The perfect Brisbane bar for dinner and social distancing
Are you easing your way back into dining out? At this Brissie venue not only are you able to socially distance with ease, but the food and drinks are a winner.
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There are kangaroo croquettes that look like fish fingers, pork belly dumplings, all sorts of enticements but we can barely take it in, so exciting is it to be out on a weeknight.
Sure we have been allowed to dine out the past few weeks as part of the 20-guest allocation dotted sparsely around the perimeter of restaurants but now with just the 4sq m distancing rule in play it feels like pre-COVID times. A good number of people are out on the town, there’s laughter, a sense of communal easing of tension.
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And all this on top of returning to work a couple of days a week after months at home – wearing work clothes instead of trackie daks, sitting within paper plane-throwing distance of a few colleagues and having actual live computer-unassisted discussion.
Now here we are at Cru Bar and Cellar in James Street in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. It seems the perfect venue for a tentative step into the outside world.
Fresh air floods in courtesy of foldback windows inside and the adjoining covered terrace is given warmth and definition with enormous hooked-back curtains, there’s good heating and the lighting’s low and moody.
Inside, staff bustle around the chandelier-lit marble bar, a well-lit beacon that’s the centre of operations.
The menu is extensive for a venue that at first glance appears to operate substantially as a bar. But former long-time Stokehouse executive chef Richard Ousby has taken over the kitchen at the Fortitude Valley favourite. (He’s at the helm at Sixes & Sevens gastropub too, also in James Street, and oversees the menu at The Overflow Estate winery in the Scenic Rim on weekends.)
To start there are oysters, charcuterie, chicken liver pate, pan-fried o couto peppers with roasted garlic and house ceviche, as well as beef tartare and beetroot salad, which appeal less on a winter’s night than they would at lunchtime. The six main course options include a couple of steaks, chargrilled spatchcock and king prawn spaghettini.
Skewered squid karaage ($16) is a light, pleasant starter, its batter based on tapioca and potato flour, which meets my mate’s gluten-free requirements, while kangaroo tail croquettes ($14) offer a stark, hearty contrast. These three fat fingers of braised roo “hash” are winter warmers, packing a big-flavoured punch with robust tomatoey flavours encased with a crumb coating. Roasted market fish is swordfish, nicely cooked and teamed with braised beans and sobrasada ($37) while potato gnocchi ($32) with kale and broccoli pistou is almost medicinal in its wholesome charms and cobwebbed with melted, finely grated parmigiana-reggiano.
Given its bar cred and adjoining cellar, Cru’s wine list unsurprisingly forges a noteworthy path with a by-the-glass list of 32 that meanders the globe to pick up a manzanilla sherry, German riesling, a vermentino from the Granite Belt, a Spanish albarino, a couple of Provencal rosés and valpolicella from Veneto. Another 37 by-the-glass choices are kept under Coravin and there’s a hefty selection of beer and cider.
Desserts include Eton mess ($15), with an enormous strawberry perched atop a tower of meringue shards, drizzled with coulis and studded with fresh fruit. Warm yuzu pudding with sheep milk labne ($14) is appealing on a cold night and one for those seeking a not-so-sweet finale.
CRU BAR CELLAR
Food 3.5 stars
Ambience 4 stars
Service 3 stars
Value 3 stars
Overall 3 stars
Must try: Kangaroo tail croquettes
22 James Street, Fortitude Valley
Ph 3252 2400
crubar.com
Open Mon-Sun
11am until late