Brisbane Bites Back

Table Talk - Simon Thomsen
http://www.smh.com.au/

I'm sorry Sydney, but I've been seeing other restaurants.

In Brisbane. She understands me. Or at least the fact that dining out shouldn't cost more than your mortgage repayment, along with the fact that increasingly, we're all in a casual mood

I've spend more than a month up north during the second half of 2008, dining out as the editor of the Brisbanetimes.com.au Good Food Guide, an online guide to the state's best restaurants, cafes and bars.

The 2009 edition was launched a few weeks back in a very Brisbane setting - an alfresco veranda at the State Library. It's a smart riverside location - between the Queensland Art Gallery and the new GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) - in a city that's starting to revel in its talents while enjoying the charms of the subtropical climate.

Urbane in the CBD, where chef Kim Machin creates witty and whimsical contemporary dishes, was named Restaurant of the Year. This fine diner scored two hats for its troubles.

There was a little bit of hand-wringing that the city doesn't boast a three-hat restaurant, but I've found that most egos in the Sunshine state are kept sufficiently in check to cope. I reckon Queenslanders are too laidback to worry about whether the dining's fancy enough to compete with the top end of Melbourne and Sydney dining. They'd rather go out and have a good time.
But the strange thing is, Brisbane's full of expats from Sydney and Melbourne. Even Matt Moran's heading to town after Christmas to open a riverside restaurant.

Noosa is Queensland's San Sebastian, with a two-hat restaurant, River House, plus Muse, Berardo's and one of the country's best Japanese, Wasabi, all awarded one hat. Not bad for a region that's home to about 35,000 people. And if you think the food's good, just wait until you see the beach.

Brisvegas itself - even the locals are in on that joke, so it's not the backhander some assume - has come a long way since the bad ol' days of the moonlight state. Only a decade ago, I remember going to breakfast in Fortitude Valley where the Californian Cafe offered the 'trucker's breakfast' - a dozen fried eggs with a mixed grill. Now the city's party central boasts a fabulous French patisserie, great cafes serving locally roasted Merlo coffee, one of Australia's finest drinking dens, The Bowery, and the consistently excellent Isis Brasserie, which is about to get a major nip and tuck after 11 years in the biz.

Strangely, for a city with its own Chinatown, the Cantonese food was mostly disappointing and the yum cha I used to enjoy a decade ago seems to have lost its sheen. Anyone got any suggestions on places we've missed?

My favourite moment? Pearl Cafe, just a lofted six from the Gabba. It won our best new restaurant award. It's fun, relaxed and groovy. That's it pictured above. Now who's up for a fish finger sandwich? That sleepy old country town’s turning into a pretty decent swan.

There are around 150 Queensland restaurants listed in the BrisbaneTimes.com.au Good Food Guide. If you think we've missed a goodie, let us know!