Grace Dooner
REVIEW
Queensland’s inland scene is finally beginning to blossom. Proof? This impressive 24-seater, an hour’s drive southwest from Brisbane. Charming interiors – pressed-metal walls, VJ panelling, a posy on every table – create a bucolic backdrop for chef-owner Jack Stuart’s region-focused handiwork. The prix fixe menu might start with charry, crisp-pickled zucchini with mint from Aunt Jen’s garden next door, followed by “street-style” barbecued baby corn in its husk, with raw-milk cheese sauce and popcorn. It could conclude with blood plums and sheep’s yoghurt gelato dusted in fennel pollen. In between, dishes are often enlivened by house ferments – anything from mackerel garum to chilli-fuelled Trinidad Death sauce. Beef short rib arrives teamed with oxheart tomatoes over fermented cashew cheese, with curry leaves and vadouvan. A chicken-fat-imbued kipfler potato comes out enriched with toasted yeast and chicken-skin crisps. The tight but well-rounded drinks list shows equal consideration, with house-made kumquatcello a fitting conclusion.
ABOUT
Blume
Australian
5 Church St, Boonah
0477 900 535
Chef Jack Stuart
Price guide $$
Bookings Recommended
Wheelchair access Yes
Open Lunch Fri-Sun; Dinner Fri-Sat
This review was written independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way. To learn more about the process, head over here.
Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Guide
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot of the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national guide.
