Gerald Ong has only been in Brisbane for a month, but he’s already made several life-altering discoveries. “Eating a mango here is a different experience,” the head chef said at the opening of The Fifty Six. “I’m enamoured by the seafood from the Sunshine Coast, the micro-breweries that dot the city, and the quality of beef, mushrooms, finger limes and tropical fruits so far.” He’s channelling all those revelations into the menu at The Fifty Six.
The modern Cantonese restaurant is the capstone venue inside the heritage-listed Naldham House sitting alongside classic bistro The Brasserie and cocktail bar Club Felix. “Elevated” is an overused term in the restaurant world, but it’s actually fitting here – and not only because The Fifty Six is on the top floor.
Everything at the venue, from the food and the fit-out to the art and the entrance, has a sense of heightened reality to it. Flavours are punchier, colours more vibrant – the dishes are familiar, but the dials have been turned up.
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SUBSCRIBE NOWThis is reflected in one of Ong’s favourite desserts: deep-fried toffee ice-cream served with fresh cream and char siu caramel sauce. “We add the roasting juices from our char siu into caramel to make a complex salted caramel. It’s pretty wild,” he says. Forget miso caramel or salted caramel, the juices from the pork give the sauce a rounder, richer flavour – it’s ice-cream and caramel sauce, only more so.
Ong’s approach was partly inspired by the venue itself. “The winning formula here is to match the food to the room,” he says, and there’s no shortage of material to draw from. The building’s high ceilings and arched windows add a sense of grandeur, but the interior design (courtesy of Anna Spiro) is a playful take on mid-century modern, with plenty of colour and just a touch of space-age sleekness. Added to that is an eclectic collection of art dotted around the room, including a geometric sculpture placed to throw dramatic shadows over one wall.
The dish Ong is proudest of is similarly theatrical. The Queensland bay lobster pao fan in superior broth sees Moreton Bay bugs perched on a bed of crispy puffed rice and cooked jasmine rice. It’s “just pure comfort in a bowl”. The superior broth – “the star of the dish”, made from seafood, chicken, pork, mushrooms and more – is poured over the bowl tableside from an ornate teapot.
The dim sum menu is concise but considered, with the prawn har gow proving sous-chef Ka Wai Kwok is just as adept as Ong at finding new ways to present Cantonese classics.
The Fifty Six joins a raft of new southern Chinese-inspired venues in recent years, including Longwang, Hua and Central, but Ong isn’t worried about getting lost in the crowd. Instead, he’s thrilled to see more people embracing the full range of Cantonese cuisine.
As Ong told Broadsheet before opening, his bigger concern is getting his favourite soy sauce, Kwong Cheong Thye, in Brisbane. “I may be biased as it’s brewed in my home country of Singapore, but … it really makes such a difference to dishes.” He’s currently working out the details of shipping the large quantities he needs from an importer in Melbourne, and he’s not averse to a little help. “If [you’re] involved with import and distribution, please reach out to us,” he jokes.
If this is what he can put together after being here for a month, just imagine how much further he can go when gets his hands on that sauce.
The Fifty-Six
33 Felix Street, Brisbane City
(07) 3187 7817
Hours:
Tues to Sat midday–10pm
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