We didn't have to go very far for our first meal in Brisbane. GOMA Restaurant, a hatted Brisbane restaurant inside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), is our lunch venue this afternoon and it's a comfortable 10-minute walk from where we were staying.
The casual fine-dining restaurant is helmed by head chef Matt Blackwell, considered by some as one of the state's finest chefs.
The light-filled corner room consisting of two floors is the playing field of Chef Blackwell's nuanced cooking and we were more than ready for it (considering we haven't had much to eat except for half a burger at the domestic airport in Sydney).
Oyster, yuzu, brown rice miso, bonito – We got the ball rolling with the chef's omakase menu and kicking things off for us was fresh rock oyster served with a variety of ingredients including parsley oil, bonito and brown rice miso purée. It was finished off with some lovely acidity from the yuzu vinaigrette.
I thought the yuzu and miso would be way too overpowering for the oyster but I was happy to be proved wrong. The mix of flavors actually harmonized each other nicely while letting the sweetness of the fresh oyster shine. Very nice start.
Bluefin tuna, yuzu kosho, sour cream, pickled turnip – Our second starter was bluefin tuna tartare, with yuzu kosho and a bit of sour cream underneath a few sheets of pickled turnip.
The pickled turnip turned out to be a lot sweeter than I originally thought, which wasn't a bad match with the tuna tartare. But I definitely enjoyed my first starter a little more.
Rosemary sourdough, cultured honey and miso butter – We were offered some rosemary sourdough bread following our starters. While the sourdough bread looked nice and fluffy, what really got us drooling was the cultured honey and miso butter. This came with great balance of savory and sweet flavors and immediately reminded me of Roganic's signature cultured brown butter which was equally addictive.
AACo Wagyu short rib, bone marrow, onion, green peppercorn – We didn't get to have too many meals with Australian Wagyu beef back in Sydney so I was really looking forward to this.
The soft and succulent short rib was very tasty and not surprisingly, working well with the caramelized cipollini onion, potato cream and bone marrow. The potato chips? Perhaps, we could do without them. But if there's any consolation, I probably won't mind a slice of tenderloin instead of the short rib.
Iceberg, wholegrain mustard, palm sugar, crispy shallot – Some side dishes for us to share. Firstly, some iceberg lettuce peppered with wholegrain mustard, palm sugar and crispy shallot.
Crispy potatoes, fermented honey and truffle vinaigrette – I like our second side dish a bit more.
The young potato drizzled with a rich-flavored, truffled potato cream on top. Yum~
Milk chocolate mousse, raspberry, hazelnut praline – Dessert was milk chocolate mousse served with variations of raspberry (including ganache and snow).
Hidden underneath the pile was hazelnut praline for some extra crunch. I thought there was another savory element in the dish, from what I thought was miso.
It was a very very good meal to start off our stay in Brisbane. Chef Blackwell's cuisine was innovative and cutting edge. I particularly enjoyed the Asian twist (of yuzu, miso etc.) which was pretty slick. Now, time to get on our horses and begin exploring the city.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F, Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia
Tel: +61 7-3842-9916
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm (Wed - Sun)
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