Inside Brisbane’s most expensive Melbourne Cup lunch

Cocktails, caviar and champagne – some of Brisbane’s most luxe restaurants are offering expensive packages for the race that stops the nation, and tickets are flying out the door.

Oysters, caviar, cocktails, champagne and some of Australia’s best steak – welcome to Queensland’s most expensive Melbourne Cup lunch at $395 per head.

The extravagant celebration is being held at hugely popular Brisbane restaurant SK Steak & Oyster in the luxe Calile Hotel precinct and sold out in just 36 hours to some of the city’s wealthiest diners.

“At SK we have a premium customer who spends this kind of money anyway so for some people it might actually end up being a cheap day,” restaurateur Simon Gloftis said. “But you definitely get your money’s worth.”

The four-hour food and drinks package will be enjoyed by 100 deep-pocketed diners and includes platters of oysters and prawns, caviar, Stockyard beef, and Glacier 51 toothfish that normally sells for around $100/kg; plus an Aperol spritz station, champagne on arrival, wine and beer.

Simon Gloftis says tickets have sold out for Melbourne Cup events at his restaurants SK Steak & Oyster and Hellenika. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Gloftis said there were no complaints about the price of the tickets, and he even expected customers to happily splash extra cash on additional bottles of booze not included in the package.

But it’s not just Melbourne Cup Queenslanders are splurging on, with SK running a $395 Derby Day package on October 30, which also sold out in just a matter of hours, with many ticket holders set to attend both functions.

“With no one going anywhere (because of the pandemic), the customers made sure they bought really quickly – afraid to miss out,” Mr Gloftis said.

In fact, his other restaurant, Hellenika upstairs at the Calile Hotel, proved even more popular with its $295 per person package selling out in just 1.5 hours to about 300 guests.

“We could have sold out Hellenika three times over,” Mr Gloftis said. “The way things have been the past two years, people just want to come out and celebrate.”

Meanwhile, other Brisbane venues are also expecting a bumper Melbourne Cup with Queenslanders unable to head to Victoria for the big day. Fortitude Valley heavy hitters Bianca and Same Same are serving up a $249 per person package; Agnes will host a $295 per head event, Gemelli Italian and Greca will charge $250, while Howard Smith Wharves contemporary Chinese restaurant Stanley is offering a $349 banquet including caviar and vodka on arrival.