Brisbane restaurants: Mrs Brown’s Bar & Kitchen review, Newstead

The service within the casual confines of this popular kitchen and bar in a trendy inner-Brisbane suburb is spot-on, but the menu is where things get quirky.

In a perfect world we’d all look something like Brad Pitt or Uma Thurman, we’d be smart as whips and as genial as cocker spaniels. I’d have wings.

And in that same world, Mrs Brown’s would have everything spot-on. My goodness I want to love the place.

It reads like the perfect venue for me to imbibe an Asian-laden menu (but not exclusively so, and some of it oddly, potentially creatively morphed), plenty of good craft beer, laid back, inexpensive.

Mrs Brown's Bar & Kitchen, Newstead.

But there’s a misstep in the kitchen, a recklessness, that just holds things back.

And in that same world, Mrs Brown’s would take the great idea that spawned it, and tweak things to make it sail serenely.

It’s a casual place – order at the bar, the food comes to you.

And the service within those casual confines is spot-on – very engaging, sharp-eyed, swift and knowledgeable. A good friend (who loves the place) calls it impeccable hospitality and I know what she means.

The space occupied by Mrs Brown's Bar & Kitchen was previously home to Blue Sky Coffee.

I doubt you could visit Mrs Brown’s and feel even a little neglected. And, oddly enough, that is something of a rarity.

Some places make you feel like you should be sending them roses for allowing you to dine there; others make you want to send both a hitman and a TAFE hospitality lecturer.

Mrs Brown’s has nailed that side of things.

And it does its stuff in a bustling, bright, warehouse-ish space that was previously home to Blue Sky Coffee, remodelled with high bars and comfy banquettes and airconditioned.

It feels relaxed, a little bit homely, incredibly welcoming.

Some of what’s on offer on the Mrs Brown’s menu.

I get an Aether IPA off tap (absolutely delicious), which speaks volumes to the drinks list.

It’s contemporary, thoughtful and totally in keeping with the nature of the venue; nothing too eclectic, but at the same time sporting a quirky line-up that goes from Assyrtiko to Beaujolais, Jasper Hill riesling to Dom Perignon. Is Dom eclectic or merely expensive?

The menu is where things get quirky, often playing with multiple cultures in a single dish. Like, for example, a roast pork taco ($9) that uses paratha (Indian) instead of a tortilla, with kimchi (that’s Korean) and Japanese mayonnaise. Wow, four cuisines in one.

And it tastes surprisingly good, thanks mostly to the kimchi.

Then the paratha theme is continued as pancakes doubled with Middle Eastern accompaniments.

Mrs Brown's Bar & Kitchen, Newstead.

I can’t quite decide if there’s method to the madness, or if it’s simply difference for the sake of being different.

Osso bucco massaman curry (there we go again) is solid – there is better massaman to be found, but at $19 a shot it’s not bad, and I guess we have lived through and embraced lamb shoulder in a traditionally beef-centric dish.

But crispy eggplant on spicy fragrant sauce ($12) just doesn’t cut it: too salty, too aggressive, the eggplant lost in batter and spice. It’s a good idea that needs refining.

So we have a casual restaurant with a lot to offer in terms of interest, imagination and, crucially, hospitality.

What the menu gains in quirk, it loses in execution, and it could – with just a little pulling on the reigns – be excellent.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 7

Drinks: 7.5

Vibe: 7

Service: 8.5

MRS BROWN’S BAR & KITCHEN

32 Commercial Rd, Newstead

Lunch and dinner daily