Our favourite fast five (or so) for 2024
The Lunch Magazine team was back out exploring in 2024 experiencing some of the best food and accommodation escapes and here’s what we loved:
Restaurant of the year
Bennelong Sydney
Bennelong oozes sophistication. The venue under the sails of the Sydney Opera House evokes a sense of grandeur and theatre but the dining room’s soft lighting and layout provide a real sense of intimacy and warmth. The challenge is creating a dining experience that befits such a space. Executive Chef Peter Gilmore and his team in the kitchen and on the floor manage to deliver in spades. Perhaps even better or at least more assured than its sibling Quay which stares across the harbour from its elevated position in the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Exquisite food showcasing the best of Australian produce matched with a beautifully curated wine list and even quirky house cocktails, plus unsurpassed service ensures Bennelong sits atop our list as restaurant of the year.
Dish of the year
Noodles Bennelong
Noodles is probably understating the extraordinary eating that the smoked pig belly house-made koji noodles shiitake, sesame and black garlic provides. The true majesty is in how they make such simple heroes (noodles and pig belly) taste so incredible. Perhaps it’s the handcrafted koji noodle’s themselves, maybe it is the delicate mix of shiitake mushrooms, sesame and black garlic. Whatever… it is a unison of flavours in that remains in the memory long after the meal finishes.
Surprise of the year
GUUM Singapore
When the South Korean film Parasite picked up the Academy award for Best Film in 2020, the nation’s influence on the world’s pop culture was thrown into fast forward. South Korea seems to have tapped into the 2020s zeitgeist with its TV such as Squid Game, film and, pop music like Blackpink now all-pervasive around the world. Now you can add South Korean cuisine. From fast food outlets selling Korean Fried Chicken to fine diners, South Korea is not only providing us with visual and aural pleasure but it’s now influencing our palates as well.
Here at Lunch, our favourite Korean find of the year was GUUM in Singapore’s Chinatown which is producing as innovative and tasty food as you will find anywhere. Melded with a real sense of whimsy – the KFC or Korean Fried Cauliflower – their nod to the Colonel’s classic, is pure joy… eat and you can only go back for more.
GUUM’s menu might be filled with fun but it has serious culinary chops as it’s the cooler sibling of Chef Louis Han’s one-Michelin-starred Korean fine diner Naeum. It awaits our return where we can again marvel at the mix of innovative, joyful creations and flavours as well as the attentive, knowledgeable service. Hot tip: try the Korean ‘champagne’ beer – goes wonderfully with the KFC!
Escape of the year
Four Seasons Langkawi
Think pure sybaritic pleasure. From the moment you step inside the walls of the Four Seasons Langkawi resort reception inspired by Spain’s Alhambra fortress you’re greeted with the warmest of welcomes before stepping out of reception into a Garden of Eden, a true sanctuary of bliss.
Spread over more than 20 acres of grounds and situated on a mile-long golden beach, rimmed by limestone cliffs behind, Four Seasons Langkawi is where you go when you truly want to escape the drudgery of workday life.
The accommodation either in wooden pavilions inspired by local Langkawi architecture set amid the gardens or the more modern villas along the beach is sublime. Beautiful airy spaces that inspire deep relaxation.
Beyond exuding a sense of laidback casual Malaysian luxury, Four Seasons Langkawi’s highlights include wonderful attentive service, an extraordinary spa experience, quite excellent cuisine including one of the world’s the finest resort breakfast experiences, as well as multiple pools and bars. Explore Langkawi’s natural wonders and finish every day at Rhu Bar with sand underfoot, late-night cocktail in hand watching the light of the moon and stars shimmer on the Strait of Malacca just footsteps away. By the way… rinse, repeat and enjoy every day of your stay.
https://www.fourseasons.com/langkawi
Regional restaurant of year
Spirit House QLD
Located among lush tropical gardens at Yandina on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Spirit House is an idyllic near magical experience from the moment you wind your way up from the entrance through the torch lit greenery to your table. The key here is to try and jag a space in the garden itself rather than the restaurant as the mix of predominantly Thai-inspired cuisine and the garden setting elevate the dining experience to something somewhat otherworldly. It’s hard to believe you’re just a few minutes away from the hubbub of the Sunshine Coast.
As for the culinary experience, it’s a prix-fixe menu that journeys through South-East Asia with numerous highlights although the Adobo Braised Pork Belly with black banana ketchup and chilli oil is deliciously unctuous and moreish.
There’s a well-curated wine list to match the zing and zestiness of all the Asian flavours to match as well. The complete experience from the moment you arrive to your journey back out of the garden ensures Spirit House grabs our Regional restaurant of the year gong although a special mention also goes to Bistro Molines in the Hunter Valley of NSW.
For Bistro Molines, combine unsurpassed vineyard views from your rustic dining room eyrie at the top of Mount View Road with wonderful seasonal produce and local Hunter Valley wines and it’s a surefire winner every time.
https://www.spirithouse.com.au
