Restaurants in Brisbane
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Three Monkeys Coffee House
A family business for 14 years, Three Monkeys serves it up supersized – piping hot coffee and spicy chai come in soup bowls. Hide away in the cosy den, or wolf down your chocolate cake on the bench outside.
reviewed
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Fatboy’s Café
The $4 breakfast at Fatboy’s is legendary: eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato and toast served any time (add just $1 after 5pm). It’s easily the best value hangover cure in town and it’s located smack bang in the action in the Brunswick St Mall.
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Mecca Bah
You can't book at this swanky Middle Eastern-themed restaurant, but that's OK because it serves great cocktails while you wait. If you're with friends then choose a pile of dishes to share: the Lebanese sausages and chickpea battered mussels are particularly yummy, as are the lamb pizzas.
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Tibetan Kitchen
Launch into a variety of zingy curries at this colourful restaurant serving Tibetan, Sherpa, Indian and Nepalese food. For larger groups, the banquet is the way to go. Afterwards, the Brunswick St Mall nightlife is a short stroll downhill.
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Watt
On the lower level of the Powerhouse arts precinct, Watt serves award-winning modern Australian fare. Start with the Queensland spanner crab or crispy duck salad before moving on to lamb striploin, seafood pasta or the daily catch perfectly grilled.
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Mondo Organics
Using the highest-quality organic and sustainable produce, Mondo Organics earns top marks for its delicious seasonal menu. Recent hits include pumpkin, leek and ricotta tortellini; lamb rack with wild mushroom risotto; and ocean trout with shaved fennel and saffron-infused mashed potatoes.
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Gunshop Cafe
A beautiful repurposing of a former gun shop with exposed-brick walls, sculptural ceiling lamps and an inviting back garden. Locally sourced menu changes daily, with favourites like eggs Benedict with vodka-cured ocean trout, grass-fed rib fillet with roast mushrooms, and grilled emperor with braised leek and bacon.
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Kookaburra Café
A gigantic 50-piece pizza, supposedly Australia’s biggest, is slightly oversized unless you’re in a group of 10 (or attempting a Guinness world record), so lucky there’s regular-sized pizza, pasta and salads here too. The outdoor courtyard makes dining in worthwhile.
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Little Larder
It's worth searching out this lovely café, and not just because it makes damn fine coffee. Try the thick French toast or pesto scrambled eggs and you'll soon understand what all the real fuss is about.
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New York Slice
New York Slice's enormous slices of tasty pizza are perfect for everyone from budget-conscious travellers to clubbers on their way home in the early hours of the morning.
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Verve Café
This cavernous bar-cafe-restaurant where the cool kids hang has work by local artists for sale on the exposed brick walls. Food is modern Italian – blue-cheese risotto, and goats-cheese gnocchi are the big sellers. There’s acoustic music on Thursday nights and DJs on Friday nights.
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Customs House Brasserie
Few restaurants in Brisbane have open-air settings quite like the majestic Customs House, overlooking the Brisbane River and Story Bridge. The Queensland prawn and crab tian with roasted tomato and avocado, and the seared scallops are divine options. Go on, splash out.
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Ben's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant
There's a reason people flock to this Asian diner at weekends and it's not just for the food. Up to 300 people come here on Friday and Saturday nights drawn by a shared love of spring rolls and karaoke. Everyone - and we mean everyone - gets up to sing.
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Vespa Pizza
No chance of a boring selection like the big pizza chains here: Vespa’s wood-fired varieties are certainly unique. Big sellers include the streaky bacon and red currant with camembert, and the cinnamon roast butternut pumpkin with dried chilli and feta.
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Continental Café
The ‘Continental classics’ menu is the popular pick at this busy European-themed cafe, including a delicious soy-lime chicken breast with coconut risotto and steamed bok choy. Tasty veg options include spinach lasagne with grilled spring vegetables.
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Sassafras
This delightful little cafe, great for vegetarian options, has good-value meals for those on a tight budget. Scrambled tofu on Turkish bread goes down well, or the goats-cheese omelette with roast capsicum and spinach will fill the gaps.
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Pandemonium Café
This is a fun '70s-style café filled with op-shop tables, battered vinyl sofas and crocheted cushions. Breakfast is served all day but there are also home comfort foods such as sandwiches, burgers, and bangers and mash.
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Govindas
Cheap and healthy Hare Krishna eats; expect to queue at lunchtime for the popular $10 all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet. Smiley staff also serve snacks, salads and desserts.
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E'cco
One of the finest restaurants in the state, award-winning E'cco is a must for any culinary aficionado. Masterpieces on the menu include Milly Hill lamb rump with baby beetroot, roast pumpkin, blue cheese and pine nuts. The interior is suitably swish and you'll need to book well in advance.
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Iceworks
You guessed it: this place was formerly an ice factory (1926–96) and reopened as a swanky bar-lounge-restaurant in 2008 with cool light-blue-and-white modern decor. Coffin Bay shucked oysters or Szechuan spiced calamari are popular shared-food options, or sit back with your sparkling white and gaze out through the enormous bi-fold windows towards Suncorp Stadium.
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Garuva Hidden Tranquillity Restaurant & Bar
This genuine gem of the Valley restaurant scene has the ultimate chilled-out vibe: dimly lit private booths with cushioned seating are partitioned with white silk curtains. All dishes are the same price including the delicious lamb curry and warm Thai beef salad. The cocktail bar out the back is a good option if you missed out on a booking (essential).
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The Deli New Farm
Everything on the menu at this innovative, fully licenced restaurant is organic, including the export-grade meats. The urban timber surrounds provide a contemporary environment in which to savour wonderful meals made from the best produce on offer. The menu caters to vegetarians, vegans and the wheat- or dairy-compromised.
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Tukka
If you don’t mind eating animals that are on Australia’s coat of arms, this upmarket restaurant serves them up with flair. Emu and kangaroo fillet are mains, or for something lighter, chow down on the Tasmanian possum entrée. Tried crocodile? Here’s your chance.
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Burger Urge
Among the city's best burgers, with a wealth of options: lamb; chicken, avocado and bacon; classic beef; and vegie options (grilled tofu, portabello mushroom, aubergine and goat's cheese). Good milkshakes too.
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Spoon Deli Espresso
Breezy and unpretentious, this small health-food cafe serves up chunky fruit salads and vegie breakfasts for city workers. Watching what you eat? There are fresh juices and low-fat foods aplenty; tarts and slices too for a sugar hit.
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