absynthe.

The first dessert course was candied apricot, basil syrup and lychee sorbet. There were 3 pieces of apricot, which had a lovely flavour. The flavour of the lychee sorbet was amazing, and the basil syrup lifted the whole dish. This was an excellent, lighter, fresh style of fruit dessert.

The candied apricot was followed by a "Banana Split". To be perfectly honest, I was really dreading this, as I'm not the biggest fan of banana at any time. I certainly would have never ordered this dessert off a menu. It turned out to be fantastic, and probably one of the best dishes of the night. The banana had been caramelised, and sat on a strip of thick strawberry jelly. However, the real star of this dish was the frozen chocolate cream, which was served out of a canister. The chocolate cream had been frozen in liquid nitrogen, which gave it the most unique texture. Although it looked almost crunchy, it just melted away the moment it hit my mouth. When it was topped with the creme anglaise that came in a little beaker, it was a brilliant dessert.

The banana split was served with a glass of 2007 Vietti Moscato d'Asti Cascinetta. I was a bit let down by this wine, which I think was probably the weakest match of the night. It was a really light style of moscato, and I found it was completely overwhelmed by the food on the plate.

We were then offered coffees, which we elected to skip. The couple next to us were enjoying coffee and petit fours, but I thought the banana split was a fantastic way to finish the night. Not to mention by this time we were both pretty full.

The 7 course degustation dinner at Absynthe is $98. In my opinion, that's amazing value. I know some people will disagree with me, but having 7 courses of food at this standard is something you don't come across very often. I hadn't asked the cost of the degustation menu when we booked, but I was expecting it to be much more.

You can elect to have the matched wines with your degustation dinner for an extra $77. For 5 glasses of wine that works out to just over $15 a glass. Otherwise you can select your wine from the huge wine list. You'll need a decent table of people though if you are ordering bottles of wine, as it will be difficult to find one or two bottles that will match the diversity of food arriving at your table. The wine list runs to 37 pages, covering everything from Badel Sljivovica (Croatian plum brandy) to an amazing 1966 Moet & Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Oenotheque (at $2,600 a bit out of my price range). Or, if you are really looking to wipe yourself out, there are 9 varieties of absinthe to try.

The room itself is a pretty modern, sleek design. It really gives you a sense of entering somewhere special, and adds to the anticipation of an amazing meal ahead. Also, tables have a good amount of space between them, which is a great thing if you are here for a special meal.

Other than the slight blip I mentioned earlier, service throughout the night was professional and efficient. As each course arrived, its contents were explained to us, and our waitresses were happy to answer any questions we had. There was a good space between each of the courses and at no stage of the night did we feel rushed. I did wish my glass of Crozes-Hermitage would never end though, so that was a bit disappointing when it did.

If you're looking for a restaurant to enjoy a special dinner, Absynthe is it. I'd have to say that overall, this is probably the best meal I've had anywhere during 2008. And considering the quality of the food, I think it's well priced too.

What does all this mean? A high class journey into a variety of flavours and quality ingredients, with excellent service and a huge wine list. Food doesn't come too much better than this.

food bling ratings
Food - Top shelf
Service - Great
Ambience - Classy, understated dining room with spacey, modern fittings
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Top shelf
Vegetarian - Great

Absythne
Shop 4, Q1 Resort & Spa
Surfers Paradise Boulevard
Surfers Paradise 4217
P - 07 5504 6466
E - becomeaddicted@absynthe.com.au
W - http://www.absynthe.com.au/

Lab Bar + Restaurant

I've eaten at the Lab Bar + Restaurant a few times over the years and generally speaking the food has been dependably good. I also had memories of a good wine list, so I headed back there for dinner recently.

The room was pretty noisy when we walked in. If you haven't been before, there is a big, impressive looking bar which takes up one wall, with the tables located between the bar and the windows on George Street. Unfortunately our table was right against a big pillar and a large wine storage cabinet. I had the wine storage cabinet right next to me. Pretty bizarre place to put a table if you ask me, but it kept me entertained checking out the wine for a couple of minutes. Not exactly great ambience though.

We ordered a couple of glasses of wine to start. I had ordered a glass of the Pewsey Vale gewurztraminer, but the waiter started to pour me a glass of a different gewurztraminer. He didn't show the label of the bottle to me before pouring, just poured it straight into the glass. After I spotted it was the wrong wine, the waiter apologised and told me they wouldn't charge us for that glass. He came back a few minutes later with a glass of the wine I had ordered as well. Not the greatest start to the night, but at least it was handled well.

For entree I ordered the pan seared calamari with avocado salsa, baby cos & tomato gazpacho ($19). I really enjoyed this dish - the calamari was cooked perfectly, it looked great and was a good combination of clean flavours. The gewurtraminer was a great match.

We also ordered an entree of asparagus served with egg and truffle salad. This dish was ok, but the asparagus had been crumbed, and I thought the batter & crumbs overpowered the delicate flavour of the asparagus.

I had Bangalow pork cheeks with sweet potato and apple for main course. It was a cool night, and this dish turned out to be delicious. The pork cheeks were meltingly tender, and served with some excellent, crunchy crackling. Good pork crackling is something you don't come across on restaurant menus very often these days, which is a shame. For some reason, pork crackling just isn't "fashionable". I don't care if its fashionable, I just love crackling. Although it sounded a fairly simple dish, the salty/sweet contrasts between the crackling, the pork cheeks and the apple really made this an excellent main course.

My vegetarian companion ordered a cauliflower tart with rocket & figs for her main. Unfortunately the filling of the tart was runny in places and obviously hadn't been cooked quite enough. It tasted lovely, but the texture let it down. Also, the tart was served with a ratatouille that wasn't mentioned on the menu. Sadly, the robust ratatouille didn't sit with the delicate flavours of the tart and figs. Mystery ingredients which aren't listed on the menu are one of my pet annoyances, especially when they just don't complement the rest of the dish.

The wine list at the Lab is good. There is a strong selection of wines by the glass. And if you're looking to really spend some money on wine, have a look through the cellar list, which includes the likes of Yquem and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. With our main courses, we had a glass of Curly Flat pinot noir (an excellent wine) and a glass of Jimbour Station Ludwig reserve merlot. It's great to see more Brisbane restaurants supporting the Queensland wine industry.

For dessert we ordered one of the ginger creme brulees, which was served with lime sorbet and a pineapple & coconut macaroon. The creme brulee was excellent. The "macaroon" turned out to be a slice of deep fried pineapple.

None of the desserts jumped off the page at me after my excellent main course, so I decided to order the Lab kitchen churned sorbet & ice cream with tropical fruit. The ice creams included lychee & honeydew melon (I couldn't pick the other flavours), which were served with pineapple, grapes and kiwifruit. It was ok, but not in the same class as the creme brulee.

Overall the food was a bit hit and miss. My main course and entree were both very good, as was the ginger creme brulee. But overall, the food lacked the consistency across the board which would really have turned it into a memorable evening.

Service during the night was very friendly, but a bit slap-dash at times. Again, more consistency with service would have added to our night out.

Finally, vegetarians will find the Lab good value. There is a separate (although small) vegetarian section on the menu, and the vegetarian meals are significantly cheaper than the other main courses.

What does all this mean? A good selection of modern-Australian food and a great wine list, but lacking a bit of consistency in both the food and service.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Ok
Ambience - A classy dining room, dominated by the impressive bar
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Great
Vegetarian - Ok

The Lab Bar + Restaurant
Hotel Conrad
Corner George Street & Stephens Lane
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3306 8647
W - http://www.conrad.com.au/treasury/restaurants/ryans_default.htm

Queensland Cricketers' Club

The other day I was lucky enough to score a ticket for the first day of the test against New Zealand at the Gabba. Even better, it was a ticket to seats in the Queensland Cricketers' Club.

The tickets included a 3 course set menu lunch at the Cricketers' Club. I usually think of club food as being a bit stuck in a time warp, so my lunch expectations weren't particularly high. Boy did I turn out to be wrong. The lunch we had was excellent.

Things started off well when our table was right against the glass. It was floor to ceiling glass, so we had an amazing view of the entire field. It feels a bit surreal having someone serve you a delicious lunch while the cricket is going on out the window, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Our entree was a delicious prawn & fennel salad. This was probably the best dish of the whole lunch. It had already been plated up on our table when we sat down, so again I was a bit sceptical. But the prawns were fresh, sweet and tasty. They were a perfect match with the fennel salad. A bottle of 2005 Jim Barry "The Florita" Riesling ($79) made this probably the best start to any meal I've ever had a sporting venue. It sure beats a box of tired old chicken & chips.

By this stage my expectations of lunch had risen remarkably and I was looking forward to the next course. The main meal turned out to be a very generous chunk of medium rare beef, served with asparagus, grilled tomato and a slice of a potato dauphinoise type dish. Although it wasn't quite in the league of the prawn & fennel salad, it was very good. After finding a bottle of 1995 Katnook Estate cabernet sauvignon on the wine list for $99, we couldn't pass it up, and it turned out to be a lovely match with the steak.

Dessert was a baked cheesecake. I'd already had a few drinks by this stage of the day, so I can't actually remember what flavour it was. I do remember though that it was good. We rounded off a great lunch with one of Australia's classic dessert wines - De Bortoli Noble One botrytis semillon ($33.50).

It really was a decadent way to watch a few hours of cricket. If you're ever offered a ticket to the Cricketers' Club, grab it with both hands - you'll have a brilliant day.

Queensland Cricketers' Club
411 Vulture Street
East Brisbane 4169
P - (07) 3896 4533
E - qcc@qldcricketersclub.com.au
W - http://www.qldcricketersclub.com.au/

Lock 'n' Load

Recently I went along to a birthday party at Lock 'n' Load at West End. Lock 'n' Load is another one of those places that I have walked past loads of times, but never actually ventured inside.

My friends had cleverly booked a private room up on the first floor. When you walk inside, the first thing you'll see is the main bar. This is also where bands set up later on in the night. Then you walk past the dining area, which was very busy. There's also an outdoor area out the back, but being the middle of winter, I'm glad we weren't out there.

We headed upstairs into the space that had been booked. It turned out to be two pretty big rooms, together with a verandah that overlooked Boundary Street. There were plenty of couches and chairs around the two rooms to relax into after we'd all had a few drinks.

Rather than have a sit-down dinner, we ate from the $30 a head canape menu. The quality of canapes at Lock 'n' Load is a big step up from the tired calamari rings and soggy spring rolls that so many places serve up around town. The canapes included arancini (risotto balls), asparagus wrapped in shaved zucchini served with tomato sauce, nachos with salsa, avocado, cheese & sour cream, scallops served on a half shell (these were delicious) and crusty bread served with pesto, tomato and roast capsicum. Sure it wasn't haute cuisine, but it was tasty and exactly the food we were after.

The food was brought out on platters every 5-10 minutes and then left on a table for grazing. There was plenty of food throughout the night. For me, this is the perfect kind of dinner for a party - you can have a drink in one hand, a canape in the other and wander around the room talking to whoever you like.

During the night we all ordered our drinks from the bar downstairs. Although the bar got busy as the night went on, I never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be served. Drinks prices are very reasonable - you can get decent bottles of wine under $30 and standard spirits are $6.

The music during the night was fantastic, which added to a great atmosphere. They even played two Belle & Sebastian albums in a row, so whoever was in charge of the music had great taste (Belle & Sebastian are one of my favourite bands - you can have a listen here). If you don't like the music they're playing on the sound system, then head downstairs where you're likely to find a band playing on most Friday and Saturday nights.

So if you're looking for a great spot for a private party or a night out with a bunch of friends, its definitely worth giving Lock 'n' Load a try. The food is good, drinks are cheap, you can reserve a private room and they even play great music - what more could you need on a Saturday night?

Lock 'n' Load Bistro
142 Boundary Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3844 0142
W - http://www.locknloadbistro.com.au/

Harveys Bistro & Bar

I recently caught up with a few of my wine buddies for lunch, and we each brought along a special bottle. The hard part turned out to be finding a BYO restaurant that was open for Saturday lunch. After I had hunted around the internet for a while, it came down to a shortlist of Harveys or Sprout. We ended up going to Harveys because we were all coming from the Northside, and it was the easiest to get to.

Usually I try to avoid James Street like the plague, because parking is always an absolute nightmare. Although I wasn't driving after lunch, I had to drive in, and I ran into the usual parking terrors. I eventually got to lunch 20 minutes late, after finding a park about 10 minutes walk away.

I'd only ever been to Harveys for breakfast before, and that was before PJ McMillan had taken over, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We started off with a bottle of 1996 Bruno Paillard Champagne, which is a pretty fine way to kick off any lunch. It was a beautiful wine, with a few years ahead of it yet. After lingering over a glass or two of the Champagne, it was time to order.

I knew we had a bottle of aged chardonnay up next, so I tried to pick an entree that would match the wine. Entrees on the menu include Jerusalem artichoke tart with blue cheese, date, bitter leaves and red wine vinegar ($18), seafood risotto with chorizo, paprika, chilli and rocket ($19.50) and quail saltimbocca, grilled fig, mustard fruits, rocket and cress salad ($18.50). After a fair bit of indecision, I reminisced about the great tapas I had in Spain and ordered the Jamón serrano reserva, simply shaved with artichoke, rocket and goat's curd ($17).

It was about now when we opened the second bottle, a 1999 Giaconda Chardonnay, which sits in the upper echelons of Australian chardonnay. I know Jamon serrano isn't exactly what you'd call the perfect match with an aged chardonnay, but I love the stuff. Although the Jamon serrano was good, with its amazing depth of flavour, it wasn't as simple as the menu had made it out to be. The artichoke, rocket and goats curd had a tad too much dressing on it, which seemed to be mainly balsamic vinegar. It was a shame, because the dressing took away from the flavour of the Jamon serrano, which should have been the focus of the dish. Personally I would have preferred to have no dressing at all (the menu didn't mention a dressing) or maybe just a touch of good olive oil, which is all these lovely ingredients needed. The goat's curd was divine.

We also had one of the salt & pepper calamari with lime aioli and citrus on the table ($15.90) which disappeared pretty quickly.

After the two great white wines, it was time to open a red before the main courses arrived. We eventually had the waiter decant our bottle of 1992 Bests Thomson Family shiraz, which I was really looking forward to. The Thomson Family shiraz is one of those wines that is very hard to find, even if you are on Bests mailing list. One that's 16 years old is something pretty special. It was of course a lovely aged red, that still had time ahead of it in the cellar.

I knew the shiraz was on the way, so it had to be some kind of red meat for my main course. That narrowed the options to lamb rump with pumpkin, sage, roasted onion, peas and horseradish cream ($29) or the grilled eye fillet with potato rosti, wilted spinach, crisp prosciutto and shallot confit ($34). The mains also included Atlantic salmon with crushed potatoes, sweet corn, bacon, fennel and chive cream ($27) and chicken breast with garlic butter on mash with roasted mushrooms and pancetta ($27).

The lamb rump was good, and a perfect match for the aged Victorian shiraz. So good that I was trying to scrape up every last bit off the plate. It was delicious comfort food.

By the time dessert came around, we had already gone through three bottles of wine, so we decided on just a couple of cheeses ($9.50 for one, $13.00 for two, $16.50 for three or $19.00 for four). There are of course other desserts, like passionfruit and lemon mascarpone terrine with papaya and mint salad and autumn fruit crumble with fresh cream, white chocolate and macadamia ice cream (both $11).

Harveys is licenced and BYO. The wine list is compact, but excellent - exactly how a wine list should be. There is a very well thought out selection of wines by the glass, and the whole list is extremely well priced. Harveys also offers a selection of older vintage wines (which you'll find on the blackboard) that have been carefully cellared at Wineaway.

If you're looking for something other than wine, Harveys have a selection of coffees ($3.20 for flat white) and tea to end the meal, but we decided to wander up James Street to Merlos, and grab a coffee there instead.

Service was a little bit patchy to start with, until the more senior waiter realised we had brought along some pretty decent wines. After that small hiccup, the service was seamless.

If you're heading out to a BYO lunch on the weekend, it's pretty hard to go past Harveys. You can sit either inside or out, depending on the weather, and the restaurant has a welcoming, relaxed feel. Harveys is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What does all this mean? A relaxed modern bistro, perfect for a weekend lunch, where you can either enjoy the smart wine list, or bring your own bottle.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Good
Ambience - Relaxed, modern bistro
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Licensed & BYO
Vegetarian - OK

Harveys Bistro and Bar
Shop 4, 31 James Street
Fortitude Valley 4006
P - 07 3852 3700
E - info@harveys.net.au
W - http://www.harveys.net.au/

Fix Restaurant

I've already done a post about Fix Restaurant, but I was back again the other day for a Friday work lunch. Last time I went, my steak didn't exactly set the world on fire.

This time I ordered the fish of the day, which was pan-fried snapper with green papaya salad ($28). It was delicious. The snapper was perfectly cooked, still moist, and just melted away in my mouth. The green papaya had been julienned, dressed with lime juice and a hint of chilli. The snapper also came with a serve of rice, just in case you were really hungry.

Service was again a bit hit and miss to start with - we had to ask a couple of times for our first bottle of wine to actually make it to the table, but after that things went fairly smoothly.

On the strength of this great dish, maybe next time I'll stick to the fish of the day.

Fix Restaurant
Port Office Hotel
Corner Edward & Margaret Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3210 6016
W - http://www.portofficehotel.com.au/

Restaurant Vue

Restaurant Vue is the in-house restaurant at the Boonah Valley Motel. We stayed here for a couple of nights recently, and thought we'd give the impressive looking restaurant a try for dinner.

It's a pretty enormous restaurant. There are seats inside, and also a big outside deck. It was a bit cool on the night, so the deck had been closed in with those clear plastic shutter things.

Anyway, we sat inside, where there was also a combustion fire going. The first thing we noticed on the menu was that cocktails were $8. $8 for a cocktail is a bargain in anyone's language, so we ordered a couple of those. They were a bit hit and miss, but at $8, who cares?

I was planning to leave room for dessert, so we ordered a bowl of the hand cut potato, sweet potato and eggplant chips with aioli ($6) for an entree. This turned out to be an absolutely enormous bowl of the various chips. The aioli was good, but we didn't get close to eating all the chips. This dish was great value at the price.

There is a compact wine list, including wines by the glass, at reasonable prices. I ordered a glass of pinot noir with my main course. I was amazed to find out it was served cold. I know some people like to slightly chill red wine in the warmer months, but it wasn't remotely warm weather, and this wine wasn't just chilled, it was cold. Of course the flavours of the pinot were completely masked by the temperature at which it was served. If restaurants are going to serve red wine cold, they should at least check with the customer first. I didn't order any more red wine after that glass. I should have stuck to the cocktails.

Next was main course. There were some interesting sounding mains, like tempura salmon in sea salt with purple wakame ($25), prawn, pumpkin, opal blue, salmon and black sesame tortellini ($17) and marinated char grilled lamb rump with Israeli cous cous, green olives, preserved lemon and eggplant ($25). There are a number of gluten free options, which are clearly marked on the menu.

The roasted duck breast on fig and mandarin salad with orange blossom and cinnamon water and warm chickpea falafel ($25) took my fancy. I don't see mandarin in many main courses, so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately the dish wasn't as good as it sounded. Although the duck had been spiced with some lovely flavours, I found it overcooked and a bit tough. When it comes to duck breasts, I enjoy them when they are just cooked, still pink, juicy and tender. The fig and mandarin salad was ok - the figs in particular were a good match with the spiced duck. The falafel turned out to be a giant size and seemed to overwhelm the rest of the ingredients. It was also a really floury consistency once you broke into it. Overall, this dish just didn't work for me. I think a smaller portion of each of the accompaniments would have worked much better. With less mandarin and a much smaller, chunkier falafel, the flavours and textures would have been more balanced. A good idea, but not quite carried off on the plate.

Vue Restaurant has a separate vegetarian menu, which is always good to see. We ordered the halloumi with with falafel and fig & mandarin salad from the vegetarian menu. This was basically the same dish I had ordered, but with halloumi instead of the duck. The halloumi turned out to be a great match with the mandarin segments - the salty, squeaky texture of the cheese a perfect foil for the juicy, sweet mandarin. Again though the falafel was very powdery and overwhelmed the other ingredients due to its size.

We were both a bit disappointed with our mains, but decided to give dessert a run. We ordered the trio of house made ice cream tasting plate with sides of figs, rosewater Turkish delight and fresh berries ($8.50). Other desserts include pumpkin brioche bread and butter pudding with double cream and vanilla bean ice-cream ($8.50) and poached nectarines in amaretto with buttermilk puddings, fresh passionfruit and Italian meringue (also $8.50).

Our dessert turned out to be a winner. We had fresh figs at a few places in Boonah, and they were delicious every time. The ice cream flavours tonight were Midori, rosewater and mango. All of the ice creams were beautifully made, but the rosewater was the standout. A lovely delicate flavour, churned into an extra creamy ice cream - I could have eaten about 4 scoops of it. The Turkish delight was also good, its customary chewiness providing a good contrast of texture to the ice cream, figs and berries.

Other than the cold glass of pinot, service was excellent throughout our meal. There were only 2 waitresses for the entire restaurant, but they were both friendly and efficient, and no-one seemed to be waiting for meals.

The servings at Restaurant Vue are big, and prices are good. But our main courses didn't quite hit the mark. Maybe we just made bad choices for mains (after all we did almost have the same dish). It's certainly an ambitious menu.

Restaurant Vue is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was doing a good trade with the locals on the night we were there. Hopefully there will be more restaurants like this popping up in country towns all over Queensland.

What does all this mean? Big servings, good prices and an ambitious menu, but some dishes don't quite hit the mark.

food bling ratings
Food - Ok
Service - Good
Ambience - Modern, stylish interior and outside deck seating
Value for Money - Great
Wine - Compact selection
Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Great

Restaurant Vue
Boonah Valley Motel
3908 Boonah-Ipswich Road
Boonah 4310
P - 07 5463 4738
W - http://www.boonahvalleymotel.com.au/restaurant.htm

Fix Restaurant

Fix Restaurant is one of the eating options at the Port Office Hotel.

I've eaten there a few times over the last few years, and each time the place has been busy, especially at lunch. Fix does a good job of getting the meals out pretty quickly, which is what lots of us are looking for during our precious 1 hour mid-week lunch breaks. Fix serves up modern Australian food, coupled with a range of steaks.

We weren't able to stick around all afternoon, so decided to give entrees a skip. But if you've got more time than we did, you could try the grilled Moreton Bay bugs with garlic butter & cress salad ($17), salt and pepper calamari with preserved lemon & cress mix ($12) or the goats cheese and sweet onion tart with baby spinach salad ($12).

Service was a bit over-attentive at the start of the meal. We had about 3 separate waiters ask to take our drink orders (even after we had ordered them). But the service did settle down a bit as the meal progressed. I suppose its better to be over-attentive than the other way round.

Main courses cover a pretty big range of options - chilli prawn pizza with tiger prawns, garlic, chilli, tomato and mozzarella ($22), chicken breast with olives, potato & spinach gnocchi and lemon herb gremolata ($21) and Atlantic salmon fillet with crushed potatoes, olive tapenade & peppercorn vinaigrette ($26). There are also a few grills, if you're really in need of some red meat - grain fed MSA rump ($27), rib on the bone ($30), rib fillet ($32), MSA Angus eye fillet ($28), roasted Junee gold lamb rump ($29) and OP Barkers Creek pork rib ($29).

I ordered the 300 gram 90 day grain fed rib fillet, which was served with roasted sweet potato & truss cherry tomatoes. The steak was cooked fine, I just found the steak I'd been served a bit too fatty (not in a marbled way). Unfortunately there wasn't a particularly large amount of actual beef in the steak. I know it can always be pot luck as to the piece of steak you can be served, but I was disappointed with this one.

My work lunch colleague had the roasted Junee gold lamb rump on a parmesan porcini mushroom risotto. I didn't try any of it, but he found it ok, without being great.

We had a couple of glasses of the Jimbour Station reserve merlot ($7), which went well with the main courses. It's great to see more and more restaurants supporting Queensland wine, which will only push our local wines on to better things. There is a good selection of well-priced wines by the glass, or if you have more time, you can explore the cellar selection of bottles (up to $1600 for a magnum of 1992 Grange).

For dessert I had the strawberry semifreddo martini with burnt honey & vanilla cream ($9.90), which was served (not surprisingly) in a martini glass. Sure it was sweet, but it was also a delicious way to round off the meal.

It can be a bit noisy at Fix, particularly when the place is full. However I suspect that most diners are there for a business lunch, rather than a romantic occasion, so it probably won't be an issue.

The food we had at Fix was ok overall, without setting our tastebuds on fire. Fix's strength is serving a range of fairly "safe", popular meals, backed up with good, quick service. If that's what you're looking for at lunch in the City, then give Fix a try.

What does all this mean? A good selection of upmarket pub food and steaks, with quick service and a reasonable wine selection.

food bling ratings
Food - Ok
Service - Good
Ambience - Modern setting with plenty of wood (which can get a bit noisy)
Value for Money - Ok
Wine - Good selection
Vegetarian - Ok

Fix Restaurant
Port Office Hotel
Corner Edward & Margaret Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3210 6016
W - http://www.portofficehotel.com.au

Tukka

Over the last few years, in almost every trip I've made to West End I've walked past Tukka and thought I really should go there for dinner some time. I've also heard Stéphane Brémont, the chef, on ABC radio, with his unmistakable French accent.

Last night, instead of walking past Tukka on the way to Huongs or El Torito, we finally ate there.

We sat at a table for two in the covered verandah part of the restaurant. It was a bit noisy to start with, but we got used to the noise as the night went on. There were also a few ants on our table, which we weren't expecting, but once we'd brushed them off, they seemed to get the message and didn't come back. I suppose it adds to the native experience. Before I move on to the food, I thought the tables were a bit close together - the table to the right of us was so close that the waiters had trouble getting past without brushing into me pretty regularly. I know restaurants try to get as many tables into their space as they can, but the table plan shouldn't inconvenience the diners.

Anyway, Tukka is one of the very few restaurants that I've ever been to that specialises in Australian native ingredients. You'll find native berries, nuts, desert limes and lemon myrtle popping up all through the menu. On the carnivorous side, you'll also see crocodile, possum, emu and kangaroo.

The menu is fairly compact and offered 5 entrees on the night. These covered a native platter (game meats, native berries, nuts, fruits and spices, home-made damper and native dips - $21.70 per person), tonka bean cured Cairns crocodile tenderloin, grape salad, kiwi and strawberry eucalypt dressing ($18.70), gourmet tomato and desert lime consommé, pickled cucumber and apple sorbet ($16.90), Queensland prawns with avocado and carrot salad and karasumi smoked mullet roe emulsion ($19.80) and Tasmanian possum baked in filo pastry with rosella braised pear and citrus salad ($19.60).

Before our entrees came out, a complementary appetiser was served. It was a couple of slices of a beautiful green tomato, with bocconcini and lemon myrtle dressing. This was delicious, and a great way to get our tastebuds ready for the food to come.

I ordered the prawns for entree. I was a bit surprised to find only two prawns on the plate, considering this was a $20 entree. In the prawns' defence, they were both pretty big ones, but I just can't see how this dish justifies this price. I would have also enjoyed the prawns slightly less cooked than they were served, but that's just my personal preference. The avocado and carrot salad was good, and the karasumi smoked mullet roe emulsion an excellent partner to the prawns. There was nothing bad at all about this dish, I just found it a little underwhelming.

My vegetarian dinner guest wasn't a big fan of tomato soup (even if it was a delicious sounding consommé) so we also ordered a lilly pilly salad with macadamias, mixed leaves and lemon myrtle dressing ($7.50) as an entree. This salad got the thumbs up from both of us. I'd never eaten the berries off a lilly pilly, but they had a real tanginess, and their chewy texture was a good contrast to the other ingredients. It was an excellent, innovative salad, which is actually on the menu as a side dish for main course.

We had glasses of Petaluma viognier and Coriole semillon sauvignon blanc with our entrees. Neither wine was actually available by the glass on this list. I'd ordered the Tahbilk viognier, but the waiter had just opened a bottle of the Petaluma viognier for another table, and happily volunteered a glass to me at the same price as the Tahbilk. As much as I enjoy the Tahbilk viognier, the Petaluma is a beautiful food wine, and there was no way I was going to knock it back. Again, the Coriole was offered to us in place of the Abbey Rock, and we had no complaints there either. By this stage of the evening, we were really enjoying things, with the service going seamlessly.

After a good pause, our mains were served. I won't go through all the mains in detail, but the menu includes seared rare emu fillet ($30.60), Queensland scallops ($29.90), pumpkin and bush tomato flan ($25.60), braised beef cheeks ($27.80), slow roasted grain fed 'Aurora' lamb shanks ($29.40) and the fish of the day, which was barramundi.

I had the ginger and rosella braised beef cheeks with fondant potato and creamed leeks. The beef cheeks were excellent, and an exercise in simplicity. The plate had a generous serve of the beef cheeks, which were meltingly tender, simply matched with the big chunk of fondant potato. The leeks were sprinkled over the potato, and still had a bit of crunch to them. I had a glass of the Logan "Weemala" shiraz viognier with my main, and it was an excellent match. This dish would make the perfect autumn or winter dinner. The rich beef cheeks just fell apart on the plate, and the combination of flavours bounced around in my mouth well after the dish was cleaned away.

Our other main course was the pumpkin and bush tomato flan, capsicum and anisata coulis, grape and green bean salad. My dinner guest was a bit miffed that there was no pastry in sight in the "flan". It was rather a smallish mound of very tasty mashed pumpkin, served with the side salad. The flavours of this dish were innovative, but it could have been a bigger portion for the price. A glass of the D'Arenberg D'Arry's original grenache shiraz was a good match with this main course.

We still had room for the desserts, which sounded tempting. We both wanted to have the apple trilogy of anisata roasted gala, pink lady parfait and granny smith sorbet ($16.20), but our dinner pact meant we each had to order something different. In the end I ordered the native spiced red wine poached pear with Daintree vanilla bean ice cream ($15.20). The poached pear was divine, particularly with the rich vanilla bean ice cream. I grabbed a glass of the Romavilla muscat, which was a good partner for the deep, spiced flavours of the pear.

The apple trilogy was yet another example of keeping things simple. Three different types of apple, served three different ways. Unfortunately this was so good, I didn't get to taste much of it, but I was told that the granny smith sorbet was just like eating a frozen apple. Both our desserts were excellent, and really ended off the night on a high note.

Throughout our meal the service was very good. Our waiters were friendly, knowledgeable and always popped up at the right time. Service was also very attentive, and our water glasses were topped up regularly, without us even noticing most of the time.

The diners at the three tables behind us all had American accents, so Tukka is obviously popular with overseas tourists. I'd certainly have no hesitation in taking any overseas friends here, to try some of the native Australian flavours that you just don't find on many menus anywhere.

The wine list has been put together with a lot of thought. It features plenty of Australian wines, including those from regions which aren't classed by many punters as fashionable at the moment. There's also a smattering of Queensland wines, which I'm always pleased to see. The best thing about the wine list is that the mark ups are very reasonable, and you should have no trouble finding a good bottle or two that won't bust your budget.

Tukka also gets a tick on the gluten-free food front. Their gluten free dishes are clearly marked on the menu, and they aren't limited to a token dish or two.

If you're looking for more information about native food, have a look at Tukka's website. There is plenty of information, including recipes and a glossary of native food.

I really didn't know what to expect from Tukka, but it's safe to say that the food we had was, in general, very impressive. Although my entree wasn't fantastic, and some of the portions could be a bit more generous, the general standard of the food was very good. The simplicity of the food and clean flavours really shone throughout the night. It's reassuring to see a chef committed to building meals around a few high quality ingredients. Also, don't think the food here is gimmicky "Aussie" food, aimed at tourists, because it isn't. Tukka stands alone with this kind of real modern Australian food in Brisbane. On this showing, I'll definitely be going back.

What does all this mean? Excellent, modern Australian food built around native ingredients, with a well-priced wine list and professional service.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Fairly formal, but a bit noisy
Wine - Good selection at very reasonable prices
Value for Money - OK
Vegetarian - Limited selection
Gluten Free - Great

Tukka
145 Boundary Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3846 6333
E - mailto:tukka@mail.com
W - http://www.tukkarestaurant.com.au/

Cafe Sbiza

Cafe Sbiza is a busy cafe on Marine Parade, the main food street at Kingscliff.

Most of the seats are outside, and it's a relaxed, casual atmosphere for most of the week. Come the weekend however, and Cafe Sbiza gets packed for breakfast and lunch. So busy that if you don't make a booking for breakfast, you're going to have to wait a while.

We'd been at Kingscliff all week, and after having a coffee at Cafe Sbiza earlier, we took their advice and made a booking for Saturday breakfast.

When it comes to breakfast, Cafe Sbiza has a two page menu, that is loaded with all kinds of breakfast options - sweet, savoury, vegetarian or fruit - they've got it covered. It's one of the biggest and best breakfast menus I've come across.

After working our way through all the amazing sounding breakfasts (and the four specials on the blackboard) it was time to order. I went with the eggs benedict. I ordered it with their gluten free corn bread, which they were happy to substitute. This was two poached eggs, good thick slices of black forest ham, roasted cherry tomatoes, thick hollandaise sauce and tasty, crunchy corn bread. This was pretty much my perfect breakfast. The eggs were perfectly softly poached, the hollandaise sauce was thick and tasty, but didn't overpower the eggs, and the ham, roasted tomatoes and corn bread were terrific accompaniments.

The other breakfast we had was pancakes with yoghurt and fruit salad. This was a huge breakfast made up of two fluffy pancakes, a side dish of maple syrup, banana, rockmelon, honeydew melon, pineapple, watermelon, strawberries and natural yoghurt. The fruit was fresh and plentiful. This really was two breakfasts in one, but we weren't complaining.

The coffee was Merlo, and was very good. As with most of the places we ate at in Kingscliff, the service was friendly and attentive.

All up, this really was a fantastic breakfast. Both our meals were excellent. With the huge range of options on the breakfast menu, you could go every day for a week and eat something different every day. Next time you're in Kingscliff, you really have to pop in to Cafe Sbiza for breakfast.

What does all this mean? Excellent breakfasts, a huge menu and friendly service - the perfect breakfast cafe.

food bling ratings
Food - Top Shelf
Service - Great
Ambience - Outdoor cafe setting
Value for Money - Great
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Good selection

Cafe Sbiza
Shop 2, 86 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - (02) 6674 4140

Utopia

I was recently down in Northern New South Wales on holidays and a friend suggested a trip to Bangalow, with a recommendation to pop into Utopia.

I've never been to Bangalow before, but the main street is made up of some lovely heritage buildings. Park yourself at either the top or bottom of the main street and spend a lazy few hours wandering up and down, browsing the great array of shops, cafes and restaurants.

We did exactly that, and it didn't take us long to find Utopia. It's on the main street, and occupies a very large renovated room, with a bit of an industrial, modern feel. Once we'd plonked ourselves down at a table and ordered, I was reading through a magazine with Gemma Ward on the cover, only to be told by the waitress that she'd been into Utopia a couple of times on the weekend. Unfortunately she didn't make an appearance while we were there.

Anyway, back to the food. We were just there for morning tea and I ordered a slice of the chocolate hazelnut torte ($8.90). I know that sounds like a lot for one slice, but this was the best gluten free cake I've ever come across. It was so good I almost ordered another piece. The torte was layers of hazelnut meringue with chocolate mousse, served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. I really can't put into words just how delicious this cake was. All of Utopia's cakes are made freshly on the premises, and there were more than a couple of gluten free cake options.

Other morning tea snacks that sounded tempting were the freshly baked scones, Lindt dark chocolate rocky road, baked cheesecake with pralines and an amazingly rich looking chocolate tart. It would be pretty easy to find a table, pick up a magazine and just work your way through their cake cabinet. Forget lunch, just keep going on the cakes.

The coffee was Zentfeld's, an Australian grown coffee, which I'd never tried before. Both of our coffees were very good, and service was efficiently friendly.

Utopia is also open for lunch and dinner, and the menu looked great. We'll definitely be back next time we're in that neck of the woods.

Bangalow is definitely worth a visit if you are nearby (it's about 15 minutes drive from Byron Bay). And if you do drop in, don't walk past Utopia without trying some of their beautiful cakes.

Utopia
13 Byron Street
Bangalow NSW 2479
P - 02 6687 2088
E - utopiacafe@bigpond.com
W - http://www.utopiacafe.com.au

The Brasserie on the River

The Brasserie on the River is one of the eateries at the Stamford Plaza hotel in the city. It's in a great spot, right on the river next to the gardens. If it's not too hot, you can sit outside, but you will still get a good view out over the river if you snag a decent table inside.

The Brasserie on the River has an enormous food selection, covering you for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. You could sit here all day, admiring the view and munching your way through the menu.

You also have the choice of a buffet or ordering a la carte for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so you aren't exactly limited for choice.

Both times I've eaten here its been for lunch - once for the buffet and once ordering from the a la carte menu.

The beauty of the buffet lunch is that you can walk in, grab a table and start loading up your plate. You can easily be in and out in an hour, which is always handy if you are on limited time before heading back to work. However, the buffet lunch is not cheap. During the week it's $45 per person, and on the weekends it will set you back $59. Having said that, it's a fair step up from your average Sizzler lunch selection, and includes smoked salmon, oysters, mussels and prawns, together with a generally tasty selection of smart hot and cold meats and vegetables. The dessert selection is usually good, so make sure you leave yourself some room.

On this visit though, we were ordering off the a la carte menu. The menu is not adventurous, but does offer a decent selection for lunch.

Entrees include prawn cakes on a green paw paw salad with nam jim dressing ($17.50), oysters with mango salsa ($19 for 6 or $33 for a dozen) and arancini with buffalo mozzarella on tomato fondant and balsamic reduction ($16.50) which sounded particularly good to me.

Unfortunately we were on a work lunch break, so had to skip the entrees. Mains fall into the fairly safe category and include harissa marinated lamb rump on cous cous with red bell pepper coulis ($34), baked barramundi with olive tapenade served with kipfler potatoes and wilted spinach ($31.50) and grilled butternut pumpkin with rosemary, honey and lime on avocado mash ($26.50).

I wasn't swayed by those options and decided to go for the grilled scotch fillet with Café de Paris, pont-neuf potatoes and broccolini. I thought I'd stick with something simple in the hope that it would be done well. The scotch fillet was good, and was well matched by the Cafe de Paris. Unfortunately the pont-neuf potatoes weren't so good. They looked good - big, chunky slabs of potato, but they were close to raw inside. When you've only got 3 things on your plate, and one of them isn't cooked, the whole meal falls down. The other three meals on our table were apparently tasty, however I didn't manage to try any of them.

We still had time for dessert though. There were a couple of sweets that caught my attention, including the Greek yoghurt and mango roulade with Tahitian lime and mango salsa and passionfruit syrup ($14.50) and the “Cherry Ripe” - devil’s food cake, cherry kirsch mousse and roasted coconut sorbet ($14.50). I decided to go for the limoncello brûlée with blackberry compote, pistachio and whole almond biscotti ($14.50) which was a good way to end the meal, after my disappointing main.

If you are looking for something Asian for lunch instead, the menu also has a small Singaporean selection, including a wanton noodle soup ($15.90) and a combination laksa ($17.90).

All up, The Brasserie on the River is a fairly solid place for lunch. If you are having lunch though, I think the buffet is probably the better option. It's probably one of the better buffets in the city. If you are ordering off the a la carte menu, then there are probably better places in walking distance, including Il Centro or Urbane. The Stamford Plaza does of course offer other eating options - Siggis for fine dining, Kabuki for Japanese and the Pav Bar if you are after a more relaxed meal.

The Brasserie on the River
Stamford Plaza Brisbane
Corner of Edward & Margaret Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3221 1999
W - http://www.stamford.com.au/spb/page.asp?e_page=569758&roomNo=456388

Cafe Fuscia

Cafe Fuscia is the local eatery that every suburb needs. It serves up a wide range of good, tasty food, is BYO and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We have eaten here a few times over the last 3 years or so. The main attraction for me is that Cafe Fuscia serves good gluten free pizzas, is BYO and within walking distance of our place. So when you've hard a long day, couldn't be bothered of thinking of where to go to dinner, don't want to drive anywhere, but still want to have great food, then Cafe Fuscia hits the spot.

Sure you won't remember what you ate here for the rest of your life, but neither will you be disappointed. Cafe Fuscia has a wide ranging dinner menu, from antipasto and oysters through to pasta, pizza and modern Australian options. Its pretty hard not to find something you like.

The menu had changed a little since our last visit. One of my favourite starters, the haloumi salad, was gone, so we opted for the Italian tasting plate. On asking the waitress what exactly was in the tasting plate (because my dining guest was vegetarian) we were met with the response that it was "a traditional Italian antipasto selection". We decided to order it anyway, which was a good thing. The plate had plenty of ham, prosciutto, salmon, marinated feta, grilled eggplant, olives, tortellini (which seemed a bit strange), zucchini, thinly sliced olive bread, a miniature apple and pear, and snow pea tendrills. This was pretty much the perfect starter when you can't really decide what you want to eat. We grazed on this great plate of tasty treats until it was pretty much demolished. It was also good value at $22 for the plate. The ham and prosciutto, in particular, were very good.

Then it was onto main course. For me, that was pizza. I only go here for pizza. Cafe Fuscia is one of the few places in Brisbane where you can get a good gluten free pizza. Cafe Fuscia has won a "best pizza" award, so you would expect them to be generally good. They have some interesting pizza options (like the wagyu rump which I've enjoyed before) but I went for the prosciutto one this time. It came out with thickly sliced prosciutto, tomato, mozzarella and a bit of parmesan. It was so tasty I almost ate the whole thing.

We also had a cauliflower risotto ($22) for main. It was described on the menu as having crispy sage leaves, Gorgonzola and cauliflower puree. Although the crispy sage leaves were mysteriously missing from the actual plate, replaced with not so crispy spinach, this was a seriously good risotto. The cauliflower still had a slight crunch to it, and there was just enough, but not too much, Gorgonzola to give the risotto a great flavour. Even without the crispy sage, this was a terrific dish.

By this time, we were completely full. The portion of risotto was enormous, and even between the two of us we couldn't finish it. Although some of the desserts looked very tempting, we just couldn't eat anymore.

Service at Cafe Fuscia is a bit hit and miss. But even when its not the best, it's still friendly. The quality of the food speaks for itself.

For coeliacs and others looking for gluten free options, Cafe Fuscia is a winner. They have gluten free pizza bases, and can make the pasta options gluten free as well.

Finally, Cafe Fuscia is BYO, with corkage charged at $2.20 per person. It's very popular on weekends, so it's a good idea to book. There is seating both inside and out.

Cafe Fuscia is not the kind of place you are likely to travel across Brisbane to dine at. But if you live within walking distance, then you really should give it a try. The food here is above average, well presented and very reasonably priced. It's the type of reliable cafe/restaurant that is deservedly popular. What sets it apart from the myriad of mediocre Brisbane restaurants is that its menu offerings are different, without being too adventurous, but very well executed. Its the kind of place that knows its limits, but what it does, it does well.

What does all this mean? A tasty, reliable, BYO suburban eatery that every Brisbane suburb needs.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - OK
Ambience - Casual suburban dining
Value for Money - Good
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Great

Cafe Fuscia
Corner of Audrey & Wardell Streets
Enoggera 4051
P - 3355 9800
E - info@fuscia.com.au
W - http://www.fuscia.com.au/

Era Bistro

Era is a great example of what can be done with food in Brisbane. Era offers a choice of venues.

First there is the cafe, if you are after breakfast or brunch. If you're planning on having a glass of wine with your brunch, then there is a wine list to accomodate you.

Next is the bar, where not only is there a great selection of wine and beer, but the tapas sound delicious. It would easy to get stuck here for a few hours munching on tempura soft shell crab or peking duck pancakes with hoi sin sauce.

But we were here for a celebratory dinner, so it was the bistro we were after. Calling Era a bistro is probably a bit of a misnomer. The food is definitely a higher standard than what you'd expect from a bistro. As far as I'm concerned, its some of the best food I've had in Brisbane this year.

Its a fairly modern, stark room. There isn't much of a view of anything, other than the road outside. So no-one is going to be there for the amazing views. But don't let that put you off, because the food is something else altogether.

After choosing a couple of glasses of wine, a selection of bread were brought out to the table, which is always a nice touch. Then it was time for the entrees. I had the seared scallops, braised oxtail, cauliflower & feves with braising jus ($22). It was one of the more interesting sounding options. It was a good entree, although I am not convinced that the scallops really paired well with the oxtail. The oxtail was a big, rich flavour, which completely overwhelmed the scallops. Each part of the dish was declicious, however the overall taste was a bit disjointed. My dining partner, a vegetarian, had the warm salad of baby beets, goat cheese, wild rocket & blood orange ($18). This was a terrific dish, which had us scraping up the beetroot and goats cheese. If anything the other parts of the salad were a bit hidden by the mass of rocket, but the taste was excellent.

Time to order another glass from the great wine list, then on to main course. I asked our friendly waitress about how the tasmanian ocean trout, Queensland red claw & baby vegetables ($31) was cooked ‘en Papillotte’. After being told it basically meant they were all cooked together in a plastic bag, which didn't sound particularly appetising, I still went ahead and ordered it. I am glad that I did, as this dish was spectacular. The trout in particular was beautifully succulent, its delicate flavour not overwhelmed by the other parts of the dish. Overall this was a very clean, bright seafood dish. It really was memorable. Our other main course was the artichoke & mushroom pithivier with wild mushrooms and cep consomme ($26). This was a much richer, earthier dish that was very good. There was a great depth of flavour with all the mushrooms and a good contrast of textures from the artichoke.

So far, the night was progressing very well. It was unfortunate that it was let down by our desserts. As it included a number of my favourite dessert items, I went for the
white chocolate semi freddo with roasted strawberries & balsamic and glass biscuit. The semi freddo was ok. The strawberries however were just overpowered by the balsamic, which tasted really thin and just too vinegary. I quickly swapped my dining companion for her lemon verbena scented crème brulee, mandarin sorbet and coconut tuile, which was better. The creme brulee itself was of the good, shallow variety with a great crunchy top.

Service throughout the meal was excellent. Our waitress was very friendly and approachable, but also highly knowledgeable and professional. She had the perfect knack of being at our table when required, whilst otherwise leaving us to enjoy the high quality food.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the wine list, which in my opinion is great. There are plenty of wines by the glass (from $6 for a fino sherry to $19.50 for Louis Roederer NV) and also a whole page of local and imported beers. The wine list here should keep everyone happy. It has a few fairly safe choices, but there are some great options for the more adventurous, such as the Salomon gruner veltliner ($49) or the Pérez Cruz reserva carmenère from Chile ($64). The mark ups aren't as noticeably unreasonable as some other CBD restaurants.

And if, at the end of the night, you haven't had enough wine, then check out the great Era bottle shop. Pick up a few bottles that you didn't get to try during your meal and you'll get 10% off with your restaurant receipt.

All up, Era Bistro is a very welcome addition to the Brisbane food scene. If the quality of food can be kept consistent, Era should quickly attract a solid following. We will certainly be back to graze on their tapas menu with a few glasses of wine.

What does all this mean? Very good modern Australian food, washed down with an excellent wine list.

Food Bling Ratings

Food - Great
Service - Top Shelf
Ambience - Modern, Minimalist
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Great

Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - OK
Other - Entertainment Book, Great Bar

Era Bistro
104 Melbourne Street
South Brisbane
P 07 3255 2033
W http://www.erabistro.com.au/