Restaurant Labart
Caramelised butter with the bread. Smoked sour cream and chive oil with the crisp potatoes. Anchovy dressing with the grilled chicken and butter beans. Alex Munoz Labart is not shy when it comes to flavour. A former head chef from the Bentley group in Sydney, latterly at seafood restaurant Cirrus, he traded the tall buildings and waterfront of Barangaroo for the tall buildings and proximity to the sea in a venture of his own at Burleigh Heads.
What to order: king prawns with garlic prawn butter.
8 West St, Burleigh Heads, (07) 55 763 498, restaurantlabart.com
Moreton Bay Bugs with salted duck egg yolk and fermented chilli sauce at Donna Chang (photography: Kara Rosenlund)
Donna Chang
The team from Blackbird Bar & Grill goes contemporary Chinese with their latest lavish outing. Roast goose, char siu pork and five-spiced duck are all here, but they’re with cumquat and rose vinegar, rockmelon honey and tamari, and Davidson’s plum, respectively. Breakfast, meanwhile, has it both ways, with Bircher muesli, sourdough crumpets and Moroccan baked eggs sharing menu space with chicken congee with a spring-onion relish.
What to order: is there any resisting the power of the mighty mud crab, especially when it’s offered with a choice of XO sauce, Kampot pepper or ginger and spring onion?
171 George St, Brisbane, (07) 3243 4888, donnachang.com.au
Hôntô
The dining room at Hôntô (photography: Kara Rosenlund)
Wait a minute – did somebody just say “lobster katsu sando”? Australia’s current Japanese sandwich obsession takes a turn for the fancy at this venture from Rick Shores alumnus and Longtime co-owner Tyron Simon. It’s just one of a grab-bag of snacks carefully targeted at the drink-anddine crowd, along with a karaage chicken roll and – wait for it – a prawn doughnut with kimchi mayo and shiso.
What to order: did somebody say “lobster katsu sando”?
Alden St, Fortitude Valley, (07) 3193 7392, honto.com.au
