Brisbane restaurants: Gerard’s Bistro review, Fortitude Valley

This Brisbane institution has been weaving its Middle Eastern magic for almost a decade and, here’s the clincher, it has become better with time. It’s a complete package.

Gerard’s Bistro must – by now – be one of the longer-lived of our top-tier restaurants.

We’ve lost a few and gained a few, and at eight years old it’s no doubt swimming in the wake of 1889 Enoteca and Tartufo, and for sure there will be a couple I’ve missed.

But regardless, it has been weaving its Middle Eastern magic for almost a decade and, this is the clincher, it has become better with time.

Gerard’s executive chef Adam Wolfers

I’m there for a late lunch on a Saturday and the place is humming: music in that skinny, carefully slotted space between just loud enough and almost too loud; plenty of diners; and the increasingly blingy bling of James St just beyond.

My dining partner is kind of infatuated by the breads.

So we have three bread-involved dishes – a simple but stunningly good potato bagel ($12) cooked over wood accompanied by goat curd dukkah with crushed, toasted macadamia.

And it’s not one of those stale from the moment of conception bagels that, like kale, you have to convince yourself you are enjoying.

This is big – perhaps twice the size of the benchmark – and soft, almost (but not quite) doughy on the inside, charred on the out.

Oh my God, I’m infatuated.

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It tastes of fermented dough, but it is softer and more gooey than any sourdough, complexed a thousand times by being cooked over wood.

The accompaniments are a vital part of the mix, but they are like altar boys in the presence of Jesus.

It’s the first arrival in a series of varyingly spectacular dishes.

The next bit of bread is kishk lahoh – flat like a pizza base but coated with charred za’atar.

On it goes kibbeh nayyeh – Lebanese tartare for want of a better description. Splat!

Carrot and flatbread miso ice cream, carrot molasses and fennel pollen at Gerard's Bistro, Fortitude Valley.

Here we have a Middle Eastern pizza of thoughtfully conceived dough, unbelievably good in its own right, covered with mixed, spiced, raw meat ($22). Oh my goodness.

Thirdly and finally we have malawach ($22), which is a Lebanese flatbread described to us by our wonderful waiter as a flattened, Lebanese version of a croissant.

And I get the comparison, it is buttery and flaky. With it is a couple of perfect, plum-sized cooked tomatoes, tahini and harissa-spiced seafood bisque: our job is to squish the bisque and tomatoes together and coat the malawach with the results.

Interactive, and wildly delicious.

The mezze plate at the adjoining Gerard's Bar

We eat well beyond bread-based dishes: scallop skewers (cooked just, just perfectly) on a puddle of green mango and coriander oil ($11 each); slow cooked (over coal) marinated pork neck ($40) with fennel and garlic yoghurt; Moreton Bay bug ($42) – wood fired, of course.

It is some of the most interesting, thought provoking food I’ve eaten in a long time – hinged on Lebanese and Middle Eastern foods, but also touched by iconic Swede restaurant Ekstedt and the whole fire grilling thing, then personalised, quirked, by chef Adam Wolfers and his obviously vast imagination.

It’s a complete package – wines, cocktails, the rather singular room, and the absolutely on-point service.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 9

Drinks: 8.5

Vibe: 9

Service: 9

GERARD’S BISTRO

14/15 James St, Fortitude Valley

Ph: 3852 3822