Oliver's in Cairns, Qld

THERE'S a big difference between sleepy and laid-back. The last time I spent time in Cairns, things were decidedly sleepy.

taste olivers

THERE'S a big difference between sleepy and laid-back. The last time I spent time in Cairns, things were decidedly sleepy.

Now it's definitely shaken off the torpor of the country town label and rebranded to laid-back.

A bustling food market has permanent tenancy three days a week in the centre of town and is able to bring some of the splendid local produce from places like the Atherton Tableland to the table.

Oliver's restaurant, with its crafted, sophisticated fusion food, unpretentiously breezy fit-out and emphasis on local produce, slots into the scene well. A decade or two earlier, Oliver's might have had trouble finding an audience, but not today.

Despite an obvious appeal to tourists with the novelty of many native Australian ingredients, this is no cynical tourism operation.

Here you see a dedicated experimentation behind the complex, layered dishes.

Fusion is a word that is bandied around these days. There is a skill in not letting too many elements fuse and cause a cacophony of flavours and textures. For the most part, this is achieved in the dishes here.

Three of our party of four opt for the scallop ceviche entree. The scallop meat is chopped and mixed with mango and sesame seed, a mix that somewhat disguises the subtlety of the scallop flavour with sweet fruitiness and deprives us of the joy of biting into the soft scallop flesh.

Never mind, there's a burst of joy in the wakame tempura, with its mild salty tang that cuts at the sweetness and adds crunch to the liquid base. It is topped by a passionfruit foam that is a pleasant aftershock.

The whole piece looks like an ikebana creation, set along a platter with stalks of greenery artfully balanced diagonally across the three puff balls.

The alternative entree at the table is a more grounded creation of macadamia-encrusted pig's trotter. The meat is finely minced and served with glazed beetroot and Tasmanian brie with a Dijon dressing. The flavours are good, if not a little sweet.

The crocodile ravioli uses house-made pasta, and is delightful. Dressed with caramelised pecan nuts, carrot puree, grapefruit dressing and parmesan foam, it starts you wondering again if so much embellishment is confounding, but there's a nice melding and the light texture of the pasta and meat filling is dominant.

There's a bunch of locals sharing the venue with us and we're well looked after by the true professional, co-owner Oliver Schreiber. He knows his way around the wine list and has some clever suggestions for matching the dishes.

The list is divided into states of origin, then further divided into styles. There is a mix of bottle-shop favourites with some small winery discoveries.

Our Heathcote Mount Burrumboot Estate white is a Marsanne Voignier blend with an initial fruitiness that works with some of the sweeter flavours. A flintier finish also works with what's to come.

Mains further explore native ingredients and techniques. Barramundi fillets are wrapped in paperbark with lemon myrtle, while kangaroo loin comes with mountain pepper polenta crust and a sweet potato and bush tomato puree.

The chicken, seafood and okra gumbo looks fabulous. It has less punch than some might like in a gumbo, and the accompanying coconut rice is a little undercooked.

Baked Spanish mackerel is wrapped in filo pastry, and served with a creamy bacon sauce. A savoury porridge with vegetables gives the vegetarians a more unusual option than is often the case.

Desserts also make good use of native foods such as Davidson plums, wattle seed and rosella flowers, but we're drawn to the coco-pop biscuit with chocolate mousse, mango sorbet and marmalade.

HOW IT RATED: Oliver's (Shop 5/63 Abbott St, Cairns; ph 4041 1221)

Food: 14/20
Staff: 8/10
Drink: 3/5
X-factor: 2/5
Value: 8/10

The score out of 50: 35