The verdict on new Brisbane riverside brewery Felons

A brewery, bar and restaurant where can you sip beer fresh from the tank and eat pizza made in front of you while admiring river and city views is always going to be popular.

It was always going to be popular.

A brewery, bar and restaurant hovering on the edge of the Brisbane River where you can sip beer fresh from the tank and eat pizza made in front of you while admiring the water-rimmed cityscape.

And popular Felons Brewing Co certainly is. Since opening just over a fortnight ago at the new Howard Smith Wharves precinct along the cliff face between New Farm and Brisbane’s CBD, the gastropub of sorts has been busier than a supermarket checkout on Christmas Eve.

Patrons of all ages have been flocking to the long industrial shed flanked by a stunning crimson-hued kitchen at one end dominated by two wood-fired ovens, and stainless steel brewing tanks at the other. In between sits a mix of long, high tables and retro stools, banquette seating and the bar. While outside is the place to be with a dry bar running the length of the building facing the river, parallel to a row of timber tables of four.

It’s just as a brewery should feel: relaxed, open and inviting.

The menu echoes these laid-back vibes with easy dishes such as burgers, barbecued chicken, steak and traditional Italian-style pizzas, along with some more on-trend items and vegan options such as a broccoli and avocado bowl with cashew cheese and hot wings. But given its location, it’s no surprise that seafood dominates the offering, with everything from freshly shucked oysters and prawns with cocktail sauce to grilled Moreton Bay bugs and whole snapper.

New potato salad with green goddess dressing and smoked rainbow trout at Felons Brewing Co, Brisbane

And the quality of the fish is good. Very good. Our market fish – blue eye trevalla – ($30) comes fresher than a Calvin Klein underwear model, just cooked through with crispy skin sitting atop two stalks of vibrant broccolini with a good glug of extra virgin olive oil for a taste of the Mediterranean.

The market fish (blue eye trevalla) with broccolini at Felons Brewing Co, Brisbane

Meanwhile, a new potato salad ($21) – though cold rather than the described warm – is fabulous in its simplicity with a zesty green goddess dressing for spark and flakes of smoked rainbow trout for salt.

Chief pizzaiolo Gianluca Donzelli turns out earthy, rustic pizze with a charry, bubbly crust and that signature chew, with almost a wholemeal quality to the dough of our flavour-packed diavola loaded with yielding strips of red capsicum, black olives, tongue-tingling nduja and hot salami ($23).

The diavola pizza at Felons Brewing Co, Brisbane.

If you’re expecting pub food, it’s not. It’s restaurant food, priced accordingly, but worth it.

While the kitchen team may be turning out quality eats and all staff are very friendly and obliging, the problem with being so busy is staying on top of it all. Buckets of cutlery rest on tables, but ours and many around us miss either knives or forks requiring a recovery mission, menus are also scant and need to be sought out, and there’s no instructions as to whether or not there’s table service, and how to order.

What’s also strange is there seems to be no paddles for the beer flights. Four beers and a cider are currently being brewed on site, which you can try for $15. But with no paddles, it can end up difficult for staff – and patrons – to remember what’s what. It is, however, the best way to try the freshly brewed beers that sit alongside a quality but approachable wine list, dominated by quaffable Australian offerings at respectable prices.

It’s still very early days for Felons, and with time hopefully these issues are resolved, as this is one place you’ll want to spend your summer.

FELONS BREWING CO

Address 5 Boundary St, Brisbane

Web felonsbrewingco.com.au

Open Daily 11am-late

VERDICT

Food 8

Service 7

Ambience 8

Value 7