Magnolia Restaurant
Fortitude Valley
Magnolia Restaurant in Fortitude Valley is Brisbane's first fine dining Chinese degustation restaurant, serving exquisite creative cuisine unlike anything else to be found in the city.
Occupying the corner of a modern brick building on St Pauls Terrace, this minimalist restaurant, which seats just 30 diners, would have to be Brisbane's best kept foodie's secret.
Diners can opt for a 5, 7 or 9 course degustation menu (which is subject to change based on seasonality of produce), with all of the dishes dishes an absolute feast for the senses, right down to the accompanying fresh baked Chinese bun with Chinese-pickle infused butter.
Dishes include starters like organic cherry tomato with home made plum sauce and a delicate web of spun sugar; and melt-in-the-mouth free range chicken with ginger shallot and sesame soy sauce.
Silken tofu and bok choy chicken broth comes with a delicate art-like covering of fine shiitake mushrooms while sashimi grade scallops encased in rice paper packages come perched on a bed of smooth pebbles.
A dish of bamboo shoot and shallot-infused ramen is small but rich in flavour, as is the king prawn with celery, free range egg and black vinegar.
An absolute standout is the heavenly free range pork belly in Asian wine soy sauce, perched underneath a home-made rice cracker, as is the MS Wagyu sirloin with chicken-pork-duck-dried-scallop oyster broth and seasonal vegetable.
And for dessert there's Moutai Baijui (dry-fermented rice spirit) ice-cream with pineapple.
There is also a concise wine list (Australian and NZ) to accompany as well Luis Roederer champagne, beer (Tsingtoa or Sapporo Premium Lager and XXXX Gold) and non-alcoholic drinks including sparkling grape or plum juice and sparkling water.
Need to know - The whole table must have the same set menu. There is limited street parking nearby, or park at Valley Metro in Alfred St (a 3 minute walk away) for a flat evening fee of $10.
*Wednesday night diners can BYO with a $30 corkage charge per bottle.
The menu is subject to change and may not be the same dishes as our visit.
