Looking to explore the foodie scene beyond Brisbane? Feast your eyes upon these Ipswich restaurants that are worth the drive…
From burgers to fine dining, coffee to cocktails there is a variety of dining options just a short drive from Brisbane, for some it’s a 20-minute drive, up the motorway.
Hearty produce-driven dishes emerge, including a healthy and delicious sweet potato gnocchi.
You can also start – or end – your visit with something crisp and cold next door at Pumpyard Bar & Brewery – which incidentally offers its own pub menu of crowd pleasers and gained a reputation for wacky dessert specials such as a beer icecream, a ‘beer-amisu’ and ‘deep fried Oreos.’
Tap’d at the PA Hotel
Tap’d at the PA Hotel may not look very different from any other good looking modern pub, but there’s a whole lot more going on here at the PA, as you discover when you walk into the huge airy Char’d restaurant and adjoining Tap’d. The PA Hotel was crowned Best Restaurant in Queensland (casual dining) for 2018 and best regional hotel in Australia for 2017.
Tap’d offers an impressive selection of 72 beers and ciders on tap – the largest craft beer offering in the southern hemisphere. From the pub classics menu we order a sizzling Wagyu steak sandwich and a 300g rump steak, both perfectly cooked, tasty and generous in size. The hardest decision at Tap’d is deciding which beer to order with your meal.
Fourthchild Cafe Restaurant & Lounge Bar
Fourthchild, in Ipswich’s beautiful Top of Town precinct, is a family-run business where everything is made on site using locally sourced ingredients and fresh Lockyer Valley produce. I couldn’t resist ordering the Peach Melba Creme Brûlée French Toast served with grilled peaches, creme brûlée, praline, raspberry couli, vanilla bean ice cream & maple syrup.
My breakfast choice was a visual delight for my eyes and a sweet sensation for my tastebuds. I will definitely be returning to Fourthchild to taste their magnificent selection of house-made cakes, biscuits and slices.
Homage Restaurant
Homage is located on 12,000 acres of farming land in Grandchester which is a beautiful country drive west of Ipswich. Renowned for executive chef Ash Martin’s paddock-to-plate philosophy using produce from the on-site market garden, smokehouse, orchard, beehives and free range farm and produce from local farms, Homage really does pay homage to the land and produce around it.
The speciality of tender beef brisket roasted over coals arrives on elegant Robert Gordon dinnerware. Every aspect of the presentation here is stunning and the combination of flavours incredible.
The bush lemon dessert is the perfect finishing touch to an outstanding meal in an idyllic location.
The Cottage Restaurant
Back in Ipswich city, The Cottage is 157 years young and offers the chance to dine on the verandah of one of Ipswich’s oldest homes. Owner chef Mark Naoum and his wife Angela have had many years in high-end restaurants and here they create a stunning lunch and dinner menus, includuing a house-made high tea complete with a glass of champagne. This is the perfect Ipswich location to enjoy the century-old tradition of taking tea.
Two more restaurants to get on your list are the newly opened Bakehouse Steakhouse – a cool contemporary offering in an 1875 bakery, specialising in carefully sourced and dry-aged steaks and excellent cocktails; and the much-loved Heisenberg Haus. This German-themed restaurant attracts huge crowds from Brisbane on Friday and Saturday nights and has unveiled a pizzeria in its sibling café next door, Tighty Whities.
For more ideas on where to find great food in Ipswich check out this list of restaurants and cafes.
