Restaurant review: Pub grub’s greatest hits each with a sophisticated twist

After a fire shut it down for months this year, a Brisbane city pub is back in the game with personal service and quality food.

Alison Walsh

2 min read

October 24, 2019 - 4:00PM

QWeekend

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FIVE steaks, bangers and mash, half a rotisserie-cooked chicken … the menu at the Port Office Hotel in inner-city Brisbane ticks off pub grub’s greatest hits.

But wait, not only are the steaks from leading producers, the sausages Cumberland style and the chook served with truffle chips, the entree list includes sweetbreads, and Wagyu beef shin croquetas with bone marrow, treacle and horseradish, and the main courses run to pan-roasted calf’s liver, and duck breast with prune and Armagnac jus.

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So while all the gastro pub (an alarming term I’ll admit) bases are covered, there are clear signs the kitchen has ambitions to explore the road less travelled.

Responding to the whims of patrons appears to be high priority here in the in-demand Dining Room – a separate, modern space at the back of a hotel that opened for the first time in 1864. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Interestingly, however, diners in this CBD bolthole appear less enthusiastic about a journey around the farmyard, as the “nose to tail” section of the previous menu that’s still up online, with its repertoire of lamb’s brains, beef heart and oxtail, has been shelved because of lack of demand, our waitress tells us.

Responding to the whims of patrons appears to be high priority here in the in-demand Dining Room – a separate, modern space at the back of a hotel that opened for the first time in 1864.

On a recent weeknight, the place was pumping with couples, families and a number of groups, with owner Nick Gregorski working the room along with a well-trained and enthusiastic wait staff.

Crisp start: Moreton Bay bugs on wonton wrappers with toasted sesame coleslaw and blackened chilli mayo. Picture: Mark Cranitch

After a fire in January this year, the pub closed for a $2 million-plus rebuild, reopening last month with the Dining Room fresh and gleaming with polished wood floors, a section of sound-deadening blue carpet and plush tan banquettes at one end, and a wall of windows overlooking Edward St.

Begin with oysters, pork crackle or sourdough or delve into entrees such as calamari, which is tender and generously portioned and drizzled with a wasabi-flavoured mayonnaise that verges on too strong and a small bowl of ponzu dipping sauce ($17).

Or opt for chunks of Moreton Bay bug perching on rafts of crisp wonton wrapper amid nests of toasted sesame coleslaw and blackened chilli mayo ($18) in a texturally pleasing combination.

Perfectly pink: crumbed lamb cutlets with confit lamb shoulder. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Pistachio-crumbed lamb cutlets arrive pink in the middle with a wedge of crisp confit lamb shoulder, grilled cos heart, minted peas, hasselback potatoes (the Swedish-devised roasted and sliced potatoes that look like they have been attacked by Edward Scissorhands and which are having something of a moment), a blob of goats curd and lamb jus ($39). Catch of the day, in this case, John Dory ($34.90), comes skin-on and nicely cooked with asparagus spears, a pond of beurre blanc sauce and a couple of small onion bhajis.

The four desserts are reasonably staid, albeit with some interesting tweaks, and could be mandarin and white chocolate cheesecake with mandarin sorbet, hot chocolate mousse laced with Drambuie and pistachio ice-cream, sticky date pudding with whisky, caramel and vanilla ice-cream or caramelised banana upside-down tart ($15), with very oddly flavoured fruit but with a ball of luscious maple pecan ice-cream balanced on top.

Balanced: caramelised banana upside-down tart with maple pecan ice-cream at the Port Office Hotel, Brisbane City. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The well-priced wine list is wide-ranging, especially for a pub, and it takes a stroll around the globe with several Barolos, choices from Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany and quite a few from France.

There’s also a good amount of wines by the glass and although they tend to the large producer end of the scale there are finds such as the Golden Grove vermentino from the Granite Belt.

Overall, this is a well-run operation that’s aiming up in the kitchen, backed by a strong service ethos.