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58 High St, Toowong Qld

This is a restaurant where you have to stand outside waiting for a table to become available, but I doubt whether anyone has ever begrudged the delay. The starters at the China Kitchen include peanuts in vinegar, floppy dark fungus with mustard sauce, and an old favourite, cucumber with garlic…I’m always surprised how in this dish, one of the few uncooked ones in the Chinese repertoire, the sharpness of the garlic doesn’t overpower the blandness of the cucumber; here it comes in a slightly sweet sauce. Our main courses emerged after some discussion with the waiter, for not all the vegetable dishes on the menu are vegetarian, but we ended up enjoying tofu in chilli sauce, bak choi with garlic (but without the mushrooms we had thought were coming; perhaps the cook prepares them in a non-veggie manner) , and a dish of shredded potatoes with green capsicum and chillies. The food here, beautifully presented, is innovative rather than traditional, and fully realises its ambitions. While more expensive than most of the restaurants reviewed on this site, the China Kitchen is very strongly recommended.