Doll and dinner



LaBoite's new production of the Australian classic, 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' by Ray Lawler, provided an opportunity to check out St Jeromes at Kelvin Grove. It's located in what is known as the 'urban village' which is really just another name for a group of apartment buildings and shops around the Kelvin Grove QUT campus.

St Jeromes is a funky little restaurant with a bar and lots of comfy lounge seating and a bar inside and tables outside. The menu is not extensive but covers breakfast through to dinner and some dishes are available all day. All are designed for sharing and some are offered in platters which makes the whole process super simple. We chose a mains Taste Plate - which included salt and pepper squid, pumpkin risotto with seared local scallops, chargrilled marinated vegetables, warm bread, confit duck spring rolls and rosemary roasted potatoes. It was a great success except for the spring rolls which were a little oily. The pumpkin risotto and squid were especially delicious. We also shared some garlic prawns which were delicious.

The turkish delight ice cream which accompanied my partner's creme caramel was a definite hit with me (one spoonful only) but he found it overly sweet and a poor match.

St Jeromes also have some very reasonable lunch specials ($10.50) on the specials board which would be worth checking out, especially since it is so close to the city.

There's also noodle and sushi joints next door that we will visit on another occasion.

It's only a short walk to LaBoite but we drove up to see the play. There were some excellent performances and an air of nostalgia about the production that really brought home the essence of the era. Just loved that genoa lounge and the kewpie doll on a stick really took me back!

St Jeromes, Cnr Carraway & Ramsgate Sts, Kelvin Grove, 3831 2122, www.stjeromes.com.au
La Boite, Kelvin Grove, 3007 8600. www.laboite.com.au