reviews
critics' reviews
"Foodies are flocking to the burbs to try out Cinco Bistro in Camp Hill. But there's nothing suburban about the mod Oz-meets-Mediterranean food by classically trained chef Peter Stubbs at this groovy little haunt." Delicious Magazine
"Home-grown talent Peter Stubbs returned form 15 years abroad to open Cinco, a gracious suburban bistro in Camp Hill." Gourmet Traveller
"This restaurant has certainly set new standards in Brisbane suburban dining." Professionals (New Farm) Magazine.
"This is a comfortable bistro with confidence and well-executed food. Stubbs knows his way around a kitchen and his experience shows.....The pork cheeks stay with you in your mind's eye for days and you keep thinking of reasons to return." GoodLife - Courier Mail
"The duck, tender and moist atop a parsnip mound, came with a robust, complex reduction and was perfectly executed." Brisbane News
"Cinco is quite simply, brilliant. The food is all about robust flavours cooked to perfection." Australian Law Magazine
divine inspiration
By Natascha Mirosch, Brisbane News, Edition 1, 30 June 2004
Driving across the Story Bridge recently I noticed my partner turning to look at the receding city lights with some nervousness. "Where is this place again?" he asked. Camp Hill. Not known as a mecca of cuisine, the area is undergoing a culinary renaissance with the growing population of east Brisbanites. Cinco (Spanish for "five") is the latest to open, and on a wintery Thursday night was well filled. Cinco 's decor, including French-style banquettes, gives it the air of an upmarket city bistro. Owner Peter Stubbs is a chef of some repute, having worked under some of Brisbane's best before heading overseas to refine his talents.
The concise menu offers six choices each of entree, main and dessert, priced at $16, $27 and $12 respectively. My partner took my first choice of entree - potato gnocchi with blue swimmer crab and leek cream - leaving me my second choice - roasted sea scallops, radish and celery heart salad and tomato vinaigrette. He was forgiven. The scallops were served roe-on, and were properly plump juicy morsels. I turned green with envy on tasting his dish, however. The gnocchi were pillows of perfection, light as air with a creamy, delicate sauce studded with sweet, delicious chunks of fresh crabmeat. From the look on his face when he'd finished, I suspected he was wondering whether anyone would notice if he picked up his plate and licked it. In the mood for something wintery, I chose confit of duck with parsnip puree, roquette and pear salad as a main. The duck, tender and moist atop a parsnip mound, came with a robust, complex reduction and was perfectly executed.
My partner's lamb shank pie with beetroot relish belied its rather blokey description and was a light pastry construction filled with tender pieces of braised lamb shank, surrounded by a reduced meat jus, with sweetish beetroot relish.
Stubbs' passion is sweets, and his dessert menu is imaginative. Like the dinner menu, however, the descriptions don't do the dishes justice and a little bit more creativity in menu writing would not be out of order.
The pistachio pannacotta with rhubarb jus was a picture of prettiness and a triumph of taste, the pastel milky delicateness of the pannacotta contrasting beautifully with the rich crimson of the sharp rhubarb jus.
My partner, with a little persuasion, chose the caramelised pineapple and banana kebab with cinnamon ice-cream. "Sounds a bit '70s," he whispered, worriedly. A short time later he was hissing at me not to talk to him while he ate, closing his eyes reverently with every mouthful. "Divinely inspired," he eventually pronounced.
Both my partner and I tried to come up with something negative about cinco , but could only manage a slightly wobbly table, quickly fixed by an eagle-eyed waiter. "It is all the way over here in Camp Hill, though," I said. "Camp Hill?" my partner replied. "Pah! That's not far at all."
cinco bistro
589 Old Cleveland Rd, Camp Hill.
Ph: 3843 6666. Dinner 6pm-late Tue-Sat, lunch 12-2pm Thu-Fri.
Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Diners.
rating: 9/10
food: inspired
wine: n/a
ambience: upmarket euro-bistro
service: professional and unobtrusiveRATING GUIDE
1-4: woeful; 5: disappointing; 6: passable; 7: good; 8: very good; 9: excellent; 10: perfect
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