Long time resident Restaurant Two can be regarded as a benchmark of sorts of fine dining in Brisbane. Headed by executive chef David Pugh and head chef Mat Fury, Two brings an exciting Modern Australian dining experience with French influences to the bottom end of the city.
Occupying the heritage-listed Old Mineral House building on Edward Street, takes a historic facade and transforms into a modem, spacious yet minimalist interior. The front door opens into a large open foyer-like space reminiscent of a ballroom, with the bar on the far wall next to a quaint leather lounge set. This space doubles as both regular dining space and a function area. A small sweeping set of steps to the left leads up to the main dining area perched on a mezzanine-style level.
The food menu caters for both lunch and dinner with a selection of two-course lunch options and a range of à la carte options or a degustation menu for dinner. Matched wines for the degustation are available. All bases are covered with the cuisine comprising a mixture of vegetarian, seafood, poultry and beef dishes. Pork belly, soft shell crab, quail and duck; the usual suspects are all on offer.
On this visit I opted for the ten course degustation menu. This consisted of a selection of the à la carte dishes in, naturally, smaller portions.
The professionalism of the waitstaff was immediately noticeable, from their manner to the use of white gloves when handling the cutlery.
The first dish was an appetiser of tomato consommé with flattened scallops, cucumber and corn. The tomato flavours where quite strong, though acted as a palette cleanser of sorts.
This was followed by a delicate arrangement of figs, onion, beetroot and goats cheese on top of a tart base. A great mix of sweet fruity flavours with a hint of sour and savoury.
Next was some scallops on a bed of a thick carrot, apple, dahl and mango purée. Great flavour combination that completed the tender, soft scallops.
The next dish was the market fish, barramundi on this visit, with artichoke, diced tomato and black olives and a prawn. The barramundi had a crispy skin and was cooked perfectly and the prawn was an interesting but welcomed addition.
Moving on from seafood, the following dish was pork belly with cherries and gremolata on a bed of celeriac purée. The cherries were an interesting choice but complimented the crispy skinned pork belly well, with a subtle creamy touch from celeriac purée.
Next up was the quail, a leg and a breast, served with cauliflower purée, cauliflower pieces, pear and crushed walnuts on top of a smearing of chocolate sauce. Quail, chocolate and cauliflower. An creative complimentary flavour combination that worked well.
The final savoury dish was duck breast and was the standout dish of the evening. Sliced juicy tender duck breast, served with thinly sliced pumpkin wrapped into cone shapes, mint, goats cheese, grapefruit and watermelon cubes. Yes, watermelon. In fact, before the waitstaff could even explain the dish my first thought was “is that watermelon I see?” I would never have thought of combining watermelon with duck, but it just worked. Offset slightly by the goats cheese, the flavour combination followed the sweet and sour/savoury trend of the previous dishes. A stunning dish.
A cheese and bread platter wrapped up the savoury courses. Also on the platter was a liquorice cake and a nectarine, macadamia and ginger jam.
Wrapping up an exceptional dining experience was a dessert dish which consisted of a frozen coconut meringue, pineapple, mango and passionfruit purée topped with white chocolate snow. A nice tropical flavoured dish. The coconut meringue was an interesting addition, tasting just like a ball of shaved coconut but with a crunchy texture.
It is clear how the iconic Restaurant Two has remained at the forefront of the Brisbane fine dining scene over its 15 year existence, further cemented by its numerous awards.