Gold Coast Taste review: Little Truffle Dining Room & Bar

IF you’ve got a taste for life’s finer things, you will be right at home at this newly refurbished Mermaid Beach restaurant.

Dessert from Little Truffle.

SOME things only get better with age.

Sporting a few cosmetic tweaks and a made-over menu as it celebrates its sixth birthday, Little Truffle has never looked so good.

The changes start at a freshly gilded entryway, flowing to new timber flooring, ambient lighting and a glamorous gallery from local artist Corinne Lewis. Factor in the mystique of two private dining rooms, opulence of chandeliers and the luxury of heavy white linen and the scene is set for fine dining.

It even smells expensive.

The unmistakably earthy perfume of black truffles infuses the restaurant when we arrive for dinner, a happy side effect of the night’s appropriately themed amuse bouche.

Owner Daniel Ridgeway may be busy building a dining empire — with two more openings tipped in the near future — but he’s still a regular in this kitchen, alongside talented chef de cuisine Jason Burt (the son of Fellini’s Richard Burt).

The pair produce refined fare, complemented by a rich wine list and stylish cocktails.

The temptation starts with a beautifully presented plate of beetroot and goat’s cheese ($19), with shaved candied walnuts among the many textural elements at play.

Crisply fried zucchini flowers with a smooth filling of Persian feta ($18), white-fish carpaccio peppered with fried capers ($21) and pan-roasted quail ($24) are other options.

My main of Moreton Bay bug and prawn tortellini ($34) sees the delicately flavoured parcels drizzled in a sweet, slightly tangy mustard fruit beurre blanc.

The best bit is the meltingly thin, freshly shaved rounds of black truffle (add to any dish for an extra $10). While they could probably make a Vegemite sandwich taste like a masterpiece, they’ve met their match in this dish.

There are only a couple of weeks left in the fleeting Australian black truffle season, so enjoy it while it lasts.

If you’re looking for something heartier, go for the wintery braised pork belly with a swipe of spiced pumpkin puree, buttery mash and seared scallops ($37).

The tangle of watercress and pickled cucumber salad cuts through the richness of a crisp strap of crackling.

For dessert I sampled the warm chocolate brownie, although to call it that seems a gross understatement. It’s a gooey log of surprisingly complex flavour, with savoury coffee notes, airy puffs of sweet molasses sponge, cherry mousse and white chocolate spheres that release their liquid filling on impact. Little Truffle’s signature flower-strewn glass of vanilla-bean pannacotta is sticking around with a few adjustments. The silky base is the perfect foil for the intensity of freeze-dried raspberries and crunchy, cool granita.

While the a la carte pricing will fall in the special-occasion range for most of us, the set menus are an affordable indulgence.

The majority of the dishes I sampled are available within a Friday and Saturday night special of three courses for $60.

Evaluate the experience as a whole and it’s worth every penny.

I was particularly impressed by the service.

While watching the water glasses is always a good indication of how attentive a particular floorstaff is, our wonderful waiter goes one further, swapping our ice for fresh the second it looked like it might be breaking a sweat.

LITTLE TRUFFLE DINING ROOM & BAR

2444 Gold Coast Highway (corner Bondi Avenue), Mermaid Beach

Book it: 5526 5033

Open: Dinner Monday to Saturday from 5.30pm. Lunch Friday and Saturday.