Jellyfish Restaurant

Jellyfish Restaurant
http://www.jellyfishrestaurant.com.au/



Despite having a constantly-updated mental list of 'MUST VISIT RESTAURANTS', I still manage to blank out. I couldn't decide where to go for dinner on the day of my birthday and luckily for me, a good friend came to the rescue and suggested Jellyfish. It's apparently new but established by the same people responsible for Brisbane's reputably 'best' steak restaurant, Cha Cha Char.

I've had amazing experiences at Cha Cha Char so I became instantly curious about Jellyfish.


It's located on Eagle Street Pier, the most collective strip of fine restaurant in Brisbane. Charlie specifically booked an outdoor table. I'm normally very wind-phobic but the weather last night was lovely. Brisbane doesn't boast of the world's best views (by far) but all the same, it was nice to look out at the story bridge skyline.


 
Jellyfish has a menu of entrees, mains and desserts as per normal but it also has a page of 'daily fresh fish'. There is an impressive variety of fish to choose from and Jellyfish recommends certain cooking methods and accompaniments. These fish dishes don't come with sides so there is a selection of salads, chips and whatnot that you can chose to come with your meal.

We ordered an entree and main each + a dessert to share.

The waiting times were really reasonable - not too long or short between courses.

Fresh bread rolls + chefs own butter creation

First came the fresh bread roll with butter. This included plain butter and truffle butter. I love love love crusty bread (with warm, soft inside) and butter - it is so understated and you never get sick of it.

Entrees arrived not long after. Charlie chose the seared scallops and I went for the fish ravioli.

Reef fish ravioli, chive tomato beurre blanc

I thoroughly enjoyed the fish ravioli and wouldn't mind something like that as a main. The sauce was creamy but light at the same time (amazing) and the little fish dumplings were full of flavor.

Seared scallops, jamon serrano, truffled cauliflower puree, chicken jus

The seared scallops were simple but fresh and tasty. The emphasis was on the quality of the scallop meat and despite being a professed seafood noob, I could appreciate how good it was.

Our mains arrived next. I had no idea about the species of fish so I made my order based on the sauce and cooking method. I went for the tempura snapper with Vietnamese sauce and Charlie chose the crumbed orange roughy with saffron mayonnaise. Charlie had also ordered a side of spiced wedges.'

Goldband snapper tempura with Vietnamese sauce

Crumbed orange roughy with saffron mayonnaise

To be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between the 2 types of fish but both were so good. Even though they were technically 'fried', the fillets managed to taste light and crispy without an overriding 'oiliness'. The matching sauces really complimented the fish - i.e. Jellyfish did a good job.

Spiced wedges

I thought the spiced wedges were a tad salty but they went really well with the saffron mayonnaise (which came with Charlie's orange roughy). I don't normally choose wedges over fries/chips because you get the big soggy chunks. These wedges were amazingly crispy so there was no problems there.

For dessert, we chose the cashew nut semifreddo with pistachio fairy floss. I've read about pistachio as being a flavor of Persian fairy floss. Not sure if this was it but it was quite interesting - less sweet than conventional fairy floss and therefor, more suited to the semifreddo (which was very sweet).

Cashew nut semifreddo, fresh raspberry, pistachio fairy floss

The semifreddo itself was FANTASTIC. I'm so 'over' the boring standard restaurant dessert options like creme brulee and panna cotta. The cashew nut semifreddo had a brilliant creamy, nutty and caramel flavor. I especially liked the texture - which was a ecstatic cross between ice-cream and creme brulee. Highly recommended.

Service at Jellyfish was also great. Even on a Tuesday night, they were packed... so a booking is essential. I liked how the decor was brighter and less serious than Cha Cha Char and I felt a happy buzz throughout the meal (could be because it was for my birthday too - so bit of bias there).