The new menu at The Balfour Kitchen is a celebration of Vietnamese cuisine exploring the five elements of spice, sour, bitter, salty and sweet. Here are five more words to describe the Balfour dining experience: inventive, stimulating,  beguiling, attractive – mouthwatering. A round of applause, please, for chef Daniel Jarrett from Spicers Tamarind at Maleny who wrote the script for Balfour.

There is depth and complexity in cubes of pork belly and prawns; a hint of tamarind providing a sweet and sour refrain that purrs delightfully with the flavours of pomegranate and green mango.  

A beef carpaccio dish, enlivened with chilli, lime, anise and basil is rolled like Japanese sushi in a green papaya sleeve. An unusual offering at Balfour is a muddy-coloured ocean trout fillet cooked sous vide with soy, eggplant, lotus tea and pineapple. The texture is questionable yet tasty enough on a wedge of watermelon and mint.  The dish of the day is the slow cooked beef cheek with Asian spices served with steamed rice and a crunchy crisp triangle made from red cherries and shallots. The wine list is small, but intelligently compiled and the service is first rate.

Must-eat dish: Slow cooked beef cheek