Elements - Yandina

What an amazing hidden treasure!! Service and food is amazing!!! Well worth the visit!

You guys are awesome.... always so accommodating and delicious food. What a lovely surprise you all did for Jodene! Thank you very much we appreciate it more than words can say xx

Casual Classy food and service with fantastic atmosphere set in the gardens

Elements Yandina, QLD. When describing terms such as hidden gem there should possibly be different distinctions to get the different points across for how the place is hidden, and the means that is can either be stumbled across or require some hearsay for a sharp eye to be out for it. This time around, you cannot really use that term: the restaurant Elements is located inside the Fairhill Native Nursery and is well publicised right from the entrance. Right on the back edge of the nursery, a cafe is situate. If you can believe it, the food here is actually good. Quite good in fact. There are two aesthetically pleasing dining options. First, the main one, is in a fitted out gazebo complete with a tiny kitchen; that is where we sat. The second option, which is always available as well, is out within the garden underneath some umbrellas. On Friday nights, bookings are recommended to get al fresco dinner dining right under the stars; with the fresh country air and a good equilibrium between cool shade and sunshine combined with the fresh country air who can blame you with choosing that option? The service is really friendly and outgoing, what more could you expect from regional Queensland? The waitresses will trade some friendly conversation and jokes, even recommending items and being helpful with questions concerning the menu. It is also really patient, as some members of the table were having a harder time trying to decide what to get. The range of items on the menu is really good, getting a fairly modern feeling with a diverse selection of foods to appease all the types of taste buds. Some of them are basic fare, while others are sophisticated. All the courses are served here, plus others, and there is a wine list as well. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Going in a group, it is easy to get a meal each that is unlike the rest of the orders; this is how it was so with the time I went here there were my parents, elder sister and her husband. To start off, three of the members ordered wines, another ordered ginger beer and I went for my usual order, coffee. Starting out, it was a muggacino extra shot offered and taken up. They use beans from Merlo as their blend. The coffee was well done, creamy in texture and had a good, flavoursome body on it. Take note, this is how you do a coffee in such a place. Onto the menu, there was some pre browsing before coming here. For me, with relatively little hesitation I went the dish of lamb 's brains. They came on a bed of mashed potato, sprinkled with pink peppercorns, and served with bacon, and spinach. The brains were in a sage infused crumbed coating. With all the sharing that is done around in the family, my elder sister was not going anywhere near the brains so she nicked a bit of the mash before it was contaminated by the meat. Everyone else tried a bit of it, even my mum who is not the most willingly adventurous eater. The brains were soft and chewy. In reality, brains like many organ meats do not have a whole lot of flavour, and are mostly texture. Brains are often crumbed as such, or sometimes put into scrambled eggs. I had had a bad experience after eating lamb 's brains before, and was willing to give it another go it was worth it. The coating had a sharp, kind of peppery spice to it; or that could be the combination with the peppercorns. The bed of potato was smooth, creamy without any lumps in it, the bacon was good and meaty with slight smokiness and the spinach rounded it off with a stewed, fresh texture and taste. There you have it, an adventurous dish for some done with no qualms. Upon the sharing, I managed to nick bits and pieces of the other meal. My brother in law got fish and chips, with the fish being battered whiting (that was how it was described on the menu). That was good, with the batter being similar tot tempura and the fish juicy and well cooked.The fries were also good, well cooked and crispy. With my sister 's vegie burger, it showed that some attention was paid to it on top of it there was cucumber, Spanish onion and a homemade beetroot relish; the patty itself was homemade. Like all the burgers on the menu, it came on a robust Turkish pide. From a few bites, this was done well and quite robust. My mum got the Mediterranean beef salad; with this dish, they actually used rib eye fillet and the quality shows with taste and texture. The selection of ingredients created a good range of tastes, complimenting each other well and being a balanced, substantial order think roasted beetroot, spinach, feta, Spanish onion, cherry tomatoes and brown lentils. Out of them all though, the finest was probably my dad 's order he got zucchini fritters with smoked salmon. These are so simple, yet have such a complex and refined flavour to them. Helping bring out the complimenting tastes was the dill bernaise finish on top. So, that was a fantastic and relaxed meal in one somewhat unlikely place. People were different variation of full, and the dessert menu did look appealing to everyone. Afterward the meal, it was time for a walk around the nursery and deciding what plants to buy. Afterwards was going to be the decision of whether to stay for sweets or leave for home. Well, guess which one was selected? Heck, this place screams coffee and cake or at least the traditional style country afternoon tea. Especially the one out underneath the umbrellas. With a second round, it was the just desserts. Each of the main desserts, for a set price, comes with a de facto coffee. One that I had also did, Devonshire Tea. A choice of scone with choice of basic coffee (I did ask if affogato was possible, and it was not). My choice was date and pumpkin scone. This came with jam and cream. There were two of them, able to be cut in half and (clumsily) have the toppings put on each half. It was soft, cakey and really warm. There were chunks of dates and pumpkin in the mixture, more cream than jam a raspberry flavour most likely. As it has been said before, some classic dishes are classics for a reason this is one that fits that criteria. For the second time around, the coffee proved to be just as good. The other dishes were as such: a fig and orange pudding, a raspberry and white chocolate muffin, the signature cheese cake: mango and macadamia cheesecake and a muesli cookie. Again, a good range of dishes with some of them having a good deal of sweetness and others being more tart in flavour. The fig and orange pudding was tart, and got the contrast with a caramel sauce poured over. Cheesecake is one of those ones where if you like it, it is almost unconditional the mango and macadamia were a good addition to its flavour with nutty flavours and the distinct notes of mango throughout the batter. The muffin was huge the size of a big fist and raspberry white chocolate is always a winning combination. The underdog of the lot even admitted by the one who ordered it was the muesli cookie. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, just comparing it to the aforementioned dessert dishes, well it is a cookie. Two for two! Elements has a number of aspects going for it, and the recommendation is to definitely seek it out. Unique might not be the word to describe it, but I can think of few places that are remotely similar. For great fare unarguably the most important aspect of an eating place it is recommended, with a good range to choose from. For settings, who the heck can argue? You are in the countryside, with little noise pollution and lots of bird noises and can have that afternoon tea experience depicted in so much English literature. Service? There is that as well, friendly and outgoing with real characters running the place. The people running the nursery even recommend it, and that is a good enough indication that it is worth your time.