They say two heads are better than one and this is certainly the case with joint Gauge head chefs Cormac Bradfield and Phil Marchant.

At this unassuming South Brisbane cafe-cum-fine diner, the pair has created a two, three or seven-course modern Australian menu of whimsy, contrast and intrigue, blending native Australian ingredients with flavours of the Orient using European techniques. The result is a wild ride of the unexpected and interesting.

Take an entree of raw pork, for example, the dish channeling a breakfast favourite of smoked salmon and creme fraiche with the uncooked meat similar in texture to cured fish with a scallop puree bringing seafood notes to the dish alongside goats cheese and the lemony zing of pickled rhubarb.

While a main of celeriac tortellini is as beautiful and refined as it is simple – the pasta meltingly soft with a creamy veg filling amplified by a layered broth.

Unmissable, however, is a side of fried sebago potato crowned with a malt vinegar-infused creme fraiche, grated egg yolk and onion salt.

Their signature dessert may be the black garlic bread with vanilla burnt butter, but the Terry’s chocolate orange-esque combination of chocolate sorbet with mandarin curd and mushroom and cacao-dusted radicchio chips begs investigating. It’s even better with a dessert wine from the tight but unique – sometimes challenging – list of vino from small producers. While service varies from exemplary to incompetent depending on the wait person, Gauge bats well above is average.

Must-eat dish: Sebago potato