If the lemon trees and Tesla charging stations in the car park don’t signal that Biota isn’t your typical regional restaurant, then the offer of a bite-sized waffle filled with sour cream and finished with grated deer heart certainly will. Likewise a curiously appealing juice of salted crimson grapes, or a daring blend of pears and Pecora Dairy sheep’s whey in a ferment-forward, alcohol-free drinks pairing. Plates have similarly adventurous accents: blots of prune and black garlic paste, say, that punctuate grilled lamb neck, or the dried fushimi pepper dusted over creamed eggs and ocean-sweet morsels of Weipa mud crab. An underwhelming dessert of mandarin sorbet and chocolate mousse, however, seems to belong to another – far less ambitious – restaurant. So too the short list of wines by the glass that does well to spotlight neighbouring producers, but sacrifices depth and intrigue in the process. None of this appears to matter in the Nordic-chic-meets-Country Style surrounds, where there isn’t a worry in sight. Sure, the parts could be a little more equal but the sum total here is a high one.
Phone:
(02) 4862 2005
Website:
Bookings:
Bookings recommended
Features:
Licensed
Bar (Thu only)
Vegetarian-friendly
Wheelchair access
Accepted card types:
American Express
Eftpos
MasterCard
Visa
Chef:
James Viles
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
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot at the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national Top 50.