Catfish is the only Ballarat venue to be shortlisted in the inaugural Australia’s Top Restaurants Awards, founded by Fairfax Media. 

Damien Jones’ Thai restaurant is one of the 500 venues to be shortlisted.

Each shortlisted restaurant is then invited to cast a vote of their top 10 restaurants in order of preference. These votes will create the first annual list of Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants.

“It is fantastic to be nominated; there are some fantastic restaurants in there,” Mr Jones said.

“Just to be nominated among those rest-

aurants is great, we are very pleased to be recognised.” 

Catfish opened about two years ago on Main Road, Bakery Hill. 

Mr Jones said his restaurant’s innovative menu could have led to the nomination.

“I think it’s to do with our style of food, the integrity of the food and our focus on authentic ingredients,” he said. “We do things differently to other restaurants. We make fresh curry pastes and coconut creams on site.”

Catfish has been nominated along with Melbourne’s illustrious Vue de Monde and Flower Drum for the award. The results will be announced on May 18 at a gala event in Melbourne.

Australia’s Top Restaurants is a new awards and dining program from The Australian Financial Review.