Toowoomba Restaurants

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Located in one of Toowoomba’s Historic Homes, Clifford House, Gips Restaurant is a top class dining establishment offering modern Australian cuisine using the best fresh local ingredients. “Modern Australian Cuisine” involves taking those products and treating them with the best elements of International Cuisine to produce taste and texture combinations above and beyond the mundane.

The dining area of the restaurant is divided into sections. What was originally the billiard room of the old house provides an indoor dining room. Off this room is a covered courtyard with outlook over the gardens and adjacent are umbrella covered areas in the garden itself. Next door in the main bulding is a large function room which was catering for a wedding on the night of our visit. We chose to dine in the courtyard adjacent to the gardens. With trees and rock features subtly lit it proved to be a romantic setting for dinner for two. Entertainment was provided by the band in the function room.
Open 7 days - Monday to Friday from 9am for breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee & cocktails anytime
Saturday: open at 11.30am for lunch - afternoon tea and dinner
Sunday: open at 11.30am for lunch
The dinner menu offers 4 starters including garlic bread($8) and bruschetta ($11); 5 entrees ranging in price from $13 to $22. The former being Chef’s soup of the day: the latter Tandoori spiced tiger prawns, pawpaw & coriander salsa.
Mains: 6 choices - $29 to $37.5. covering most food groups: sea food, beef, lamb, duck, pasta for vegetarians.
For big eaters mains can be supplemented with a choice of five side dishes ($8.5)
Some yummy sounding desserts $14 and cheese platters ($12-20) round out the menu.
The drinks list provides a good range of Australian and some imported wines.
I usually list the sparkling wines available in my reviews so readers can make a comparison. At Gips the sparklings listed are Sparkling Grandin Brut– 200 ml bottle N/V France $11, Taltarni ‘T’ Brut N/V Victoria $33, Jansz N/V Tasmania $44.5.
Champagne - Ayala Zero Dosage Brut N/V France $115, Ayala – 375 ml N/V France $62.
About two dozen choices of still white wine by the bottle are available cheapest just under $30 and approx. 3 dozen reds are available : cheapest bottle about $35. Nearly all varietals and wine styles are catered for. BYO is allowed with an $8.5 corkage fee.

The service staff were better than average: both attentive and knowledgeable.
There is plenty of parking on the street outside and at the rear of the extensive property.

Favorite Dish: We chose to share a starter of Duck liver pate, housemade with juniper & thyme cured duck breast & rocket dressed with orange & hazel nut on the side. ($22).
Before our starter arrived we were served a complementary amuse bouche of the chefs soup of the day - spiced cauliflower. It tasted delicious and I was tempted to try more.
Wine choice was a bottle of Taltarni ‘T’ Sparkling Brut Non Vintage Victoria $33. Taltani 'T' proved to be an excellent choice with starter and main meals.
For main course, Madam selected Pan seared barramundi with a green herb crust, saffron gnocchi, green asparagus & red pepper harissa ($35) and he chose Moreton Bay Bug ravioli with seared tiger prawns, asparagus & pancetta in a spicy vermouth cream sauce.
The bill came to 140 dollars which included 10% tip.
To say that we were satisfied with our meals is an understatement. The taste, presentation and size of meals were top notch. Actually, my wife judged the barra with green crust and the red pepper as, "Best ever!" We would not hesitate to recommend Gips.
I’m looking forward to returning on our next road trip to Toowoomba.

My friend had butter chicken and I had lamb korma (the two mildest curries on the menu) but both curries were waaaaay hotter than we anticipated. It looked quite delicious and the serve was a good size. I really liked how they had decorated their restaurant. Service was a little relaxed. It took a while to get noticed for water, menus, and taking our order and we were starving.

Favorite Dish: The naan, because it was edible. I don't have much of a tongue for chilli.

On a Sunday this was one of the few places that was open for trade. We had some great fairtrade coffees and slices of sourdough with strawberry and lime jam. Not too $$$ for this kind of wholesome stuff. I just loved the decor also, and the art on the walls that was for sale. Just such a touch of modern in such an antique town.

Favorite Dish: Well, I really only had some toasted sourdough... I was interested in the Agave Nectar tho, which is a honey replacement.

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Photo 1 Westlake Chinese Restaurant
Photo 2 Tank full of friends? That’s fishy!
Photo 3 Scallops and Ginger
Photo 4 Mongolian Beef stir fry.

We both needed a good Chinese meal, so on the recommendation of the motel owner, we went to the Westlake. It is under one km away in Anzac Avenue, opposite the Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre. The setting was quite intriguing: an old Queenslander style house has been gutted and refurbished with arches and various Chinese style trimmings. Overall, though distinctly novel, the result worked quite well.

We were shown to a table near the entrance, where I watched a steady stream of patrons for both restaurant meals and take-aways. The amount of patronage suggested that this was a popular venue. Nearer to the door was a large tank of fish. A lady from the kitchen arrived with a net and, before I could raise my camera, scooped up a fish and returned from whence she had come. At the next table, a very small girl asked where the lady had taken the fish: the best her mother could say was “she took it to the kitchen to join its friends”. Well, I guess she was right! The service was good to the extent that our orders were taken promptly and the food arrived very soon after – unfortunately, after that, we saw no more of the serving staff!

Favorite Dish: So, to the food. We both ordered soups and both enjoyed them. As main courses, we had Scallops with Ginger (photo 3) and Mongolian Beef (photo 4). After some ‘interesting’ experiences in the past, we tend to be a little wary of Chinese meals in country towns, but all the food was quite acceptable indeed. To be a little picky, the scallops were slightly salty to our taste and the beef a little oily, but on the positive side the accompanying vegetables were suitably fresh and cooked well. The accompanying steamed rice was just about right.

Yes, we would be happy to endorse this restaurant should you be seeking a Chinese meal in Toowoomba. The price below is approximate for a typical main course.