Eagle Street Pier restaurants: Pony Dining Brisbane review

With a whiff of country juxtaposed with views of the city skyline, this long-established Brisbane riverside haunt is certainly no one-trick pony. But would the food stack up if it weren’t for that spectacular view? Our reviewer has the verdict.

If you picked Pony up by its handles, whisked it away from its inner-city riverside haunt and landed it somewhere less salubrious, what would it have left?

Well the parking wouldn’t be quite so extortionate for starters.

Honto wins People’s Choice in delicious.100 annual competition

Delicious 100: Queensland’s top 10 fine dining restaurants

Delicious 100: Top 5 steak restaurants in Queensland

But would the food, the place and the people stack up without the ritzy view and the critical mass of the inner-city work force?

I reckon it would.

There’s more to Pony than mere site.

It’s a well considered, intriguing space with an open kitchen as the centrepiece and wood, concrete and cowhides adding just a whiff of country air to an otherwise distinctly urban environment.

Pony Dining Brisbane. Picture: Peter Wallis

And the service is everything you expect from a long-established, CBD restaurant — sharp, attentive (at times perhaps too much so) and friendly.

But better than looks and better than an affable staff is the thought behind the menu.

It doesn’t seem to follow any common logic, genre or culture, it just does its own thing.

And at times that thing is very, very good.

Like spaetzle ($24) with parma ham, sheep’s cheese, celeriac and truffle somewhere in the mix.

MORE TO MUNCH:

Ivory Tusk, Fortitude Valley review

Port Office Hotel review

Brisbane Phoenix Chinese Restaurant review

It ticks all of the pleasure boxes; truffle nicely woven — no 1990s overload — and celeriac pureed, crumbs of some sort, the cheese in sheets over the top. It’s rich, textural and very satisfying.

And massive tiger prawns ($32) — four halves, perfectly grilled, on a puddle of seaweed oil and verjuice, fermented chilli in a pool right where the red spot would be if it were a red-spot prawn (except it’s inside, not out).

Pork Jowl. Pony Dining Brisbane. Picture: Peter Wallis

I have been accused of not being able to write an article without mentioning pork belly.

It’s not true, but I do have a thing for pork (and, for the record, almost every other cut trumps belly) so I’m like a pit-bull on a poodle when I see slow-cooked pork, roast pear, barley and lemon thyme ($37).

It’s a nicely conceived dish, especially the barley — far more interesting than a quenelle of mash — but it’s probably the least impressive dish of the day; the meat a bit chewy and wanting another hour or two in the heat.

It’s totally outclassed by a grilled (over coals) half knobby snapper, on a mix of sobrasada and beans (navy perhaps?) It’s simple and delicious.

The butterflied Knobby Snapper from Pony Dining Brisbane.

The chef seems to have a thing for grains and pulses, and they add a dimension to the food that I really like — texture and a kind of wholesomeness.

For a place that seems so well conceived, it manages to list 20 beers (and ciders) that hardly veer from the wastelands.

Aside from two Belgians, Little Creatures is about the most exotic thing available … wow. The wine list is better, branching across the globe and spanning all sorts of prices and styles.

In short, Pony ticks a lot of boxes, and not in a mundane, also-ran kind of way.

It’s clever polished and I reckon it would easily thrive without the river views.

But there it is, the river lapping its feet, which is merely the icing on the cake.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 8 Drinks: 7.5

Vibe: 9 Service: 8

PONY DINING BRISBANE

Level 1, Eagle Street Pier, city

Ph: 3181 3400

Chef: Chris Mann

Lunch and dinner Mon-Sat