Brisbane’s best business lunch venues: Port Office, Gambaro, Jumbo Thai, Blackbird Bar & Grill, Coppa

They are where the city’s movers and shakers make million dollar deals. Here are Brisbane’s top five restaurants where major business deals are sealed.

The art of the perfect business lunch takes years to perfect. Brisbane’s top-shelf restaurateurs have established themselves as the place to be seen doing business, or to serendipitously bump into those who are.

As business leaders return to offices, and dining tables, around the nation, we’ve selected what we believe to be the city’s top business restaurants for your dining and dealing pleasure

Port Office Hotel Dining Room

• 40 Edward St, Brisbane
• Modern Australian gastropub food
• Signature dish: Crumbed veal cutlets with duck fat roasted potatoes

Publican Nick Gregorski and partner Meagan Gregorski outside the Port Office Hotel. Picture: Jack Tran

Just a stroll from Brisbane’s Golden Triangle, the Port Office Hotel Dining Room (aka The Office) is a long-term CBD lunch and dinner favourite in property circles.

The historic two-level pub is part of Queensland folklore having survived floods, economic downturns and other catastrophes like a fire two years ago and last year the coronavirus pandemic.

Since taking over the pub four years ago with his wife Meagan, fifth generation Queensland publican Nick Gregorski says he tries to keep it casual and relaxed with that “country hospitality type of feel”.

And the dining room is no exception.

There are plenty of multimillion dollar deals struck over The Office’s traditional gastro food fare.

Agents, developers and those in between — a who’s who of Brisbane property industry — can tuck into a variety of dishes from steak and seafood to rotisserie chicken and duck, bangers and mash and pork belly to a “Nose to Tail” selection that features Longreach organic lamb’s liver, barbecue broccolini, mash, smoked bacon jus and caramelised onion.

Nick Gregorski behind the bar.

There are no big city prices with the most expensive dish at $49 its most popular — Parmesan and herb crumbed veal cutlet.

Nick’s not one to gossip about the big names who have dined at The Office but did let slip that when Fleetwood Mac were in town Mick Fleetwood and Neil Finn sat down for a couple of meals.Nick admits the property industry has been ‘fantastic for us”.

“There’s a lot of wheeling dealing and we know they’re doing business but we leave them alone. We set out to create a friendly atmosphere with that friendly feel so that you know that somebody cares about you when you walk in.”

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Jumbo Thai

• Level 1, 214 Elizabeth St, Brisbane
• Modern Thai
• Signature dish: Bao buns with crispy soft shell crab and whole crispy local snapper

Wasana and Andrew Park at their new restaurant Jumbo Thai. Picture: Tara Croser

This classy Asian eatery and bar in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD is run by Andrew Park and his Thai-born wife Wasana.

Mr Park, who is the honorary Queensland consul for Thailand and an ex-adviser to former foreign minister Alexander Downer, said the restaurant had become a popular haunt of Brisbane’s political and business elite since opening in July 2019.

“People like it because we are located upstairs so it’s a bit of a bolt hole,” said Mr Park.

“We have private rooms for diners.”

Regular diners include Clive Palmer, who has been known to have lunch followed by dinner at Jumbo Thai, and Liberal minister Peter Dutton. Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner also is a big supporter of the eatery along with Deputy Premier Steven Miles.

The city’s investment set, including staffers from local broking houses Morgans and Ord Minnett, regularly make a bee-line for Jumbo Thai to discuss the latest big deal.

Wasana learnt her trade as a kitchen hand at My Thai restaurant in Auchenflower, a Brisbane suburban dining institution, and ultimately was appointed manager.

Mr Park later joined his wife in opening their own restaurant, Siam Sunset in Sherwood, with more restaurants following in recent years.

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Coppa

• 1 Eagle Street, Brisbane
• Innovative Italian
• Signature dish: Bistecca alla Fiorentina with charred onion and horseradish

Tom Sanceau, the owner of Coppa at Eagle Street Pier. Picture: Steve Pohlner

It’s been a “go to” spot over nearly 30 years for the lawyers, accountants and other blue collar workers that fill the office towers lining the Brisbane CBD waterfront.

Trading under its former name Il Centro, the Eagle Street Pier eatery also became a drawcard for politicians and visiting celebrities, including the likes of U2, Geoffrey Rush and the late Phyllis Diller.

It was there that a regular patron, prolific Brisbane unit developer David Devine, had a famously long lunch with then-Leighton Holdings boss Wal King as the two men clashed over the ill-fated fusion of their two companies.

The dining institution, once renowned for its sand crab lasagne, recently changed hands but it still churns out some of the city's best Italian food.

Now rebadged as COPPA, the restaurant has retained its charm following a makeover from new owners The Happy Fat Group.

“When I walked into an empty Il Centro, I had to take it,” co-owner Tom Sanceau said.

“The views, the space, the lights, the feel of the building – there’s not many restaurants you get that much good energy from,and Il Centro was an institution.

“You think about how many people have had good times in the space, so I wanted to continue that legacy of a place where people can enjoy beautiful Italian food and wines.”

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Blackbird Bar & Grill

• 123 Eagle Street, Brisbane
• Modern Australian
• Signature dish: share plate of slow-cooked barbecue lamb shoulder

Blackbird Bar & Grill’s Adonis and Nehme Ghanem.

With a location and views second to none fronting the Brisbane River, is it any wonder this venue has acted like a magnet for generations of business people looking to do deals or unwind over a long, delicious lunch?

The multi-level space at the base of the Riverside Centre office tower has traded under several banners over the years but arguably never as successfully as it does now.

Savvy and successful brothers Adonis and Nehme Ghanem took over the space in 2014, renaming it Blackbird Bar & Grill.

Blackbird Bar & Grill’s interior offers stunning views.

Inspiration for the plush and polished fit out, they said, came from “the opulence of The Great Gatsby, the Roaring Twenties and the speakeasies of the Prohibition era.’’

That vibe, along with the superb views, have attracted the likes of Brisbane jobs training supremo Sarina Russo, along with fashion designer and TV presenter Alex Perry and actor Dan MacPherson.

The venue remains the stand-out performer in the growing Ghanem group, which also includes top flight destinations elsewhere in the city such as Donna Chang and Boom Boom Room Izakaya.

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Gambaro

• 33 Caxton St, Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
• Seafood
• Signature dish: Lobster Mornay and its seafood platter

John Gambaro at Gambaro Seafood Restaurant. Picture: Richard Walker

Situated within a stone’s throw of the famous Lang Park football ground, Gambaro Seafood Restaurant has been a family-run institution since the early 1950s.

The late Giovanbaptista Gambaro opened a fish and chip shop on Caxton St in 1953 after he moved to Australia from his hometown in Italy.

The Caxton Street takeaway quickly established a reputation for quality seafood. Gambaro is now the oldest established restaurant in Brisbane, run by three generations of the Gambaro family and a benchmark in fine dining.

Gambaro Seafood Restaurant's famous lobster mornay

It has become a must visit for every celebrity who has visited Brisbane in the past 60 years as well as an eclectic range of customers from doctors and lawyers to plumbers and sparkies. Starting with notable visits in the early days from Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Dolly Parton in more recent times Orlando Bloom, Ed Sheeran, Adam Lambert and Queen (the band) have enjoyed the seafood fare.

The restaurant also played host to several world leaders during 2014 G20 Brisbane including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and United Nations boss Ban Ki-moon, who both stayed at the hotel above the restaurant.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited during this period.

Originally published as Brisbane’s best business lunch venues: Port Office, Gambaro, Jumbo Thai, Blackbird Bar & Grill, Coppa