The finalists for Brisbane Times Good Food Guide Best New Restaurant

The Brisbane Times 2017 Good Food Guide is set to be published on Tuesday. Leading up to its release, Good Food is announcing the finalists for the year's major awards.

Today, we bring you the top five contenders to be crowned Best New Restaurant, an award given to the most exciting opening in the past 12 months that sets the eating agenda and starts conversations.

The winner will be announced at The Good Food Guide Awards, presented by Citi and Vittoria, on Monday July 18 and you can follow the evening's action via Good Food's Instagram and Twitter accounts. Good luck to all the finalists!

Billykart West End, West End

Set in what feels like a cross between a modern cafe and the large back deck of a Queenslander, Billykart's galley-style kitchen is clearly visible by almost all in the clean-lined open dining space. Owner-chef Ben O'Donoghue's menu crosses borders and continents in search of variety, taste and texture and dishes aren't simply plated up here, they're dressed and accessorised and given a stage of beautifully chosen earthenware. Billykart is hip, yes, but there is a whole lot of substance to the style.

London Fields, West End

This is the local everyone wants to have: modern, on trend, with a great drinks list and a menu that focuses on quality produce. The space is breezy and bright with high ceilings, lots of blond wood and white walls conveying a chic industrial look. It's food that pays homage to pub fare but with modern sensibilities and classics such as chicken liver parfait with port jelly, and sausages and mash featuring alongside more contemporary favourites such as roast beetroot with goat's cheese.

Nickel Kitchen & Bar, Fortitude Valley

Big, fun, Cadillac-with-the-top-down dining where you can sit at the bar and brunch on waffles, boudin blanc and a textbook Bloody Mary. It's such a plush and handsome room, you might as well stick around for a tossed-at-the-table Caesar salad and pudgy, buttery oysters Rockefeller. Another Manhattan please, Lloyd. Dinner might be an eye fillet of Great Southern grass-fed beef that tastes of prehistoric prairies and a hard-working grill. It's a steak engineered to match Nickel's red wine wallopers and booths that turn long lunches into longer nights. Be sure to Bombe Alaska but don't blame Canada. Celebrate the True North with veal jus-covered poutine instead (the best chips in town - we're calling it).

Otto Ristorante, Brisbane

The Fink Group (also owners of Sydney's three-hatted Quay and two-hatted Bennelong) have set high standards in hospitality and attention to detail. Otto's service is as polished as its branded glassware and few expenses have been spared, from leather menus by Saatchi & Saatchi to pirouetting Les Danseuses ceiling fans. Most importantly, the modern Italian food is downright excellent. And how's that view? Gee willikers. A window seat is the hottest date spot in Brisbane but you can always grab a perch at the bar and a glass of rosé, and be just as happy dining solo.

The Wolfe, East Brisbane

A deceptively simple European-led menu is underpinned by classic technique and partnered by a thoughtful wine list at this elegant bistro featuring Paul McGivern back on the pans. A short carte might feature a pristine fillet of john dory served with a saffron-tinted beurre blanc, buffalo-curd-stuffed zucchini flowers and young asparagus or perhaps pork belly with a thin layer of brittle glazed crackle - its richness held in check by little bursts of acidity thanks to plump muscatels soaked in aged apple cider vinegar. Warm hospitality, comfortable seating and healthy list of by-the glass wines make the idea of lingering at this lovely local highly appealing.

The Brisbane Time 2017 Good Food Guide will be on sale for $9.99 in newsagents and bookstores from July 19, with all purchases receiving free access to the new Good Food app.