The Fifty Six

After opening not one, but two of Brisbane’s most beautiful new venues last year, DAP & Co. are at it again with the opening of the final venue to land inside the heritage-listed Naldham House. Joining the ground floor bistro The Brasserie and upstairs cocktail bar Club Felix is The Fifty Six, a vibrant new Cantonese restaurant led by chef Gerald Ong. 

In keeping with the rest of the building, this top floor venue is a visual stunner, featuring olive green leather booths, plush velveteen banquette seating and statement white lamps, all framed by arch windows looking out to the tree-line street. Complete with a sizeable balcony outside, it’s definitely going to score a spot on the list of this year’s most beautiful openings.

Serving up contemporary takes on beloved Cantonese dishes, the menu pays homage to the influence Chinese culture and cuisine has had on Brisbane and Australia’s food landscape, merging tradition and authentic flavours with modern techniques and locally sourced produce. Each dish a masterpiece that involves plenty of work behind the scenes, including the likes of drunken prawn tarts, baked blue swimmer crab in its shell, duck pancakes, and an extensive dim sum offering, curated by Dim Sum Master Ka Wai Kwok. 

Beyond snacks, you can expect to feast on larger plates like sticky cumin Magra lamb riblets and eggplant, crispy lemon chicken and pearl barley and a dry-aged five-spiced half duck with Davidson Plum sauce, best paired with sides of fried rice and wok-tossed Urban Valley mushrooms. And of course, the drinks list is equally as important, with cocktails that infuse Cantonese flavours into sophisticated sips alongside a lengthy wine list. 

Image credit: Dexter Kim | Supplied