Restaurant Review: Java Queen at Highgate Hill

It's been a week of broken expectations... first, Spring Roo comes in and sweeps away 10+ years of prejudice by being a code generator that doesn't suck (That's a topic for another blog post), and now, a 'modern cuisine' restaurant that has great food at very reasonable prices.

Java Queen, is a small, cosy and very unassuming restaurant in South Brisbane. We would not have come across it if a mate hadn't picked it just because of the name. Being fairly new (open only for a couple of months), I went in with no expectations, and was simply blown away.

The place is very intimate, looks like it seats about 30, good for groups of under 6.. About half the place lets you have a good view of Chef Dimitri at work.

The prices there seem pretty reasonable. All dinner mains are $19. I had one the specials ($24), 12 hour (yes, 12 hours!) slow roasted duck breast, served on a bed of jasmine rice, and at the end of it, my plate was practically clean. The duck was exceptionally well prepared. The skin was crispy, and the meat was very tender and consistently juicy, and didn't have the gamy taste that you get at some places. Dessert ($7) was a very nice steamed chocolate mud cake, served with ice cream. It was tasty without being overwhelmingly rich, and was light enough that everyone practically inhaled it.

The menu is an interesting mix of Modern oz and Indonesian cuisine. I had trouble reading past the duck tonight. Must definitely go back for another look at the menu, and to and try the rendang and the sticky date pudding.