‘Worst table in the house’: It’s a nice restaurant but don’t sit here

There’s plenty to like about the look of this busy West End eatery. But it’s certainly not where we were sitting.

The outdoor dining at Goodtime is alongside lush planter boxes.

“What would you like to order?” asks one of the staff at Goodtime in West End not long after we’re seated.

“We don’t know, we haven’t been given the menus yet,” I reply.

She returns with a flyer listing the restaurant’s all-you-can-eat menu ($49 adults/$29 children) and looks surprised when we ask if we can also see the a-la-carte offering.

We put this oversight down to the frenzy surrounding us, with most tables taken and wait staff racing around the room with stacks of steamer baskets and more plates than you’d see in the dinnerware section at Myer.

We are a bit baffled about why there is such a crush of people in at 6pm on a Tuesday night. However, as we are leaving, it all becomes clear. We notice a sign out the front (obscured by a gaggle of diners awaiting entry when we arrive) advertising the all-you-can-eat menu as a Monday to Thursday lunch and dinner special for $29pp. Shame no one mentioned it.

The flying noodles are Insta-friendly but not so much diner-friendly.

Goodtime is at the base of the old Peters Ice Cream factory in West Village, with the outside wooden tables and orange chairs attractively positioned behind a row of lush planter boxes opposite the shrubs and lawn of the development’s “common”.

Inside, the interior also appeals with polished concrete floors, painted hexagonal concrete pillars, exposed pipes on the ceiling and ’70s-style chairs with rattan backs and seats. However, we’re seated near the busy kitchen servery, next to a line-up of kegs for the bar, probably at the worst table in the house.

Goodtime is owned by Andrew Yu and Beverly Teo, who also operate popular yum cha restaurant Longtime Dining in Queens Plaza in the CBD, and the concept sounds inviting – a casual, pan-Asian but mainly Chinese menu matched with a clipped but clever drinks list.

There’s craft beer on tap (from Yeerongpilly outfit Slipstream on Brisbane’s southside), a handful of cocktails and spirits and a dozen wines, all available by the glass ($13-$16) or bottle ($65-$80),  including a Tuscan rosato and red blend from UK super chef Gordon Ramsay’s branded line.

Kitchen snacks kick off the a la carte menu with the likes of sesame prawn toast or salt and pepper squid; there are 11 yum cha items, rice and noodle dishes and chef’s specialties from wok fried cashew nuts chicken, to garlic king prawns or honey-glazed prawns.

Pork xiao long bao ($11) arrive very quickly and turn out to be the best thing we eat, with the pork broth encased in the dumplings bursting with salty, savoury loveliness.

The all-you-can-eat menu goes on special Mon-Thurs.

Inside Goodtime.

Soon after lands the Instagram-friendly chicken chow mein ($28), which the menu describes as “noodles that fly”. The fried noodles rise vertically from the plate and are more about dramatic looks than being diner-friendly. We’re told to snap off sections and mix them through the surrounding chicken, carrot, mushroom and bok choy swimming in a mild sauce.

Prawn and pork wontons in szechuan style ($15) are fine but not overly spicy.

Our chef’s specialty of wok-fried ginger, scallions and trout ($38) is better, with lots of ginger and fish but it’s at the same time also rather muted in flavour.

It’s all over pretty quickly but as we still have time to kill before heading to QPAC for a show,  we opt for steamed piggy custard buns ($9), with cute little faces. They’re not pillowy soft but okay, with a blob of custard in the centre.

I like the idea of this place but it is incredibly busy during our visit, with staff  (all of whom
are perfectly pleasant during interactions), racing about to deal with everyone else’s all-you-can-eat desires within that menu’s one-hour time limit.

There’s skill in the kitchen but even for those not choosing the special the food arrives very quickly and pretty much all at once. It’s a case of you’re there for a good time not a long time, so if speed and volume are your KPIs for dinner, book now.

delicious.com.au/eatout

GOODTIME

West Village, 45 Mollison St, West End

goodtimecheers.com

Open

Mon-Sun 11.30am-8.30pm

Must try

Pork xiao long bao

Verdict (out of 5)

Food 2.5

Service 2.5

Ambience 3

Value 2.5 (but 5 if you know about the special)

Overall 2.5/5