The new South Brisbane restaurant so good you won’t want to leave
From an acclaimed team of hospitality gurus, this new bar-cum-restaurant serves up a winning package.
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We’re four dishes, a cocktail and a glass of wine down and we’re sufficiently full. But we want more. We’re not ready to stop.
Such have been the quality of the dishes to come before us, leaving now seems almost cruelly premature, like we’d be doing ourselves some kind of disservice not trying more of what this clearly talented kitchen is capable of.
We’re at Bar Rosa – the latest restaurant-cum-bar from the crew behind hugely popular Brisbane pizzerias Julius and Beccofino.
Bar Rosa is just around the corner from Julius – taking over the old Gauge site on Grey St in South Brisbane – and is built on what is essentially a collection of the two pizzeria’s greatest hits dishes – minus the pizza.
That means stuzzichini: Italian snacks, nibbles and small plates which have graced the menus of their sibling restaurants and come out as crowd pleasers.
Think rosemary focaccia, fried zucchini flowers with ricotta; prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella, tuna crudo and grilled calamari.
There are two pastas too: a linguine with tiger prawns and a pasta of the day; plus a trio of mains: a fish of the day, veal saltimbocca and a steak. It’s the type of venue you could come to and dine traditionally a la carte in a hurry before a show at QPAC across the road, or instead graze leisurely into the night over platters of Italian cheese, crumbed olives and fried bread.
It’s also the type of venue – warm, cosy and intimate with rich timbers and modest lighting – that calls for great drinks. And, thankfully, it delivers on this front too.
Beverages spill across two A5 pages. There’s the traditional Italian aperitivo to start. Campari and soda say, or perhaps an Aperol spritz. Five beers – two Italian and one non-alcoholic; house signature cocktails (the “Full Monty” is a winner); and wine – 27 in total, most Italian, most by the glass or 375ml carafe and all designed to be delicious with food.
Our endearing, well-rehearsed waitress recommends the Bera Barbera d’Alba – a juicy, light-bodied, versatile red that works well with everything from our spinach and goat’s cheese croquettes ($5 each) to our classic veal saltimbocca ($41). As for those croquettes, they’re the type you could smash faster than a drunken 20-year-old with a box of nuggets at 2am on a night out. But, of course, with infinitely more satisfaction. Their oozy, salty centre and crisp crumbed exterior even better when dipped in the thimble-size pot of aioli.
Not to be outshone is the achingly tender octopus ($22) straight from Julius’s menu, served with slivers of green olives and celery, lemon juice, oregano and a great olive oil. It’s strikingly uncomplicated, with its success entirely dependent on execution, for which it scores top marks.
That saltimbocca is also a heart stealer, with three pieces of thinly hammered veal traditionally dotted with sage and wrapped in prosciutto cooked until just tender and soaking in a lemon butter sauce that will kill you from either happiness or cholesterol. Then there’s the linguine with diced up tiger prawns, thin quarters of zucchini, chilli and garlic ($30). The pasta is textbook al dente and the heat from the chilli is just enough to enter addictive territory.
Our bonus dish, brought on by greed, appreciation and curiosity, and selected by our playful waiter’s flip of a coaster when we can’t decide between two of his recommendations, is the veal and pork meatballs ($16). Softer than a stress ball, they’re served alongside three charred, bar-marked slices of focaccia and lathered in a salty, bitey tomato sugo you’ll want the recipe for. It was worth being greedy.
Boasting food and drink you can’t walk away from, Bar Rosa is another winner for the successful hospitality team behind it, but even more so, the diners who visit.
Bar Rosa
2/77 Grey St, South Brisbane
3532 3801
Open
Tue-Wed 5-9.30pm; Thu-Sat 5pm-10.30pm
Must eat dish
Octopus
Verdict – Scores out of 5
Food 4.5
Service 4.5
Ambience 4
Value 4
Overall 4.5
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