Drilling down on the best Queensland restaurants is an almost impossible task, such is the quality of the dining across the state in 2024.

From Brisbane and the Gold Coast all the way up to Cairns and beyond, there are cracking eateries just about everywhere you look.

But consider the restaurants on the following list, published in this year’s Sydney Good Food Guide – out tomorrow – as the essential go-tos when you’re next exploring the Sunshine State.

Agnes

There’s no gas here, no electricity – just a blazing hearth over which chef Ben Williamson and his team tend to an endlessly innovative menu steeped in local produce.

The striking digs, all low lights in a heritage-listed former dairy co-op, only add to its reputation as Brisbane’s most essential restaurant right now.

22 Agnes Street, Fortitude Valley, anyday.com.au/agnes-venue-page

Blume

Occupying an old Boonah timber shopfront replete with pressed metal walls is this star of Scenic Rim dining.

Owner-chef Jack Stuart’s ever-changing set menu might feature clay-baked beetroot, Spanish mackerel with broccoli, curry leaves and a mussel broth, or lamb shoulder with local mushrooms. There’s just 20 seats, so book well ahead.

5 Church Street, Boonah, blumerestaurant.com.au

Essa

This moody 60-seater is a welcome contrast to its glitzy James Street neighbours.

A popular flame-focused set menu might include a crab crumpet with lemon and mayo, and wood-fired market fish with nori butter, but you can also choose your own a la carte path. An organic and biodynamic wine list splits the difference between local and overseas producers.

181 Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley, essa.restaurant

Essen

At this friendly, independent BYO-only restaurant about three hours’ drive inland from Brisbane, owner-chef Clarissa Pabst writes her own rules.

A four-course set menu is built around the kind of comfort cooking you can imagine Stephanie Alexander serving for Sunday lunch, so you might encounter Tropea onion and parmesan tart, roast chook with white polenta, lemon-thyme panna cotta, and Golden Queen peach sorbet. Visit Stonefruit in nearby Tenterfield if you’re keen to bring great wine.

2 McGregor Terrace, Stanthorpe, essenstanthorpe.com.au

Exhibition

Following Joy, the acclaimed (and still essential) tiny degustation restaurant he opened with Sarah Baldwin in 2019, Exhibition is Tim Scott letting his inspiration run wild.

The menu is ever-changing, but expect a phalanx of snacks anchored in Japanese technique, followed by larger plates such as wagyu tartare with rayu oil and sweet potato, or slipper lobster with kohlrabi and macadamia. Unmissable.

109 Edward Street, Brisbane, exhibitionrestaurant.com

Restaurant Labart

It may have loosened its tie post-pandemic, but Labart hasn’t changed the assured precision of the cooking.

Expect black-mussel escabeche, market fish with bouillabaisse butter and celeriac rouille, or baked scallops with an anchovy and pink peppercorn butter – all served in a beautifully presented Euro-inflected bistro.

8 West Street, Burleigh Heads, restaurantlabart.com

Nu Nu

A celebration of everything Far North Queensland, from the stunning Palm Cove location looking across the Coral Sea, to the innovative ways with local produce.

Go large on plates such as ginger caramel chicken wings and kimchi butter-poached reef fish, before finishing with something spice-spiked from the cocktail list.

1 Veivers Road, Palm Cove, nunu.com.au

Pneuma

The latest restaurant from Dan Arnold (whose namesake fine diner is a local star), Pneuma is co-owned by former GOMA Restaurant chef Matt Blackwell.

In a heritage dining room, Blackwell deals in dishes such as white anchovies with a ’nduja and piquillo pepper emulsion, and roasted monkfish tail with a smoked onion and mussel beurre blanc. The bold food is matched with a thoughtful and globetrotting wine list.

336 George Street, Brisbane, pneumarestaurant.com

Rick Shores

This modern classic refuses to lean on its fabulous beachside location, with chef James Brady punching out a menu as fresh as the Burleigh Heads breakers gliding past the restaurant’s front-row seats.

Eat Madras lamb rump with rice dressing, or Patagonian toothfish with cardamom leaf, yellow curry and fried garlic. The bug roll, meanwhile, is a must.

3/43 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads, rickshores.com.au

Snack Man

It’s neighbouring Happy Boy that put Cameron and Jordan Votan on the map, but Snack Man is arguably more essential, a fabulous menu of regional Chinese snacks – think Guangdong-style crispy tofu skin rolls with prawns, or Beijing-inspired pan-fried pies with pork floss – matched to small-producer European wines and grower champagne.

The brothers’ new, neighbouring French diner, Petite, is also worth a look.

East Street, Fortitude Valley, snack-man.com.au