Brisbane restaurants: Hope & Anchor, Paddington, review

A NEWLY opened Brisbane gastropub has old-school comfort food aplenty. Between the chip butty and three-cheese ­toastie, it’s the perfect place to carbo-load during the Olympics.

Hope & Anchor is an all-purpose bolt­hole for a drink, a lunchtime sandwich or a hearty evening meal.

I HAVE found the perfect place to carbo-load during the Olympics. With a menu featuring a chip butty, a three-cheese ­toastie and shoestring fries with parmesan salt and tomato sauce, you can maximise your muscle glycogen stores with ease, ­particularly useful before endurance events such as tomorrow’s women’s marathon and next weekend’s men’s 42km canter.

The newly opened Brisbane gastropub (sounds like an after-effect of falling in the ocean in Rio) Hope & Anchor in inner-west Paddington’s Given Tce is the latest project by Jamie Webb and Simon Shearer, who ­established Sonny’s House of Blues in the CBD and Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall and Ginger’s Diner just a spud’s throw away up the road in Caxton St. The Hope & ­Anchor is in a heritage building that most recently housed The Lark, then the Shingle Inn. It was constructed in 1888 as a bakery, and the new fitout shows off the original fireplace and brick walls and teams them with leather banquettes, wooden ­tables and a warm, low-light vibe.

RETAILERS: Food lovers’ playground coming to Coast

The ground floor is small, with much of floor taken up by the bar – where you also order the food – but there is plenty of ­additional seating in an annex to one side, on the footpath and upstairs. Service isvery personable but there was something of a crush around the bar at times.

It’s not all ye olde English pub fare, ­though there are several old-school treats on the menu, which is divided into snacks/small bites and main courses. Our panko-crumbed fish fingers ($9) were rigid enough to use as relay batons and were just-right sidekicks to a drink, as were the luscious devils on horseback ($8), last seen on a menu in 1974.

The drinks list includes an array of cocktails, a shortish, well-priced wine list with a reasonable array by the glass, and an interesting selection of cider and beer including a Balter Alt Brown from Mick Fanning’s Currumbin brewery among those on tap.

Of the mains, minute steak with peppercorn sauce, shoestring fries and salad ($25) went well with a glass of perfectly decent house red ($6), an Adelaide Hills shiraz. The half baby chicken with truffled sausage gravy and Dutch cream mash ($25) was also excellent, rib-lining winter ­comfort food. Desserts are chocolate mousse with malted whipped cream and our choice, drunk orange cake with mascarpone (both $9). It was a decent enough slice of cake, ­although it could have done with being drunker, or perhaps a drenching in syrup to ramp up the moisture.

Hope & Anchor is an all-purpose bolt­hole for a drink, a lunchtime sandwich or a hearty evening meal, and seems on track to be a winner.

HOPE & ANCHOR

267 Given Terrace

Paddington

BOOK ph [phone]

SCORE OUT OF 10

FOOD: 7

AMBIENCE: 8

SERVICE: 7

VERDICT: Set sail to Paddington

Quaff with Des Houghton

HENSCHKE Johann’s Garden Grenache Mataro Shiraz 2015 ($56) is a crimson torrent of glorious briary, peppery, raspberry and plum flavours.

I think it is one of the lesser-known treasures from the remarkable Henschke clan. But who is the Johann elevated to such importance with his own label? No one in particular, as it turns out. There were many Lutheran pioneers of the Barossa Valley named Johann and this wine honours them all.

The Henschke family’s sense of history is everywhere. With talents and wisdom handed down by their forebears, the family produces some of the nation’s top vintages. Another appealing blend is Henschke Henry’s Seven Shiraz Grenache Mataro Viognier 2015 ($37) named in honour of Henry Evans, who planted the first vineyard (of 2.8ha) at Keyneton in 1853.

“He quickly developed a reputation for producing the best wines in the southern colony,” says Stephen Henschke, chief winemaker and head of the family. “Following Henry’s death in 1868, his widow Sarah exercised her temperance convictions by closing the winery and uprooting all the wine grapes.”

Henschke says Henry’s blend highlights the historical introduction of southern French and Spanish varieties to Australia and reflects the history, religion and culture of the Barossa.

Henschke’s fragrant Archer’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2015 ($35) has a rich palate featuring ripe stone fruits, a zesty acidity and a long, crisp finish. It was named in honour of Alan and Mary Archer of Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills, from where some of the best fruit is sourced.

Likewise, the H Henschke Croft Chardonnay ($47) is named for Frederick Croft, an early pioneer and orchardist, who was Henschke’s neighbour.

The Henschkes are at the top of their game, according to the latest wine rankings from James Halliday. The 2017 edition of Halliday’s Wine Companion (Hardie Grant) awards Henschke’s 2010 Hill of Grace ($699) 99 points and names it the nation’s top shiraz, a remarkable achievement in a crowded market, with all in the top 20 wines tasted scoring 98 or better. The family did not make a 2011 Hill of Grace. It reckoned the fruit simply wasn’t good enough.