Gauge

Gauge is by far my most favourite restaurant in Brisbane! Especially since they have now also opened for dinner.
The menu is wonderfully eclectic, and even if similar dishes are featured, the new twists are always exciting.
The black garlic bread is the standout dish everyone should try. Another favourite of mine was the parsnip with chocolate & blood sauce on the previous menu, and recently I tried the Angus sirloin, which is simply divine! Tender, full of the most amazing flavour and cooked to perfection.
Gauge doesn’t take reservations, so it can be difficult for a larger group to get seats, but the staff is more than happy to work through accommodation issues as people arrive.

Um yes… If you do love trying new food and dipping your toes into slightly more adventurous and refined dining then please visit.
On top of the amazing service we received I was pretty blown away with the menu and wine. We dropped in for lunch and decided to make it a full blown dining experience with dessert to top it off.
The desserts were divine, and that’s really hard to find in many restaurants. We tried the sweet potato spiced shortbread buffalo ricotta with salted meringue and the white chocolate crème with apricots. Outstanding, particularly the sweet potato dessert was complex and delicious — I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
This is the place is casual fine dining at its best and a fabulous place to take your friends for a special meal.
We will be back!

I don’t know what all of the fuss is about. Granted the menu is creative, and the atmosphere is generally pretty chill, it was the service that put us off. The staff have a friendly vibe until you create blasphemy and ask for your food your way.
All I asked for was a poached egg on the side of my avocado mash and toast. The waiter rolled his eyes and explained that the food is prepared as stated on the menu and no changes were allowed. It was the eye roll that sealed the deal– that and my flat white made wrong. We walked out and around the corner I had avo mash on toast with a poached egg, and a smile.

Solid place, great food, really great staff. Only thing is, I just witnessed one of the Chefs licking his fingers whilst adding a garnish to a dish, then continue on without washing to do the next dish. Apart from this, can’t fault the place. And will return, but, don’t really like the fact that I have potentially swapped bodily fluids with the Chef.

So I am sitting here at Gauge having just devoured what looked like burnt bread with a glob of brown glue. Yeop, sounds kinda gross but this dish has quickly become the signature at Gauge… and for good reason.
It is, like the rest of the menu, a unique and innovative dish and it is no surprise that the head chef was recently crowned best new chef of the year. Gauge delivers exciting flavour combinations presented so artfully on the plate at accessible prices.
Today was my second dining experience at Gauge and I will be back for 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th no doubt in the coming weeks. Get here… and order the black bread!

I had a few options for a decent breakfast when staying in the South Bank area recently, and Gauge was one of them. I knew roughly where it was located but it was still hard to find as there was no signage whatsoever, and the door doesn’t look like it belongs to a restaurant.
Gauge specialises in locally sourced produce and artisanal fare made in-​house, even including the sourdough bread. There is a plenty of seating, although be prepared to share a table during busy times.
Coffee is from New Zealand & Melbourne based roaster Coffee Supreme. The barista takes his craft very seriously, and spent his time between customers weighing shots. My cappuccino was topped with high quality dark chocolate, making for a decent, if not particularly memorable, cup.
The menu has some very interesting choices. I’ve seen photos of the sourdough waffle dish and it looks incredible, although I really wasn’t sure about artichoke custard so decided to try the «soft eggs on house sourdough with heritage pig» ($ 16) — it was a plate of the finest ingredients cooked to perfection, and the kind of meal that means you can never again be satisfied with pedestrian bacon & eggs. Damn.
I really enjoyed my breakfast at Gauge, although the menu probably means that this isn’t the kind of place you would go to eat every day — in saying that, the coffee is good and there was a nice-​looking selection of pastries & cakes on the counter.
This is certainly a different experience to most cafes, and the location feels almost secret — it’s a great place to watch the rest of the world go about its business while you enjoy your breakfast. Gauge is definitely one for the list, especially if you like an adventurous menu.

It says a lot when a venue has no website, no Facebook page, an Instagram with very little posts/​prescence and yet you turn up on a Sunday morning hoping that its open (because you have no idea of their opening hours) and there is a line to get in for breakfast.
Of course, it may have something to do with the very favourable review just published in The Australian, from John Lethlean (no mean feat).
Seriously though, this place deserves 5 stars, and is one of the most exciting venues to open in Brisbane recently.
Yes its pretty to look at (communal table made of natural timbers, leather, gold, glorious mint coloured «button» stools, open kitchen), but the food here is fantastic — simple, fresh, seasonal, and completely original.
The black garlic bread is worth the hype, its moist, blurred line between savoury and sweet has me still thinking lovingly about it.
I also had the very prettily presented Sourdough waffle with artichoke custard, bee pollen and freeze dried honey.
Only tiny niggle were the low –tide lattes, yes they serve up Coffee Supreme and can do filter coffee, but they certainly weren’t the most wellmade that we’ve had in Brisbane — will have to test them out another day.

If you’re thinking of getting brunch on the south side and you’re hungry and you like to eat food which you might enjoy — then don’t come here.
You cannot change the meals in any way and there’s no chai.
Can I give no stars?

With it’s minimalistic interior and slight hipster vibe you can definitely tell that Gauge is a sibling of Sourced Grocer in Newstead.
The only way I can think to describe Gauge is casual fine dining. The vibe, interior and patrons seemed quite casual. But portion sizes relative to price, quality of food and manner of the serving staff (every ingredient described, hands held behind backs while pouring water etc) all reflected fine dining standards.
I have to commend them for bringing something different to the Brisbane dining scene. I visited for breakfast. It was beautiful quality food and wonderfully presented. If you were looking somewhere to hold a breakfast meeting this would be the place.
I desperately wanted to like Gauge, but there were a few downfalls for me. The first was being served luke-​warm-​almost-​too-​cold-​to-​drink-​coffee. The second was not being acknowledged when we arrived so being confused about where we could/couldn’t sit… We sat ourselves down and then waited 10 minutes to be served… Once we finally ordered coffees we again waited 10 minutes for our breakfast order to be taken… The whole process was painful. There were only two other groups dining, and 4 wait staff on. This kind of service irks me, especially when they appear to be attempting to reflect some kind of fine dining standards.
Overall, lovely food, beautiful fresh produce and definitely something different. But the lack of service really ruined it for me.

So this new kid on the block at South Brisbane is fast becoming a favourite, along with many others. When we found out owner Jerome Batten from the Sourced Grocer had just opened up his second venue in South Brisbane, we got a little bit excited because we knew if the quality & uniqueness of the meals were anything like the Sourced Grocer it was going to be good. Have been here twice now, and both times have been great. The first time for lunch, and again for Breakfast.
Absolutely love the freshness of the interior, light walls, & timber, communal tables & intimate seating towards the entrance near the kitchen. Has a very clean Swedish funky Ikea feel to it. The all-​day menu starts from $ 8, & the most being $ 22. It’s honestly hard to decide what to eat because we wanted to try everything but for lunch I went with the slow roasted pork belly, fermented corn & buckwheat salad, puffed mustard seeds & baby corn. Wow factor! This was so delicious. The pork was absolutely tender and the flavor in the corn & buckwheat salad was divine. The combination was beautiful.
After that delicious meal, I wanted to try something small so the lovely staff recommended the black garlic bread, brown butter & burnt vanilla. Sounds interesting? Well let me tell you it was freaking awesome! It reminded me of the comforting tastes in your belly that you get from a sticky date pudding/​cake (not as sweet of course) but with the savory taste of the black garlic. So good. Without a doubt, this will be ordered every time once I’ve gotten through the rest of the menu.
The breakfast we had (a few days after the lunch) was also just as good. Waffles, the soft eggs with bacon with «leek ash», and our friend had the brown rice pudding. On point!
Coffee is darn good too, by Supreme Coffee Brisbane. Always made perfectly, and we even noticed the Barista, throwing out a cup that he wasn’t happy with. That’s exactly what you want to see, because it means their barista cares enough about the product they’re serving out. Love it!
We can see this place doing really well and has made us excited even more about the Brisbane food scene. Jerome will be opening his 3^rd venue in the coming weeks called Maker just around the corner in Fish Lane, which will be a little specialty cocktail/​beers bar serving up awesome bar snack & food. Can’t wait!

There is no other place for breakfast than Sourced Grocer in the inner-​North. For those unlucky enough to live on the wrong side of the river, Gauge is it.
I’ve been for breakfast twice, and can’t wait to go back for lunch.
This place sits about 12 (ok, maybe 15), with the kitchen taking up just as much space as dining. And it shows. Those blokes up there are masterful. This the sort of breakfast that those one or two hatted restaurants in the city would do, without the price tag.
Coffee and service match the food.
It’s hard to cross that stinky river. But it’s worth it.

Let’s use Gauge as a gauge for what is good about Brisbane’s dining scene. Those familiar and taken with Sourced Grocer will be pleased to know Gauge is the brain child of the same owner. While both have a different feel, the minimalist interior fit out and whole food focus carries across to this new South Brisbane venue.
A colleague and I arrived for lunch in their 2^nd week of opening. There’s probably tales of teething problems with service and such but I didn’t experience this, and to be fair, those first few weeks are bound to be used to iron out kinks, right?
Anyway, we were seated and our menus presented. It’s an all day breakfast with lunch options and all are tempting as each other. We both went for the chicken breast with buckwheat, pumpkin and nashi pear. Exceptional and balanced flavours with just enough food on the plate to taste it all and feel satisfied.
For local workers there’s an easy access take-​away coffee window and ample bar seating for those who may just be there for a coffee. With the exception of Two Trees around the corner, it’s probably your best shot of coffee this side of Melbourne Street.