Courgette

How delightful to find an elegant carpeted restaurant with comfortable chairs, competent waiters and a noise level that means you can speak softly and still be heard. An air of quiet confidence spills over into the four-course menu, where every dish is carefully and cleverly crafted. To whet the appetite, seared scallops and sugar-cured ocean trout sit among tiny splodges of hummus, a few white beans, microherbs and a balsamic reduction, while blue swimmer crab topped with avocado boasts a fine, floppy, sea-through tomato jelly. The flavour intensifies with a quail breast and tiny leg on corn mousse, set off with a scampi tail, and shaved black truffle. The sea rolls in again with crisp snapper and poached Moreton Bay bug enlivened by a garlic mussel emulsion and a beautifully cooked john dory with saffron mash, baby leek and sauce creme. The final pleasure comes with a frangipane tart, blood plum and a tiny cone of exquisite vanilla bean ice-cream.