REVIEW
GT‘s 2022 Qld Restaurant of the Year
The antler on your table is a useful reminder that things can get a little wild at Elska. Not service-wise – floor staff at this intimate, Nordic-influenced, 12-seat dégustation-only fine-diner are exemplary. Décor too, avoids the outré – Scandi-blond dining chairs and sizeable round tables, and the odd reindeer skin hardly raising an eyebrow. It’s menu details that can sometimes feel mind-bending over 15 courses. Dried and savoury powdered crickets scattered (surprisingly tastily) over a disc of gamey Marburg-raised emu crudo, say, or the tart green ant garnishes on your crocodile tail dumpling, or perhaps that deeply flavoursome cream laced with marron brain and abalone XO in a puff of brioche bun. Trust the chef and let it flow. A tribute to the Crunchie bar is a cracker pud, intersecting sweet hexagonal tiles filled with fermented honey, salty chocolate and burnt honeycomb. It’s a tall order but James Horsfall’s canny wine list packs in sufficient quirk to match the kitchen’s high-wire performance.
ABOUT
Elska
148 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Qld
0451 955 084
Chefs Nathan Dunnell & Lauren Kinne
Price guide $$$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access Yes
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide 2022
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 Top 80.
