Blink and you’ll miss the entrance for Hervé’s Restaurant and Bar in Albion (we did, twice). But once you find your bearings, you’ll arrive in an impressive yet cosy restaurant with soaring raked ceilings, classic rustic wooden floors, and an open kitchen that invites diners in to view the process of culinary creation.
Located through the Brewtide bar in Albion’s Craft’d Grounds precinct, and up a set of stairs, Hervé’s occupies a 100-year-old timber mill, turned dance studio, turned fine dining restaurant. The open kitchen and low-set counter top is really quite stunning—I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kitchen quite as open. There’s a feeling like you could pull up a bar stool and have chats with the chefs while they’re creating your dish.
Our Hervé’s experience
We headed in to try the new winter menu right before Bastille Day, which as you can imagine is a rather big deal in the French food world. Special dishes had been added to the entree menu to celebrate. Normally I am not much of a soup person, but as soon as our waiter told us the soup of the day was French onion, my mind was made up. I can NEVER say no to a French onion soup, ESPECIALLY when Brisbane is enjoying such a cold snap this winter.
For her entree, my bestie ordered chargrilled octopus with creamy polenta, smoked capsicum and red onion. The colours of this dish really elevate the plating… it is really well put together and the flavours, I am told, compliment each other really well.
As for the French onion soup, it is legitimately the best one I have ever had. The sweetness of the onions pairs perfectly with the saltiness of a beefy broth. There is a smokey taste infused in the dish which we are told is thanks to the ingredients being flambéd. It’s so simple but so well done, and feels like a hug in a bowl.
For our mains, I chose a confit duck with braised red cabbage, lentil de puy and paris mash. The duck was juicy and flavourful, and paired perfectly with the acidity of the braised cabbage. The mash was so creamy and soft.
Bestie ordered the Parisian gnocchi with creamed leeks, mimolette and candied walnuts. The gnocchi was soft and pillowy, exactly as it should be, with a lovely depth of flavour (yes, I snuck a bite or two).
The real surprise with this course was how tasty our side of grilled brocollini with gruyere sauce, chilli and garlic. “This is the best broccolini I have ever tasted,” my bestie exclaimed. It was hard to disagree with her—the charred taste of the greens married so well with the depth of flavour in the gruyere, the chilli giving a delightfully surprising kick.
In between each of our courses, we were watching the kitchen. It’s clear to see the passion that the chefs are Hervé’s have, as they make sure every plate that leaves the kitchen is perfect. We commented that it was going to be so nice to be able to personally thank the chefs for a wonderful meal as we left.
For dessert, we’d already decided that one of us was going to order the crepes suzette because how can you turn down dinner and a show? We got to stand and chat to the pastry chef while he basted the crepes in orange juice and set them ablaze.
Since I am a sucker for lemon ANYTHING, I chose the tarte au citron, with coconut sable, lemon curd entremet, coconut financier, toasted Italian meringue and cucumber and shiso sorbet. It was one of the prettiest dessert dishes I’ve ever seen, plated to perfection and tasting sensational. One of the problems I often have with lemon meringue desserts is that there is too much meringue to lemon ratio. This one has the ideal amount of each, allowing us to mix and match the intensity of the flavours of the dish.
When the manager asked us what our favourite dish was at the end of the meal, we genuinely had a tough time picking. It’s quite rare when I visit a restaurant that every single dish hits it out of the park—including the sides—but that’s what happened at Hervé’s. Everything is crafted with care, with the chefs taking simple, rustic favourite dishes and elevating them.
It may have been tough to find the entrance of Hervé’s but we definitely won’t have a hard time finding our way back there. And soon, hopefully.
Hervé’s Restaurant and Bar, Craft’d Grounds, 35 Collingwood Street, Albion. p. (07) 3326 0894
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
