Eating tapas at Ole Restaurant can be as light or as filling as you want, with a long list of tapas and more substantial plates (raciones). The atmosphere is casual, relaxed dining and the staff are very friendly and helpful with the menu, not to mention the food being delicious. Here’s what we had:

• chickpea fritters with hot sauce (bolitas de garbanzo)
• crispy spiced potatoes (patatas bravas)
• beef cheeks braised in pedro ximenez, green pea and radish salad (mejillas de carne)
• tomato, rocket, walnut and manchego (ensalada de tomate y manchego)
• Spanish cold set custard with warm toffee and blood orange (crema catalana)

The beef cheeks were the stand out dish of our selection—the meat was soft, melt-in-the-mouth and oh so rich, and the pea and radish salad was a good fresh palate cleanser so you could keep going back for more of that dark, decadent goodness. The crunchy patatas bravas were also brilliant for soaking up the pedro ximenez sauce leftover on the plate. Yes, it was that good! They weren’t lying about the hot sauce for the chickpea fritters (thankfully there’s sangria) but everything we ordered was delightful.

Will we be going back? Yes, definitely. We simply have to try the Spanish classic—paella—and there were three types on the menu. There were also many more appealing tapas and raciones to sample so at the very least we’ll have to make a second trip.

Ricky’s Restaurant is located at Noosa Wharf on the river just a short walk, ferry ride or drive from Hastings Street. We like it for the escape it offers from the hustle and bustle of the main beach area. With its perfect riverfront location, it’s easy to while away the hours at Ricky’s. On a clear Noosa day the sunlight reflecting off the water is mesmerising, not to mention watching the many boats that pass by. There’s a distinctive vibe about Ricky’s—it’s open glass walls, high ceilings and polished wooden floors remind me of a beach house—I just want to stay, relax and enjoy.

Now to the menu…so many choices, all of them appealing. Even the gluten free (GF) menu had a few different options for entrees and mains. Here’s what we had:

Entrees

• BBQ quail, spiced carrot, medjool dates, rocket salad, honey yoghurt dressing
• WA octopus, pork belly, baba ganoush, slow roasted cherry tomatoes, haloumi, eggplant jam (GF)

Mains

• Char grilled Grainge eye fillet, potato leek gratin, confit shallot puree, asparagus, olive, manchego butter (GF)
• Herb crusted lamb rack, spiced quinoa, roast pumpkin, goats feta, almonds

Desserts

• Deconstructed cheesecake, strawberries, rhubarb sorbet
• Chocolate cake sundae, mascarpone ice cream, hazelnut panna cotta, strawberries (GF)

For me, the dish of the day was the herb crusted lamb with quinoa. The sweet and soft roasted pumpkin, wonderfully spiced quinoa very Moroccan in flavour, creamy goat’s cheese for a hint of saltiness, toasted almonds for crunch, and delightfully tender savoury lamb, each mouthful was a pleasure.

I cannot fault the food. The ingredients were as fresh as fresh could be, and the dishes satisfying without being too filling. I like to eat this way, it’s this kind of food that makes me happy. Ensconced in a light-filled restaurant with a stunning view, served by attentive wait staff, my smile widens with every bite. I feel privileged to have such a wonderful eating experience. And rest assured we will be back as soon as we possibly can.

Esquire has a unique approach to the menu. Rather than offer any al a carte options, it simply has degustation—you can choose between the short menu (6–9 courses) or long menu (9–15 courses). Each day the menu changes to use the best produce available so you can never be quite sure what you’re going to be served.

Esquire’s degustation-only menu is not necessarily going to appeal to everyone, there’s something quite adventurous about it—unusual textures and striking flavour combinations that some may find challenging. But those willing foodies should have faith in the talent of chefs Ryan Squires and Ben Devlin, they put forward sublime plates of food.

On the night we dined, we opted for the long menu ($150 per person) and were treated to:

• Kim chi
• Air dried beef
• ‘BBQ’ kettle chips
• Truffle and ham
• Scampi nigiri
• Ike jime coral trout with avocado and perilla
• Squid with bisque and cauliflower
• Corned beef with quark and cavalo nero
• Itchi bai with almond and apple
• Deckle of beef with yoghurt and parsley
• Popcorn with chocolate, berries, hazelnut and coconut and cocoa rocks
• Campari with orange, curds and whey
• Strawberries, tea and cake

As each dish was brought to the table the produce and processes used to prepare it was explained to us…and the final product was flawless—like art on a plate that tasted absolutely amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed eating at Esquire—each dish served to us seeming better than the last, made up of lots of little elements all complementing one another perfectly.

It was a leisurely dinner, accompanied by beautiful wines chosen for us by the sommelier. You would expect the bill to make your heart skip a beat, but really, for the quality and care taken with the food, wine and service, it was quite reasonable. Something we would happily go back for.

The key to tackling a food festival, and managing to sample plenty of dishes, is to sit down and plan everything you want to try before wandering around and becoming overwhelmed with the selections—your eyes are always bigger than your stomach so it’s good to prioritise. After thorough and careful assessment, we began.

Our first dish was Ortiga‘s chicken and lemon croquettas. These had a rich, creamy filling, cut with a hit of zingy lemon, and a delightfully crunchy deep-fried breadcrumb shell. The ultimate comfort food, and still being a bit crisp in the late morning, it made for a good start.

In search of wine, we happened upon the next on our food tasting list—Moda, which was serving a tapas plate of marinated Hervey Bay scallop with lemongrass and grapefruit; Gold Coast prawn ceviche with orange and vanilla; and piquilla pepper and fish salad. The chef, Javier Codina, is quite simply a genius. His food is so enticingly full of flavour. It sounds simple but has a complexity that leaves you wanting more and more.

After a quick sip of 2011 Stonier Chardonnay, it was off to Brents for crispy confit duck with eureka lemon and liquorice. Delicious! The duck was so soft it just melted in your mouth and the liquorice crisp was a brilliant textural change that held its flavour in the mouth and cut through the richness of the duck. Loved it!

Next stop 1889 Enoteca. We’ve tried to visit this popular restaurant three times (always booked out), so it was great to finally try their food. On the menu, potato gnocchi with pork and fennel sausage, black truffle tapenade and, parmesan cream. Great dish, you could really pick out the aniseed flavour of the fennel in the pork sausage and the gnocchi was light and fluffy, but I fear the sauce was just too rich for such a hot day. About half way through this dish we were full, but assisted to the finish by a glass of 2010 Stefano Lubiana Primavera Chardonnay.

In dire need of something lighter and fresh, it was off to Armstrongs for crisp fried Toowoomba range pork cheek, caramelised onions and apple puree. OK, so that doesn’t sound lighter, but it came with a refreshing salad of lettuce and apple with a vinaigrette. The pork was like one of Nana’s slow-cooked Sunday roasts—soft, salty and wonderfully intense. There’s no room for the health conscious at a food festival, you just have to embrace it.

The last of the savoury dishes was Aria Brisbane‘s daube of Darling Downs beef pie with Paris mash and a glass of 2010 St Hallett Faith Shiraz. Talk about died and gone to foodie heaven…buttery pastry around a thick meaty filling, topped off with creamy mashed potato, it really doesn’t get any better.

I have to admit, we both needed to sit and relax (with a glass of 2010 Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz) for quite some time before even considering dessert, of which there were plenty on offer. In summary:

• Custard tart with fresh local Red Hill raspberries from Confit
• Macaroons (caramel, chocolate and strawberry) from Boucher French Bistro—light and luscious
• Meringue with mascarpone cream, Babinda banana and salted butterscotch sauce, also from Boucher French Bistro—game over, this dessert was amazing!
• Chocolate sour cream cup cake with real Red Hill raspberry butter cream, again from Boucher French Bistro—gorgeous and just the right amount of sweetness.

You could not ask for a better day, venue and setup for the Delectable Food Bowl, it was perfect. A great showcase not only of Brisbane’s favourites, but of well known local restaurants and cafes as well. The organisers had arranged plenty of tables and chairs, and the chosen area in Botanic Gardens offered both shaded and sunny grassed areas for lounging around. And with three stages for live music, visitors to the festival could experience a different vibe from each of the three different precincts.

The only down side—massive queues for “delectable dollars” (I’m sure some people waited for well over 30 minutes to purchase the only currency accepted at the festival) and then currency sellers ran low later in the afternoon. This would certainly have affected sales at the food and drink outlets, but it did seem to sort itself out after the mad lunch-time rush.

All in all I think the event was a success…and judging by the crowd, an event that Brisbane-based foodies have been crying out for. Looking forward to 2013!

‘A first-class restaurant in a shopping mall?’ you ask. I was a little dubious too. The surprisingly intimate experience starts at the front door—wrought iron covered in leafy vines. Guests are greeted at the door by a staff member who leads you down a long hallway, decorated with branches and vines. To me, it felt like being welcomed into an enchanted forest. The hall opens out into the elegant dining room, with a honey-hued sandstone feature wall, large arched windows and more branches and leafy vines amongst velvet-clad lounges. The atmosphere is very warm and inviting, at the same time it feels luxurious…and all this before the food and drinks begin!

The seven-course degustation actually ends up being about nine courses with the extra bits and pieces that are brought out as part of the dining experience. Our degustation included:

• Snacks—tapioca crisps, soubise mousseline, fried bread, cured lardo
• Becasse artisan bread, olive oil butter
• Local radish, melon, oloroso and green zebra gazpacho
• Chilled ocean consommé, Pacific oyster, scallop and octopus
• Spanner crab, chamomile, young coconut and crab jelly
• Flame-grilled mussels, caramelised calves sweetbread, duck prosciutto and kohl rabi
• Extra course (not on the menu so I don’t know precisely what to call it): a smashed potato gratin
• Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, pine smoked summer heirlooms, cardamom jus OR Slow-roasted pork, endive, olive, fennel and lemon myrtle
• Autumn still life
• 68% Alto Beni Zokoko chocolate cadeau, dulce de leche, peanut and milk sorbet OR Verbena crème caramel, golden peach, blueberry and lemon balm
• Petits fours.

The overall dining experience could only be described as decadent. The food is breathtakingly beautiful in presentation and, combined with the sommelier’s wine selection to complement each course, a foodie’s delight to eat. The flavours are delicate and refined as you would expect any good French restaurant to serve.

I’m not sure that I could pick a favourite course but I was pleasantly surprised by the calves’ sweetbreads. Having never eaten brains before, I wasn’t sure what to expect but they tasted like perfectly-cooked tender veal, although a bit softer in texture. Delicious…

At the end of the degustation it feels like you’ve been on a very exclusive journey with your fellow diners. Like a secret shared only with a select few. And taking excellent customer service to the extreme, when signing the bill we were given takeaway bags with lovely breakfast pastries from the Becasse Bakery. It certainly leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling about the evening. A very nice touch indeed.

There’s something very enticing about this place. The atmosphere is always warm and welcoming, the dining area is intimate (think fresh flowers on every table and soft lighting), and the staff are friendly—it feels very much like going over to a friend’s place for dinner. And that would be a friend who really knows how to cook! Dinner at the Gunshop Café is consistently good—better than good, excellent in fact—particularly for the very reasonable prices and generous portions. As much as I’d like to, I find it hard to have three courses here because I can’t bear to leave anything on the plate—it’s simply too delicious—and I just can’t fit it all in.

Last Friday night we decided it was time to pay the Gunshop Café another visit. While the website recommends making a booking on Friday and Saturday nights, we turned up just after 8:00pm and were lucky enough to be seated right away. Having said that, our pop-in approach has meant we’ve missed out on other occasions.

Now, what to order, it’s always a dilemma. While the menu is not huge, usually offering five different options per course, everything sounds amazing. The focus is on fresh seasonal produce that’s locally available. The flavour combinations are innovative and there’s always an appealing vegetarian option.

After much deliberation, here’s what we chose:

Entrée

• Scallops with quail eggs—the fat, juicy scallops were gorgeous with the yolk dripping over them like a rich sauce
• Tempura battered zucchini flowers stuffed with spanner crab and roast tomatoes—sweet soft crab meat and tomatoes with crunchy zucchini

Main

• Eye fillet with white bean puree—delightfully tender meat lightened by the creamy bean mash
• Quail with gnocchi—melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi with delicate, nutty meat.

All superb and accompanied by a very good wine list!

The Gunshop Café is a favourite because we always leave feeling that we’ve eaten well and had an enjoyable night. Over the years, we’ve taken many friends there and have never been disappointed. I’m continually looking forward to next time…may it come around again very soon.

This is a big commitment—amuse bouche, eight tasting plates then finished with tea, coffee and petits fours. But if you can spare the time (lunch was four hours) and the expense, it is well worth it. I can’t think of a better spot to while away an afternoon (or evening), overlooking Sydney Harbour, eating absolutely superb food.

The only downside is having to book well in advance. We booked five months in advance and still couldn’t get dinner booking, hence the long lunch instead. Thankfully, the tasting menu is the same for lunch and dinner. Here’s what we had:

Amuse bouche is the chef’s selection of a bite-size hors d’oeuvre—just a little something to whet the appetite. Ours was oyster cream, sustainable caviar and micro herbs.

Sashimi Hiramasa kingfish, pickled kohlrabi, octopus, nastursiums, white dashi jelly. This was a showstopper, not only beautifully presented (everything is at Quay), but with so many wonderful flavours.

Baby white heirloom cucumber gently braised in oyster and wakame juices, shaved black lipped abalone, oyster cream. I’d never eaten abalone before so wasn’t quite sure what to expect but the subtle seafood flavour with the crunch of cucumber was delicious.

Native freshwater marron, rose salt, organic pink turnips, jamon de bellota cream, oloroso caramel, green almonds, society garlic flowers. Yet another perfectly balanced dish with amazing flavours. I loved the crisp vegetables contrasted with the soft marron. Everything on the plate combined flawlessly.

Butter poached coturnix quail breast, pumpernickel, morel and ethical foie gras pudding, walnuts, quinoa, truffle custard, milk skin. I’m becoming a huge fan of quail and this one was tender and juicy. The dish was spectacular—so tasty—with the nuts and mushroom, like the essence of winter on the plate.

Slow braised Berkshire pig jowl, maltose crackling, prunes, cauliflower cream, perfumed with prune kernel oil. The pork was mouth-wateringly soft and savoury, beautifully complemented by the sweetness of the maltose crackling and prunes.

Glenloth squab breast, roasted cherries, banyuls, almond cream, bitter chocolate black pudding crumbs, tonka, beetroot chard. Yum, so rich and delicious! The squab was amazing! Words fail me it was so good—beyond description.

White nectarine snow egg. Pure perfection. Nectarines have such a lovely delicate flavour and the snow egg with its different components—ice cream, granita and nectarine fool—was too good to be true. Not too sweet and a great palate cleanser.

Preserved wild cherries, coconut cream, chuao chocolate crumble, cherry juice and chocolate sorbet. I’m not a massive cherry fan so I really thought this second dessert would be too much for me but I found it more chocolatey than fruity.

I particularly enjoy Peter Gilmore’s food philosophy “food inspired by nature”. Each dish is a work of art, not just in how it’s presented but how it tastes as well. There’s something to be said for using the best and freshest produce in innovative ways. We left thinking, yet again, that we simply have to come back.

We certainly always enjoy it and we’re not alone. Lindoni’s is very popular and it can be challenging to get a booking for a Friday or Saturday night.

The food is traditional Italian fare at its very best so for my main meal I ordered a classic Italian dish—saltimbocca. It is essentially very thin pieces of veal folded over sage leaves and wrapped in prosciutto, which are then tenderised with a meat mallet. Once dusted in flour, the veal is flash fried in a white wine and garlic butter sauce. Mmmmm…

Of course, this was sublime. But then I’ve never had a meal at Lindoni’s that has been anything short of wonderful.

I also make saltimbocca a bit at home and thoroughly enjoy it. Simple to make and definitely a crowd pleaser! It is the ultimate cheat’s dish for a dinner party; so delicious but you can prepare and cook it in a flash. It’s equally good for a quick after-work dinner.

When cooking at home, I use a Guy Grossi recipe from an old episode of Food Safari where he cooked saltimbocca.

The word saltimbocca means “to jump in the mouth”, so you know it’s a dish that’s full of flavour.

This particular recipe calls for the veal to be served with gnocchi. However, because I’m rather ham-fisted when it comes to making pasta, I serve it with creamy mashed potato instead. It works quite well because the creamy mash soaks up the excess sauce and it’s oh so good! Cut the richness with some steamed beans and you’ve got a delightful meal.

Buon appetito!

Recently we caught up with friends for dinner at Simpatico. Quite simply, this place is brilliant. Despite a small hiccup with our table not being reserved, that was sorted at once and the food and service throughout the evening was faultless.

It’s not immediately obvious from reading the menu that the dishes are designed to share but the staff were very helpful and quickly explained how it works, making recommendations on what the stand out dishes were and how many we should order for the number of people dining.

There were four of us, so we ordered six delectable dishes:

• tart of caramelised red onion and goat’s cheese
• seared scallops w crab, sweet corn, baby basil and hazelnut dressing
• witlof, pear, gorgonzola and walnut salad
• beetroot cured salmon w granny smith and goat curd
• slow roasted pork belly w green papaya and nam jim (Thai salad dressing that’s hot, sour, salty and sweet)
• sautéed prawns w dill and galangal dressing, pickled carrot.

Of these, the pork belly was definitely the favourite. It had been cooked to perfection: sticky, savoury pork that you barely need to chew, it literally melted in the mouth. The crackling was incredible, giving great crunch that beautifully complemented the softness of the meat. And the green papaya salad was slightly sweet and tangy, which broke the richness of the dish. Delicious! It was so rich, though, I’m glad it was only tapas…

Everything else was wonderful too. The flavours and textures were just superb. The produce was really fresh and the way each dish was served highlighted that. There was no place to hide in fancy sauces, just pure taste from premium ingredients. It meant that at the end of the meal we felt like we’d eaten well and healthily, without being too weighted down by fat and carbohydrate.

I look forward to going back sometime soon to try some of the other dishes on the menu.

People have raved about this place since it opened in 2008. We just hadn’t gotten around to going because every time we’d tried we couldn’t get a booking. True to form, when we finally made it for dinner, it was very busy.

The premise of Jellyfish’s menu is simple – fresh fish and seafood cooked in the way best suited to the species and served with the perfect sauce to complement it. Sounds good, doesn’t it?!

We had tempura soft shell mud crab with green chilli, spring onion and wasabi mayonnaise, and crab roulade with coconut, chilli and lime in wasabi leaves for our entrées.

The tempura crab was rich and delicious comfort food with creamy mayonnaise, something that you could easily keep eating.

The crab roulade was totally different; it was fresh and cleansing, allowing the crab meat to be the star, with just a hint of bitterness from the wasabi leaf.

For mains, we chose whole baby barramundi, crispy fried, with Japanese soy and spring onion, and tempura Moreton Bay bugs with lemon, chilli ginger caramel.

The baby barra was impressive. One side of the fish had been scored so that when it was deep-fried it curled up. This allowed the fish to be served ‘standing up’, rather than flat on the plate. The fish was slightly over-cooked near the outside, however the flesh in the centre was moist and succulent. There is something rather elemental about eating cooked fresh fish off the bone. It reminds Jim of his teenage years, catching fish out of Mooloolah River on the Sunshine Coast and moments later, wrapping them in foil and cooking them on the BBQ. Happy days!!! (thanks Jamie!)

The Moreton Bay bugs were served in the shell and, well, it was a little disappointing. They were scrumptious. It’s just that bug medallions in tempura batter would have been better, so that we could enjoy more of that tasty crunchy batter. The sweet lemon, chilli, ginger caramel sauce, which accompanied the bugs, was divine.

The food, overall, was good; really good, in fact, but just not quite on the money. You could actually go so far as to say it was overpriced.

We’re not strangers to a hefty dinner bill but, to walk away feeling that it is money well spent, the total experience has to be worth it. Not just the food, which should be nothing short of perfect, but the service, setting and the ambience are all important parts too. There’s got to be some kind of wow factor, which Jellyfish didn’t quite have.

There is nothing wrong with Jellyfish. The food is good. But it’s a little too simple to justify the prices.