Howard Smith Wharves: Stanley restaurant review

One of the newest additions to Howard Smith Wharves’ eclectic mix of restaurants and bars is definitely worth a visit despite some stiff competition nearby.

Let’s take Brisbane’s fancy, Caucasian owned and operated Chinese restaurants – all geared to a largely Caucasian inner-city crowd – and pop all of them on to a level playing field: no river lapping at the door, no lavishly redecorated old bank building massaging your mood.

How do they stack up on food, drink and service alone?

Stanley’s exotic interior sets the scene for a mix of Cantonese and Japanese dishes.

It’s a question that’s top of mind as I write this, a mere hour since leaving Stanley – the quasi-Cantonese jewel in the Howard Smith Wharves eat-drink precinct.

Goodness, I have stared at that building since my days at Friday’s nearly three decades ago and longed for it to house a restaurant. Now it does.

And it’s lovely – dark and sombre, kind of opium den meets restaurant, with some Chinese cues (birds hanging from hooks, chilli and soy sauces on the tables, chopsticks), a private room upstairs, kitchen, dining room and an outdoor terrace.

I was expecting a bit more Chinese pomp, but hey … it’s on the river and it’s a good-looking restaurant.

The dim sum platter at Stanley.

There’s a big wine list if you feel like something lavish or something not, plus cocktails, a few beers (from the nearby Felons Brewing Co) and soft drinks.

Things aren’t strictly Chinese.

In fact Japanese dominates the appetiser section – sashimi; kingfish with tosazu; cucumber, snow pea, enoki and sesame.

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It’s a little perplexing given the Cantonese stance of the place and the wealth of small dishes available within that genre.

My party consists of three 12-year-old boys and myself, so we dine in extremes.

There is sweet and sour pork, fried rice, and salt and pepper squid for the boys.

For the old bloke, it’s ma-pao chicken; silken egg custard and a dish of eggplant, fish-fragrant-sauce and sesame.

Peking duck with pancakes.

We all try everything, and everything gets a tick.

I even liked the sweet and sour pork ($24). It’s not too sweet, the sour is a feature, it’s good meat and the vegies (pineapple, onion and capsicum) have crunch. Nicely done.

But it’s the Szechuan dishes – the eggplant ($16) and the kung pao chicken ($28) – that really have my attention.

Kung pao should be nagged by Szechuan pepper – a cool heat, like peppermint, but so much better, and slightly numbing.

It’s there, subtly so, but enough to stop me in my tracks and make me look deeper into the dish, its sauce and its complexities.

I want it hotter, but given the balmy summer day (we are on the terrace) I’m already sweating, and there’s a lot to love in this plate of chicken without more heat.

The “splice” dessert at Stanley.

Is the eggplant better? Nope, but it’s still very good.

It doesn’t have the chillies or the peppers, but it’s sweet and salty, soft and crunchy, heightened by coriander.

Stanley is good, but not great and not the best of its fancy gang that includes Donna Chang and Little Valley.

The locale is special, the food lovely if a little diluted – as you’d expect for the market – and I walk away feeling like I’ve been in a play that’s set in a Chinese restaurant.

Which, I reckon, is exactly as planned.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 7.5

Drinks: 8.5

Vibe: 8.5

Service: 7

STANLEY

Howard Smith Wharves,

5 Boundary St, city

Ph: 3558 9418

Lunch and dinner daily