Kingston House Impressions — Restaurant in Gympie

This place...is something else. It's like a culinary oasis in a desert of tired old pub food. Also, it's situated in one of the most charming historical buildings in this part of the great state of Queensland, Australia. Surprisingly it's not in Brisbane or Gold Coast, nor the Sunshine Coast or Noosa; it's comfortably located in the middle of sleepy Gympie, the former gold mining mecca of the state two hours north of the capital. The pleasure began for us when we pulled up in front of this beautifully preserved and presented mansion which dates back to the beginning of the last century. In 1901 gold mine manager David Menzies commissioned its construction as a family home fitting for a man of his societal and business stature. Since then its chequered history included being turned into a maternity hospital and private surgery - complete with rumoured goings-on and mysterious happenings worthy of an Agatha Christie drama - as well as various iterations as an eatery. Chef Paul Jones and his lovely wife Kim, who bought the house in 1996, recently moved back in to oversee the venue being reborn, redecorated and revitalised into the gem it is today. Last week we were amongst the first enthusiasts to experience what is sure to become a local magnet for discerning foodies. From the spotless table linen to the carefully crafted decor, an ambience has been created to perfectly compliment the amazing food. Simple in concept, the dishes are carefully chosen in terms of seasonal availability, familiarity to most customers, generous in proportion, and attention to taste and enjoyment rather than artistic affectation and little else. Our pan fried snapper with prawns, potato and cauliflour cream, broccolini and seafood bisque was as good as anything I've eaten in restaurants from London and Berne to New York and Cape Town. The creme brulee, pistachio praline and poached quince rounded off a perfect meal. Chef Paul Jones is a minimalist where it counts. There were only seven mains dishes to choose from, which tells me we're dealing with a kitchen where quality takes precedence over mind-boggling choice. We're certainly going to be back. Oh yes, an additional highlight of the evening: There wasn't a tired looking potato chip in sight or on offer, nor soppy boiled frozen veggies gone cold - and for that...

A group of four of us decided to go try out Kingston House to see how things were with the new owner.

We ordered a dozen oysters and two Kingston Share Plates between the four of us. These took over an hour to come out. The prices on the menu have gone up considerably also.

Three of us tried the oysters and quickly found out they were not right.

The share plates came out and were luke warm and for the quality vs price - they were something we could have bought from the supermarket and heated up ourselves.

The ambiance of the old Kingston House has gone. No gentle music in the background and the very green staff made things feel fairly uncomfortable looking around to at all the other customers waiting also for over an hour for their meals.

When we spoke to one of the waitresses, she offered 10% off the oysters, considering we didn’t eat the bulk of these and weren’t offered any replacement food, we thought this was a slap to the face.

We all left very disappointed and dissatisfied. We miss the old Kingston House. We won’t...

Went with my Father and my Aunty to the Kingston on a Friday night for dinner. Skipled the entrée and waited 40 minutes for the main, understandable. Dad started to complain about the wait, he is diabetic though so I shrugged it, when the meals arrived they were excellent. My Aunty and I had the chorizo stuffed chicken and my Dad had the seafood hotpot. Dad isn't a fan of chilli but loved his meal which he had with gluten free bread. The chicken I had was cooked perfectly and the stuffing was amazing, there was a delicious sweet potato gratin style cake with delicious hints of cinnamon and nutmeg and some greens, among which I had 2 pieces of broccoli, one cooked properly although the other was raw and not hot.

Deserts were fantastic, I had the baked custard which was awesome and my family enjoyed their cheesecake and gelato respectively.

Service was prompt and polite, very professional and unintrusive.

Thank you for a...