Restaurant II

As a special treat to ourselves while we’ve been holidaying over Easter Break, Jen and I decided to hit up Restaurant II in the city for their degustation.  They recently refurbished their building and the restaurant came highly recommended in the Queensland Food and Wine Guide, earning two stars.

Sour dough loaf, Prosciutto, Beetroot

Asparagus Soup, Roasted Veal Sweetbreads, Confit Chicken Wings, Hazelnut Cream

Tempura Soft Shell Crab, Lime and Sesame Mayonnaise, Crushed Avocado, Heritage Tomatoes

Pan Fried Potato Gnocchi, King Prawns, Cominya Olive and Red Pepper Salsa, Garlic Butter

Moussaka of Eggplant and Seared Scallops, Taramasalata, Soft Herb Salad, Crisp Onion, Smoked Tomato Butter

Grilled Rannoch Farm Quail, Moroccan Spices, Organic Carrot Puree, Mougrabieh, Labna, Burnt Orange Butter

Pan Roasted Corn Fed Duck Breast, Sweet Potato, Braised Green Lentils, Spicy Date Puree Citrus Jus

Roast Best End of Milly Hill Lamb and Four Hour Braised Shank with Eggplant Confit, Celeriac, Parsnip and Garlic Crumble, Garlic Jus

Pecorino De Vino (It) Bouche d’affinois (Fr)

Fnq Banana Cheesecake, Banana Cream, Rye Bread Ice Cream

Our verdict?  It was a bit of a mixed bag to be honest.  I felt that the portion sizes were way, way too big.  You’re supposed to be enjoying this food, not struggling to fit it in and the size of the roast lamb course was ridiculous for a nine course meal.  Also, the duck wasn’t really up to scratch and was a tad chewy for my liking.  Lastly, most of the courses didn’t really have much finesse behind their presentation.

On the plus side, I like the creativity with the courses.  I’ve never had a banana cheesecake or tempura in a degustation before and both courses were excellent.  The asparagus soup starter was also delicious.  Best of all, the sommelier for the night was excellent.  He was knowledgable, conversational and very friendly.  His selection of wines really complimented the meals nicely and he was happy to take my questions.

I think Jen and I agreed that there was plenty of good stuff on offer here but it doesn’t hold a candle to Tetsuyas, Maze or Buffalo Club as far as Australian degustation dinners go.  Probably more on par with Aria.