Review

Would you like some food with your wine, sir?

Fermented Grape isn't your average restaurant with a liquor license and a couple of the owner's favourite wines on the menu. This is more like a wine wholesaler distributing wine in any amount, and that also happens to sell top-notch food. I found the concept of Cairns' newest restaurant almost too good to be true. A wine buffet! Surely not! Is this an excuse to fill myself with the juice of fermented grapes in the same manner as I do the food of cooked animals and vegetables at regular buffet restaurants?

No need to answer. I've already decided. Yes.

The explosion in the popularity of wine over the past decade in Australia has fuelled the expansion of wine lists at restaurants, and the passions for drinking it in the home. The idea of basing an entire restaurant on wine is new to Cairns, but you could argue that it was inevitable. For those of us that enjoy the taste and affects of a good bottle of wine, being able to taste-test from a wide selection during dinner is a special treat that I'd like to turn into a regular event.

To avoid being perceived as a drunk, I will now move onto the food served at Fermented Grape. For an entrée I tried the fried calamari, cooked simply and accompanied by tartar sauce. It was cooked lightly, and the texture and taste indicated the squid was obviously fresh. A lovely white wine - it doesn't matter what it was, it was wine - was placed alongside my food. My main meal was a piece of lightly cooked Atlantic salmon on a bed of rice, covered with a thick dark liquid. Yes, the fish was wonderful and the rice was rice - highly recommended - but I was stumped about the identity of the dark fluid. Could it be more wine, I eagerly hoped? It tasted a little odd, yet somehow familiar. It wasn't until I'd finished lapping up the odd-tasting fluid that I realised it had come from my entrée. Ink. Black and glorious squid ink. It's rare to find a restaurant in Cairns serving a dish with squid ink, but it's a unique taste I'd like to see tried more often. This is a clear indication that Fermented Grape has embarked on a mission to add new dimensions to the dining scene in Cairns. It's great to see.

Overall, the food at Fermented Grape is very high in quality and the selection of 200 wines makes it even better. The service was exceptional, which is a major achievement in a restaurant that has only been open for two weeks. The décor in the restaurant is new and fresh, with a cosmopolitan feel. The wrought iron chairs were slightly uncomfortable at first, but not surprisingly, the more wine I consumed the more comfortable they became.

Even though Fermented Grape is located less than 1 minute walk from the centre of Cairns, it feels like it is in a back alley. Historically, restaurants in this building space have not succeeded but I do hope this latest restaurant to take up residence can make a good impression. It has all the ingredients to be a popular and high quality restaurant, with great service, innovative food ideas and plenty of booze. Very highly recommended, but take a taxi home.

- Diner Diller