Queensland’s best 22 restaurant dishes of 2022
From sweet to savoury, cheap and cheerful to utterly splurge-worthy, here are the Queensland restaurant dishes you need to eat immediately.
QWeekend
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Finger-licking pastas, bowl-scraping desserts, and roast potatoes that are inexplicably, ridiculously good.
These are just some of the dishes judged the best in Queensland.
As our team of reviewers scoured the state for this year’s delicious. 100 top restaurants, which will be revealed this Friday online at noon, we found some truly rave-worthy meals – the kind you want to eat over and over again and wish would never leave the menu.
Encompassing sweet and savoury, here is our guide to the 22 best dishes in Queensland for 2022.
Scallop and prawn wontons at Donna Chang
3/171 George St, Brisbane City
The delicate seafood-packed parcels are drenched in a brilliant, vibrantly flavoured black vinegar and chill sauce so good that you’ll want to keep lapping it up even when the last wonton is dispensed with and that somehow manages to complement rather than overwhelm.
Strawberry tart at SK Steak & Oyster
The Calile Hotel, 48 James St, Fortitude Valley
When it opened, SK’s dessert list was all about the strawberry cake, now a tart has muscled in to replace it and it’s even better, with the berries fresh, in a coulis and powder form adding to the sweet alchemy.
Iced consommé at Blume
5 Church St, Boonah
This summer starter at the Boonah restaurant was a cool showstopper. The iced consommé of tomato and lemon verbena topped with just-picked basil leaves stunned with its intensely distilled vibrant flavours.
Moelleux Chocolat Valrhona Millot 74% at Herve’s Restaurant and Bar
Level 1, Craft’d Grounds, 31-37 Collingwood St, Albion
On the menu this dessert is listed by the name of the organic, single-origin, organic Madagascar chocolate that inspired its creation. A chocolate cake base is topped with hazelnut nougatine, a whorl of exquisite roasted vanilla ice-cream flecked with hazelnuts and gold leaf and surrounded by Pedro-Ximinez-soaked sultanas.
Gnocchi at Locale
62 Hastings St, Noosa Heads
This winter wonder stars organic desiree potatoes and parmesan gnocchi topped with an intensely flavoured venison and marsala ragu, Mountaintop mushrooms and rocket and finished with a jaunty parmesan wafer
Black pepper prawns at Alba By Kuruvita
3 Alba Cl, Noosa Heads
An excellent balance of king prawns doused in a lipsmacking Sri Lankan-inspired black pepper sauce, sprinkled with grated coconut and fried curry leaves, with a dob of whipped curd in the mix for cool contrast.
Fennel cake at Gerard’s Bistro
14/15 James St, Fortitude Valley
This is one hot cake, it’s served sizzling straight from the stove in an iron pan with accompanying pots of lemon marmalade, creme fraiche and rosella sauce. Delicious and big enough for two.
Hongshao Niurou at Snack Man
East St, Fortitude Valley
This hefty beef rib is slowed cooked in master stock until the meat is falling from the bone and comes with a spray of greenery on top and chilli and garlic mixes on the side so diners can ratchet up the firepower if they wish.
Fallow Dear with foie gras at Restaurant Dan Arnold
10/959 Ann St, Fortitude Valley
Venison is notoriously difficult to cook, but executive chef Dan Arnold handles the lean protein with kid gloves to deliver two rounds of perfectly pink, butter-soft meat rolled in mustard seeds for an unexpected peppery hit. Pairing it with foie gras, beetroot and blackcurrant to balance any gaminess, it’s a dish that will give diners a new appreciation for deer, as well as the skill of this kitchen.
Yoghurt sorbet with mandarin syrup at Exhibition
109 Edward St, Brisbane City
This dish may have been conceived as a palate-cleanser at degustation restaurant Exhibition to transition diners from savoury into dessert, but it has perhaps become the star of the sweet courses. Cool, clean and with a refreshing tang from the yoghurt sorbet, it’s elevated by splashes of mandarin syrup and a herbaceous shiso oil.
Potato fritte at Bianca
Shop AM5, 46 James St, Fortitude Valley
Who would have thought a humble side could be considered one of the best dishes in Queensland, but that’s the case for the fried potatoes at this funky Brisbane Italian restaurant.
Fried until golden, crunchy, gnarly perfection, the spuds’ skin glistens with oil, while their insides – permeated by rosemary and garlic – are fluffier than a down doona. An absolute must-order alongside the restaurant’s fabulous chicken cotoletta, which could have also made this list.
Soft chocolate with custard apple ice cream at Same Same
Shop AM3 Ada Lane, 46 James St, Fortitude Valley
Stunning, is the word for this unassuming dessert at popular Thai restaurant Same Same. In a nest of peanut shards lies a bubble of chocolate that sits somewhere between a mousse and a cremeaux that is effortlessly light in both texture and flavour. Bringing it all together is a quenelle of custard apple ice cream made on a base of mascarpone and yoghurt which brings sourness and brightness. This is a dish you’ll want to pick up and lick the bowl clean.
Black garlic waffle at Rogue Bistro
14 Austin St, Newstead
A toothsome, ink-coloured savoury waffle topped with spiced avocado puree, a gentle sprinkling of dukkah and a dappling of vibrant finger lime forms a memorably unique yet balanced mingling of flavours and textures.
Creme brulee at The Arsonist
457 Esplanade, Manly
The Arsonist’s signature creme brulee served alongside slices of bitter orange biscotti is a life-affirming choice. With the fire-powered restaurant’s focus on flames, it’s no wonder this dish’s caramelised sugar crust is flawlessly torched and its indulgently creamy custard centre is satisfyingly smooth. The serving is ample for sharing, but it’s best to order one each.
Potato agnolotti at Essa
181 Robertson St, Fortitude Valley
This delicate pasta dish from the Piedmont region in Italy shines brightly at Essa, with the pasta parcels filled with potato and served meltingly soft, veiled with the thinnest slice of guanciale so it almost dissolves into porky butter.
Spicy pork belly at Southside
63 Melbourne St, South Brisbane
This is one for the chilli lovers. The beloved cut of pig comes as meltingly soft slabs of meat coated in a salty-sweet sauce of black bean and plum, tossed with spring onions, macadamias and candied chillies for extra heat. Prepare to get into a chopstick war with your dining companion as you fight for the last piece.
Champagne lobster spaghettini at Otto
River Quay, Sidon St, South Brisbane
The venue’s signature champagne lobster spaghettini does not come cheap at $50 for an entree and $70 for a main, but if your budget allows, this is a dish worth investing in. The pasta is made in house daily and cooked to al dente, ready to be twirled through brilliantly sweet nuggets of the rare champagne lobster, with a white wine, stock and lemon butter sauce bringing it all together.
Harissa quail at La Lune Wine Co
3/109 Melbourne St, South Brisbane
A bird far too often overcooked and dry due to its diminutive size, this version is moist and plumper than freshly-filled collagen lips. Smeared with just the lightest touch of the North African chilli paste harissa to bring flavour rather than heat, it is so good, you’ll want to nibble the bones clean.
Vietnamese pancake at Jimmy Wah’s
1724 Gold Coast Hwy, Burleigh Heads
The restaurant’s version of the classic bánh xèo, this is an absolute must order. Snapping like a corn chip, the batter of coconut milk, turmeric and rice flour arrives like an open panini loaded with pork mince, prawns, pickled cucumber and bean sprouts ready to be filled with fresh herbs and wrapped inside verdant lettuce leaves.
Nitrogen dessert at Boom Boom Room
49 Elizabeth St, Brisbane City
Arriving at the table under a puff of white smoke from the use of liquid nitrogen, this dessert is as theatrical as it is delicious. The nitrogen-frozen part is a salty, not-too-sweet miso chocolate mousse with dulce de leche atop fresh blueberries and mini malt balls. It’s textural, balanced and a whole lot of fun.
Ma hor pork at Melrose
37 Oxford St, Bulimba
Ex-Longrain Melbourne chef Arté Assavakavinvong’s version of the Thai favourite ma hor pork is a standout — the sweet, sticky, chewy, salty, spicy mix of caramelised pork and prawn wrapped in wafer-thin sheets of pickled pumpkin carefully pleated like bite-sized dumplings on the plate.
Feta psiti at Hellenika
The Calile Hotel, Level 1/48 James St, Fortitude Valley
This is a simple, uncomplicated dish built on the best ingredients money can buy. It features soft, salty baked feta in a mass of deeply roasted, caramelised capsicum and mild chillies. It’s best enjoyed spread on to the Greek restaurant’s pillowy toasted bread.
To see part one of the delicious. 100, revealing the 51-100 top restaurants in Queensland, click here. And come back Friday, August 5 at noon for the reveal of the 1-50 best restaurants in the state.
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