It’s one thing to browse a menu and find a dish or two that speak to you. It’s another thing entirely to sit down, take one look at the options and want to order every single one. The venues featured here don’t just serve food - they serve dilemmas. From soufflé pancakes that border on dessert art to Korean fried chicken doused in molten cheese, every dish reads like a dare to your appetite.
Whether you’re into Mediterranean tapas or modern Indian drama, these five restaurants deliver bold flavours and layered menus that make choosing nearly impossible. So forget restraint - bring friends and order the lot.
The Brothers Café – Haymarket, NSW
In the heart of Darling Square, The Brothers Café is where Asian fusion meets
café culture in the most addictive way possible. The vibe is urban calm - potted
plants, warm brass lighting and monochrome art setting a relaxed scene that
lets the food shine. Choose alfresco for a dose of city atmosphere or head
indoors to settle in with a long black and the menu you’re about to get
obsessed with.
Start with a showstopper: soufflé pancakes so airy they
tremble on the plate. Go all in with mascarpone cream, rose fairy floss and
fresh strawberries, or lean indulgent with the tiramisu version topped with Tim
Tam crumble and coffee sauce. Then there are fusion mains that punch well above
their weight - fettuccine tossed with prawns and Thai cream, Wagyu burgers
layered with fried chicken and aioli and rice bowls bursting with salmon, miso
mushrooms and furikake.
Book your table at The Brothers Café and bring your appetite.
Five Five Five Korean Diner – Adelaide CBD, SA
Hidden in Adelaide’s Chinatown, Five Five Five Korean Diner is a moody,
neon-lit portal to Seoul’s buzzing food culture. Think orange chairs, steel
tables and a menu packed with modern Korean hits that are anything but subtle.
This is where K-pop energy meets deep-fried crunch and comforting spice.
You’ll want to start with the mushroom dumplings, crispy and
dipped in a spicy soy-chilli combo, then get messy with Korean fried chicken
slathered in a molten cheese sauce that melts theatrically at the table.
Bibimbap here is textbook brilliance and tteokbokki delivers chewy rice cake
satisfaction in a chilli-spiked sauce with fish cake and boiled egg. The kind
of place where no dish is a filler.
Curious to try it all? Reserve your seat at Five Five Five and dive in.
The Manor Restaurant – Ballina, NSW
Quietly tucked away on Norton Street, The Manor Restaurant is Ballina’s secret
culinary gem. With its polished timber floors, open fireplace and decked garden
seating, this venue wraps you in understated elegance and coastal warmth. It’s
the kind of place where locals go for a slow meal and tourists stumble into and
never forget.
Every plate sings of local produce - grilled King prawns with
hazelnut cream and garlic-chilli butter to start, followed by Scotch fillet
cooked to perfection and served with crispy potatoes and confit tomato. Don’t
overlook the housemade linguine either, enriched with creamy bisque and plump
prawns. The roasted duck with vanilla beetroot and cauliflower cream is an
artwork in flavour.
Book now and let The Manor tempt you into trying a bit of everything.
Bollywood Bar Indian Fusion – Helensvale, Qld
More than a restaurant, Bollywood Bar Indian Fusion is a full-blown sensory
celebration. Think walls covered in Bollywood nostalgia, auto-rickshaw booths
and a menu that fuses traditional Indian with modern twists and serious
personality. The vibe is loud, proud and deliciously desi.
Start spicy with chicken tikka and lamb kebabs laced with
rich Indian spices. From there, ride the curry wave - beef vindaloo that brings
serious heat, lamb rogan josh steeped in yoghurt and tomato and coconut fish
curry loaded with mustard seed and tangy notes. Every dish comes packed with
flavour and the kind of depth that lingers long after the last bite.
Feeling the drama? Book your table at Bollywood Bar and get ready to feast like
a star.
Alchemy Brew House – Scarborough, WA
Scarborough’s Alchemy Brew House is part neighbourhood gem, part
Mediterranean-inspired alchemy lab. Inside, it’s all about warmth and
wonder - where you can sip a cocktail, brew some tea or share a dozen dishes, all
infused with European soul and seasonal flair.
Kick off with breakfast classics that flirt with
indulgence - think duck pâté and toast, or baked beans elevated with house spices
and egg. Evenings bring out the best: sizzling prawns and chorizo, rich
meatballs in sugo and pizza with wild mushrooms and basil that’s far from your
average slice. Every plate feels personal, every cocktail a little
spellbinding.
Alchemy Brew House is open - book in and start your journey.
Choosing just one dish is overrated. These restaurants are the ones where you’ll wish you had three stomachs and a dozen friends to help you order the entire menu. Honestly, that’s exactly how it should be.
