Queensland cocktails and Warwick steak: Local touch impresses at The Lex

A new riverfront restaurant goes big on inventive cocktails brewed from local ingredients as well as local produce.

The Lex at the W Hotel.

I wasn’t expecting to take a trip up the hinterland when I arrived at the new The Lex restaurant in the five-star W Brisbane hotel on Brisbane’s North Quay.

But that’s the title of the gin rickey cocktail ($23), brewed from Mt Tamborine Cauldron Mountain Gin, Davidson Plum Gin from Wolf Lane in Cairns, house-made pompelmocello (like limoncello but with grapefruit), eucalyptus and elderberries, with a shot glass of Strange Love soda on the side.

It’s a journey around the regions I’m keen to experience and while the drink arrives looking rather unappealing served in a pottery cup, it’s not bad despite a slightly medicinal taste.

The Lex, the new restaurant at Brisbane’s W Hotel

Other cocktail possibilities include a martini with Summerland camel vodka from the Scenic Rim and an old fashioned with aguardiente (a Colombian liquor) brewed at Brisbane’s Milton Rum Distillery. I love the inventiveness and embrace of local produce at this replacement for the Three Blue Ducks, which flew the coop at the end of last year.

The lighthearted touch continues with the snacks on chef Pawel Klodowski’s menu, apparently largely inspired by the steakhouses of New York.

We bypass the entrees – say smoked maple and bourbon pork belly or Tasmanian ocean trout – for a terrific octopus hotdog ($22), the tender barbecued flesh enlivened by gochujang (Korean-style chilli paste), spring onion and fresh apple and lodged in a soft bun.

Three charcoal eclairs, black and crisp, are filled with Mooloolaba prawn rillettes blinged with chilli, pops of finger lime and celeriac remoulade ($17), and these are also a fine introduction. Tater tots (small cylinders of grated potatoes) too sound like a good idea, elevated as they are here with Avruga caviar and creme fraiche ($16).

The Lex’s Tasmanian ocean trout

Main courses include free-range Gooralie pork cutlet ($45), BBQ Mooloolaba prawns ($46), a wagyu cheeseburger ($38) and a cauliflower steak ($37) as well as three steaks including an eye fillet and a tomahawk.

The fish option is Rocky Point cobia ($47), produced at an aquaculture farm halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and dry aged. It’s not unappealing but has a smoother texture and taste that I’m not sure I prefer to the freshly caught, but the herb and macadamia nut crust is crunchy and teams well.

A 250g MB3 Warwick flatiron steak ($52) has been well rested and arrives almost too cool but with a lovely charry exterior and tender flesh, smoked bone marrow and charred shallots and a deeply flavoured jus. I’m not offered mustards but I later see a selection arriving at an adjacent table.

The lex flatiron steak

The plates are otherwise bare and sides include a $28 caesar salad made tableside on a trolley (the neighbours seem very enthusiastic about this), mac and cheese ($18), roasted heirloom carrots ($19) and French fries ($16), which are hot and crisp but nothing out of the ordinary. The sides are among items that appear fairly steeply priced, joining oysters that are $7.50 each, and by-the-glass wines, ranging from a Marlborough sauvignon blanc for $15 up to a $58 Californian chardonnay.

The dessert list is short and all are $19, with the option of a peanut butter chocolate bombe, eucalyptus honey and pine nut parfait, and a delightful individual pavlova with coconut meringue working as a dam wall to encase an exuberant cream, lychee and raspberry centre.

The panoramic views out across the river to South Bank and QAGOMA remain, although the capacious interior has been made over, with moody colours, rattan-backed chairs at bare tables, and through the floor-to-ceiling glass, more settings sprawled across the terrace.

Service is helpful and it seems that The Lex is settling in nicely to its role as a hotel restaurant straddling the line between offering three meals a day to guests as well as functioning as a high-end diner with a penchant for local goods.

delicious.com.au/eatout

THE LEX
Level 3, W Brisbane, 81 North Quay, Brisbane

3556 8833

thelexbrisbane.com

Open

Mon 6.30-10.30am Tue-Thu 6.30-10.30am, 5.30-9pm
Fri 6.30-10.30am, noon-3pm, 5.30-10pm Sat 7-10.30am, noon-3pm, 5.30-10pm
Sun 7-10.30am

Must try

Octopus hotdog

Verdict

Food 3.5 stars

Service 3.5 stars

Ambience 4 stars

Value 3 stars

Overall

3.5/5 stars