Things to do in Brisbane
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Riverlife Adventure Centre
Opened in 2005, this diverse centre offers a wealth of river- and land-based activities. Group kayaking lessons along the Brisbane River are held daily at 1pm ($34), Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm ($45), or you can hire your own ($25 for 1½ hours). The paddle and prawns ($69; 1½ hours kayaking followed by beer and prawns on the riverfront deck) on Friday nights from 7pm gets rave reviews. On Thursdays at noon you can participate in traditional Aboriginal song and dance performances (adult/child $45/25) with members of the Nunukul, Yuggera, Yugimbir and Nugi tribes. Performances ($65 per person) are also held on Saturday at 7pm; bookings are essential.
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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.
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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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Breakfast Creek Hotel
In a great rambling building dating from 1889, this historic pub is a Brisbane institution. Built in French Renaissance style, the pub encompasses various bars (including a beer garden and an art-deco 'private bar' where you can still drink draft beer tapped from a wooden keg). The stylish, modern Substation No 41 bar serves boutique beers and cocktails.
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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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Treasury Building
At the western end of the Queen St Mall is the magnificent Italian Renaissance–style Treasury Building. Behind the lavish facade you won't find pin-striped bureaucrats and tax collectors, but rather spruikers and an entirely different kind of money spinner: Brisbane's 24-hour casino.
Opposite the casino across a grassy plaza stands the equally gorgeous former Land Administration Building, which has been converted to the five-star Treasury hotel.
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Gabba
Brisbanites are fanatical about sport, particularly the variety that involves ‘wielding the willow’ and ‘bowling a bouncer’. At the start of every summer, the first international test cricket match of the season is always played at the famous Gabba ground. The drama unfolds over five days, or there are shorter versions of the game to check out. One-day internationals and the slog-fest Twenty20 matches (lasting about three hours) are usually played between January and March.
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South Bank Parklands
This beautiful smear of green park, skirting the western side of the Brisbane River, is home to cultural attractions, fine eateries, small rainforests, hidden lawns and gorgeous flora. The standout attractions here are Streets Beach, a funky artificial beach resembling a tropical lagoon, and, behind the beach, Stanley Street Plaza, a renovated section of historic Stanley St, with shops, cafes and a tourist information centre.
On the eastern edge of the parklands is the Queensland Maritime Museum, which has a wide-ranging display of maritime adventures (and misadventures) along the coast. It's worth shelling out a little extra to tour the dry dock – the museum highlight is …
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Sciencentre
Often packed with school kids is the Queensland Museum's very fun Sciencentre, a hands-on science exhibit with interactive displays and optical illusions. Blast out of the blocks and check your speed in the 10m interactive dash or make your own whirlpool at the water world exhibits – it's an educational funhouse.
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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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St John’s Cathedral
East of Roma St Parkland heading towards Fortitude Valley is St John’sCathedral, a fine example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture. The building was recently completed according to its original design, 102 years after construction commenced.
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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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