Eight new bars you would feel excited about visiting in Brisbane 0 Likes

If you love to know what’s going on latest in Brisbane then there is good news for you. There are eight new bars coming up for you in Brisbane this month. So you be prepared to peek inside each if you wish to and taste their fine wines and drinks.

1. King Tea

• Location: 100 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington QLD 4064, Australia
• Phone: +61 7 3368 2889

King Tea is a gorgeous rustic Spanish tapas bar that takes its unusual name from the sign above the famous snack bar that once occupied its historic Paddington home. One of Brisbane’s most ambient bars, candlelit King Tea features exposed rafters under the corrugated iron roof, stripped back handmade brick walls and the original brick fireplace at the rear.

Tapas, which come in small and medium share plates, include patatas bravas, chorizo with sofrito, blood sausage, mojo sauce and mint, tortilla croquettes, olives or crispy pork belly. For something more substantial there’s also the option of lam ribs (half or whole) or half chicken.

A range of preserved seafood – sardines, razor clams, anchovy or mussels – comes served with house bread. Otherwise there’s a small selection of traditional charcuterie (ham hock terrine, chicken liver parfait or cured meats) or cheese (1,2 or 3) served with bread and pickles and sweets.

King Tea also has a ‘Pintxos Hour’ (every Friday from 4pm–6pm ) with a small range of delicious Pintxos served as skewers or on bread, and these are also available for functions. To drink there’s a curated selection of Australian, French and Italian wines, and a Portuguese tawny port, with a whole menu of Spanish wines on the way.

2. Savile Row

Location: 667 Ann St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia

Savile Row is a Fortitude Valley hidden treasure that is hands down one of Brisbane’s best bars – an opulent speakeasy-style vintage lounge bar hidden behind a closed orange door. Open the door, step into a darkened entry foyer and part the black curtains to enter a mysterious dark wood panelled parlour lit by candles, leading to the stunning main bar area, which looks as if it may have been here since Prohibition, a world away from the gritty streets outside.

A staircase behind a heavy wood-panelled wall leads upstairs, otherwise pull up a seat at the bar, which is lined ceiling to floor with a staggering line-up of spirits including some 400 whiskeys, 60 rums, 50 tequilas and 40 gins.

Savile Row has its own signature list of 20 bespoke cocktails such as the Hedwig – Ketel One Citroen vodka, lemon thyme kirsch, fresh pineapple, fennel seeds, cardamom & coconut sugar. Otherwise the canny bar folk can make up any one of 200 classic cocktails on request and boutique beer and wine is also available.

3. Banoi

• Location: 20 King Street, Bowen Hills QLD 4006, Australia
• Phone: +61 7 3607 2877

After much success in Melbourne, cousins Viet Nguyen and Michael Nham, Banoi is now on the north on King street right next door to Super Combo. With an emphasis on family, Banoi serves up Vietnamese favourites that have been passed down through the generations, and given a new spin by the cousins.

‘Banoi’ translates to ‘grandma’ in Vietnamese, and the name serves as a tribute to the cousins’ late grandma, Bon Thi Nguyen, who has been their primary source of culinary inspiration. While the restaurant is a tribute to late grandma, the food serve isn’t necessarily ‘traditional’, a term Nguyen and Nham see as a straightjacket. Instead, their approach is simple — they make the same food at Banoi that they would make at home.

You can expect to chow down on plenty of spring rolls, rice paper rolls, beef and chicken pho, Cao Lau noodles (Banoi’s take on the Hoi An classic cold noodle dish) and even Banoi tacos, steamed Vietnamese taco buns with four kinds of delicious fillings — slow cooked pork belly, grilled garlic & soy chicken, tempura soft shell crab, or BBQ pork patty. Specialty dishes include their steamed rice rolled pancake, and Vietnamese crispy pancake.

4. Mr Chester Wine Bar

Location: 850 Ann St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia

Promoting the boutique, smaller wine producers worldwide, Mr Chester Wine Bar will offer you world-class wine pairings to be savoured over food and enjoyed with friends. Bold reds from Mendoza, textural whites from Adelaide Hills and delicate sparklings from Tasmania are only a few of the options that the head sommelier could be offering for your dining experience.

5. Jack Rabbits

Location 23 Logan Rd Woolloongabba

Jack Rabbits Whisky Bar in Woolloongabba is Brisbane’s best secret hidden bar – a 1920s jazz speakeasy whose entrance is through an antique wardrobe of clothes. Take the antique staircase inside Electric Avenue bar and bistro, turning left at the landing, up another flight and step through the closet straight into another era. Here’s the place to enjoy an extraordinary array of premium whiskeys from around the globe (including NZ, Japan, Australian, Irish, Canadian, French and Scottish) and also available are spirits and an impressive selection of wines. Food-wise, Bar Snacks from Electric Avenue are available and these include Beer Nut Mix, XO Corn, Pork Crackling, Tennessee Hot Chicken and a House Burger.

6. Happy Boy

• Location: 2/36 Mein St, Spring Hill QLD 4000, Australia
• Phone: +61 413 246 890

Happy Boy by the Votan brothers is best known for its Chinese food and carefully selected, rotating wine list. The menu is divided into sections: bar snacks, vegetables, seafood, meat and noodles. House favourites such as the fish fragrant eggplant or red braised pork belly are partnered with one of the restaurant’s ever-changing wines scribbled on the blackboard behind the bar. The new spot will have a mezzanine and outdoor seating.

7. Chester Street Bakery

Location: CBD

Setting up a third store in the centre of the city with footholds already in Newstead and Southbank, a CBD instalment of the cake temple known as Chester Street was inevitable. The site is still under construction, but once open this latest branch will provide Chester Street’s famous confectionery splendour to the city-going masses. Their big cakes have garnered a huge reputation over the years, whether rainbow layers, death by chocolate, cookie dough or doughnut offerings take your fancy. Or, opt for frozen goodness courtesy of cookie monster, red velvet and banana split ice cream cakes. With Oreo-crusted unicorn cream pie Nutella pavlova, Kit Kat cheesecakes, M&M Brownies, Ferrero choc tops, and peanut butter whip shakes also served up, the list well and truly goes on.

8. Manhattan Line

• Location: 3A Little Stanley St, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia
• Phone: +61 456 456 199

The Manhattan Line, a raw New York City influenced whiskey bar where good music, street art and, of course, hot dogs and favourite drinks, whiskey and beer are in the menu. The joint features graffiti adorned walls, large astro-turfed share tables, old school 90s hop hop floating through the air and whiskey aplenty on the back bar.

The food offering is simple but far from boring, bringing you the NYC street staple, hot dogs. You’ll find dogs such as the The Empire State; beef frank, caramelised onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, shoestring fries, homemade tomato relish and American mustard on a freshly baked roll, and serving up classic sides such as beer battered onion rings, buffalo wings and shoestring fries. This is classic comfort food pimped out at a price that won’t break your budget.

Now make sure that you do visit these new bars sometime and enjoy good food and drinks.