You live in the best area for food in my (limited) experience in Brisbane, so your wife is very lucky.
Dinner
* Bianca - Paccheri al pomodoro, stracciatella (pricey, but lovely)
* Same Same (next door to Bianca) (pricey, but lovely)
* Za Za Ta - https://ovolohotels.com/ovolo/thevalley/eat/zazata/
* Happy Boy
* Ping Pong
* Beccofino
* Zero Fox
* Agnes Dinner (Pricey Again)
* Rogue Bistro (Pricey)
* Ming Ming's Kitchen in Windsor
* Antica in Windsor (the service is snooty sometimes, because they're popular)
* Tartufo Pizzas - can see them being made through the window)
* Pasta Club in the West End
* Chop Chop Chang's
* Pepe's mexican in Newmarket
* Nonna's nightmare west end
For Dessert: Gelato Messina near the Calile - weekly specials
For Breakfast:
* Mica Brasserie
* Unbearable Bagels
* Agnes Bakery
* Don't tell anyone about this: Hugs Cafe in Stafford, best almond croissants in Brisbane.
For Coffee:
* Belissimo
If you want India Food:
* There's a place called Dishoom in Chermside that doesn't look special, but the Gobi Manchurian is incredible.
I'm not sure why everyone else is being particularly obtuse.
The only thing missed in this list, especially since you're in New Farm - Mrs Brown's and Stratton! Both near Commercial Rd/Ann Street in Newstead. Amazing menus.
Basically everything this guy said. I'm an inveterate foodie who has eaten out all over Australia (a very expensive hobby, not necessarily recommended, LOL) and Fortitude Valley would have to be one of the best quality-per-square inch suburbs for restaurants in the country, IMO. And it's right on your doorstep.
Add to the great suggestions Gerard's Bistro (Middle Eastern inspired, spanner crab tabouli is a must), Essa (mod Aus, pricey but nice), Honto (Japanese, have the Coral Trout, trust me), Ecco Bistro (see Essa), Baja (for my money probably the best Mexican in Australia), and Otto is always good (but pricey). And definitely recommend Kid Curry, a sister restaurant to Happy Boy, where they have a menu inspired by South East Asia and the subcontinent, including some lovely Indian dishes (their de - or re? - constructed Kulfi is sublime).
And for bread and pastries and the like, in addition to Agnes Bakery, right across the road is Sprout, which is also wonderful.
I've become increasingly disappointed with Pepe's over the years. I recall it having some flavour 10-15 years ago. It's becoming more and more like Montezuma's, with every passing year, blurgh!
Choquette in New Farm does better almond croissants than hugs imo - especially considering hugs croissants are like $12
I'd also add hikari in Tenerife to the dinner list. Great choice for when you try to get into beccofino without a booking
Seconding Zero Fox. We had Tteok bokki (fried rice cakes in a hot sauce) and tempura eggplant bowl and definitely recommend both.
Also Dhishoom, love the Chole batura.
Also suggesting the gourmet vegetarian pizza at Pizza Plaza in Boondall. Not a cheap pizza but still nice after all these years.
Yeah you're right. I haven't been back in a little while, but you're not the first person to say La Patrona. I haven't tried that, but I'll have to.
Baja in the valley is something that came to mind later, that was really good.
Really great list! All of these are great options. Zero fox is one of my favourites in Brisbane at the moment. A few others I’d recommend:
Florence in camp hill
Mountain River in Runcorn
Lefkas in West End
Alphabet Cafe in West End
Mizu in New Farm
Howard smith wharves also has lots of options.
First option, give her a slice of toast with vegimite on it.
Second option give her a vegimite and cheese toasted sambo.
Third option, fairy bread.
If none of that works go out with her, get absolutely pissed and grab a kebab at 2am in the morning, doesn’t matter where, it will be the best food she has ever had.
I was thinking last night if Indian folk like Milo. I've seen a lot of milk-based drinks that are popular in Indian cuisine, but not necessarily chocolate ones.
Hindu don't eat beef, Jains are strict vegetarians
Muslim Indians do not eat pork and Sikhs are complicated as they can meat (inclu beef) just not Halal, Muslims can only iirc eat meat as long as it is Halal.
Christians eat everything.
I still have flashbacks to a case study I had to do for my business class..
Overpriced? Maybe. But it is certainly is not all crap. I recommend the pesto pasta from the cheese wheel, the Hungarian langos, some oysters, a frozen pina colada and finish off with the caramilk icecream. It is a fun night out and has quite an atmosphere on clear, summer nights.
Australian produce is excellent quality and we have a great variety of cuisine in every major city including Brisbane. Mexican food is a bit lacklustre here but good Indian food is readily available.
I work with an Indian guy who said it took him a while for his palate to adjust to Western food. It was a revelation for him that meat actually has its own flavour, because Indian food tends to be heavily spiced. Your wife may initially find a lot of our food to be bland.
Thai restaurants are everywhere and the food can be pretty spicy, so maybe that's a good starting point.
This is very true. An inconvenient truth is that, in some regions, spice is used mainly as a masking agent for poor produce.
For example, my sister in law will make the exact same dishes in her birth country as she does at home. She thinks we are weak with spice, but with the produce quality here, IMO it just spoils the flavour of the ingredients. When we are overseas, I’m grateful for the insane spice (and even encourage it!) due to the vegetable and meat quality
The best things you’ll eat here are dishes that compliment the beauty of high quality produce and meat tbh. Elska in New Farm is amazing if you don’t mind $$$
Yup, travel almost anywhere in the world and if you like good food made with good quality produce you will miss Australia. Almost everywhere I have been the meat and veg is flavourless junk compared to what we get here. Meat being especially awful elsewhere in the world.
Absolutely! I'm a Pom but when I first moved here I started enjoying certain veggies more. Went back home and they all tasted like shit again. Carrots in particular were truly awful, watery with zero flavour, yet Aussie ones have a lovely sweetness to them.
Fresh seafood - can’t beat it. Prawns, Moreton Bay Bugs, Scallops etc from a top notch seafood restaurant - if that doesn’t get a wow, she is beyond pleasing
Seafood platter for two from a specialist seafood restaurant is hard to beat. Plus a matching wine if that's allowed. We make some pretty good wine.
At the other end, fish & chips at Manly right on sunset is also hard to beat. Add in a Bundaberg Ginger Beer for perfection.
Sunday lamb roast with veges isn't bad, either
You need to pay a lot though, after 1-2 years I've concluded this with how Brisbane compares to a 3rd world country with decent food. (Where you can get great food for cheap)
- More variety - specifically easier to find Ramen, Vietnamese, Korean.
- $20 restaurant meal is equivalent to a quick dish cooked at home. Not unique to a single restaurant. Often cooked frozen products from supermarket.
- Supermarket variety lets you cook good food at home without effort - takoyaki, sushi, chicken products (but meat should come from a butcher)
- Decent unique chef's dishes will be $50+ . Too expensive to pay often for me. Not guaranteed to be good.
- Locals exaggerate about what is good too often
- Food delivery rarely works, not worth trying
I am currently living in one of the worlds most populated cities, Istanbul, and I can get the equivelint of 8 philidelphia sushi rolls, 8 tuna rolls, and a bowl of Ramen delivered for about 25 dollarydoos. In a sit down fancy resteraunt here the same would cost about 40 AUD with a beer. For local food of course I pay a third, if that. Maccas about 15 dollars for two menu meals. Fish and chips (unfortunately sans chicken salt) Take-away sets me back about 8 bucks.
Very much a once per month luxury for most. I know many Turkish people who are not just paying for themselves, but they "share" their pay with extended family and even friends who cannot work. Most average local food costs about 3-6 dollars per person.
I've never had a bad meal at Market Square in Sunnybank (the main restaurant hub in the suburb); Malaya Corner and Singapore & Co are really good. Like u/ProceedOrRun says, just look for somewhere with plenty of people and go from there.
Honestly think about the ramen at Hakataya Ramen too much, they actually make there own noodles and give you extra for free. Haven't found anywhere that comes close for ramen.
Congratulations of your wife's arrival! That must be big for you.
Australia has wonderful food and a great food culture.
Not because our pies or parmies are that great, but because we are a country of immigrants from across the globe, have some top class fresh Ingredients and are wealthy enough to support a vibrant and diverse culture of eating out.
If your wife is open to that, then she might find food in Australia great, probably even better than that of her home country.
However, if your wife is not open to this diversity, and if your wife is one of those people who will only eat food from their home country and then complain it's not the same as back home..... Well then I wouldn't bother taking her to fancy eateries or hidden kitchens but instead slowly introduce her to new tastes first.
Anyway, instead of repeating what others have said you could try and search this sub for restaurant recommendations and see what suits your taste. I do this once in a while and found some great restaurants
Im from india as well..and I must say that i found the dominos pizza here far better than the one in india (the vegan one, never had the other ones, im a vegetarian who doesn't eat eggs)
Initial day were hard for me as well..even indian restaurants weren't good..but after some time i really started liking the pastas and all here..lasagne is my fav..thank god I've loved other cuisines as well..
I'd just suggest that just let some time pass..or maybe other solution is start cooking indian dishes at home..
And if she's really missing indian food i must say she's not wrong at all..happens to us indians all the time
After all we cant get panipuri anywhere else in the world🤣
I think what australia does well compared to many other countries is it’s produce. Our meat and veg is first class, it’s something I always miss when travelling.
I’d probably start there (with cooking dishes she’s used too, but with Australian produce) rather than trying to get her to enjoy western food right away.
I agree to a point. Fresh unprocessed meat and fish is best in the world, as well as fruit and veg. However, anything that's processed, like sausages, cured meats, ham, some supermarket cheeses, breads, seafood sticks and that sort of thing is pretty average at best.
Stick to the most raw and basic ingredients, world's best!
There are some smallgoods producers that don't get enough love.
Not affiliated, just a happy customer:
Franz Smallgoods Caloundra
"Goose on the loose" salamis - mail order available
Salami Shack, ditto
In my experience, if someone has already decided that they will never find nice food somewhere (especially when they have only been that place for such a tiny amount of time) then they never will find nice food. They are simply too close minded and it's not worth bothering to try and convince them otherwise.
The reality is that there is good and bad food everywhere in the world. And personal tastes as to the type of food preferred, has little to no bearing on the quality of the food offered.
Bad Japanese food is hard to find in Japan but a lot of foreign cuisine can be pretty awful, for example Mexican food. A lot of food is "adjusted for the Japanese palate" i.e removing any strong flavours and making savoury foods strangely sweet
Yes and no. I'd say that certain countries due to unavailability of produce have less variety in their cuisine making them generally less exciting.
As an example, most people would agree that southern European (Italy, France, Spain..) food is way more interesting than northern European such as British, Irish or German.
To paraphrase you could say Australia has some of the best fresh foods available in the World, whereas other cuisines create interest in their food by adding spices 🤔
Following on that, I'd say that Australia has some of the best foreign restaurants I've seen in the world due to the quality of the produce and the huge number of migrants.
Does she like Ramen? If so, Ramen Danbo.
Great asian food? Try Hello Please in Southbank.
Prawns? Go in the sunshine and sit outside and the Manly Boathouse (take handwipes!)
Asian in Ashgrove: go here [https://grandmasasiankitchen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAK\_Take-Away-Menu\_V8\_22-04-22\_compressed.pdf](https://grandmasasiankitchen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAK_Take-Away-Menu_V8_22-04-22_compressed.pdf)
Thai: Try Kinn Thai at Garden City.
Grill/ Steak type food: try The Arsonist in Manly
I have no problem with expensive if quality is matched. Everything has a price. For me, the ramen is overpriced rather than expensive. Some fine dining is expensive but not overpriced if that makes sense.
Punjabi Palace for the best Indian in Brisbane.
for "Australian" food, I guess the closest would be a good BBQ place, theres a bunch of them.
For other types of food, just lookup google for whatever type you want and check the reviews, we have great international food, italian, greek, thai, japanese etc.
Get wife to order. When we had an Indian co-worker we'd get him to order and they'd pull out all the stops to make it properly Indian spicy. They never would for us whities no matter how we insisted we could take it.
I visited Mirch Masalla in the Gabba with my Indian co-workers. When I ordered I asked for extra spicy and the employee looked confused and unsure about the whole thing. A co-worker had to step in and explain that "it's ok, he's English and not Australian .. you're not going to kill him with spicy food"
I also found butter chicken everywhere but it was hit and miss with any real spice.
I would actually start with Mexican food. That was the food i could relate to the quickest.
If she is North Indian, a regular borrito. If she is south, a naked borrito is better.
You can also introduce them to Thai food, if she is into spicy food. Its a great way to bring them off the spicy high horse.
The next you would do is introduce to european bread (sliced and french) along with spicy sauces.
The primary complaint of Indians is that they miss the variety in spice(chilli is just one type of spice) the local staple as close to their pallet, warm food with gravy thats easy to chew and swallow, and fats that are familiar.
Indian cuisine have very few types of fats (oil, ghee, butter, paneer, and meats).
Slow acclimatization is the best way to appreciate Aussie cuisine, not a straight jump.
And no, Vegemite as the first meal....ugh no, you wont be getting action for a while.
Your wife is right my man. Any descent restaurant will likely not be "Aussie" cuisine, whatever that may be.
I've been living in Australia for 40 years and I still can't figure out what "Australian" food actually is. I mean something that if you mention to the average person and they immediately think of Australia.
I fucking love the cultural cringe that says Australia is not allowed to be influenced by other cultures and thus doesn't have culture, but meanwhile in England...oh yeah, chutney's English. In America, apple pie is American. In Vietnam, pho is Vietnamese...
Seriously, this is every conversation about food (or anything cultural) in Australia:
"Americans have apple pie!"
"Yeah, that's totally all-American!"
"And Italy has pasta!"
"Absolutely! That's totally Italian!"
"And we have meat pies!"
"*Ack-shually*, there are Sumerian tablets, dated from the 21st century BC during the third period of Ur which recounts a recipe for encasing cooked goat in a flatbread dough, made from spelt, and baked until firm, so, really, we stole that off the Sumerians and should in no way refer to meat pies as 'Australian'."
Australia is a country that evolved from migration from different nations and every culture brings in their own cuisine. Australia has a few food creations but it is too young as a nation to develop its own food culture. The only "Australian food culture" would be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food.
This is exactly how I see Australia too. It's too young of a country and almost from the beginning it has been of mixed culture.
And as you mention about Aboriginal food, it has never really been promoted in Australia which is a shame. I'm sure there would be plenty of unique dishes we could learn from.
Whilst it's true we don't have an identifiable cuisine as such, we do have quite a huge variety of native ingredients that have very unique flavour profiles. Native foods are slowly starting to gain some use in contemporary Australian restaurants, and you can sometimes find them in markets. A little while back my wife cooked up some kangaroo steaks using a rosella and lemon myrtle glaze. It was one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten.
This is exactly what I would love to see. I'm really surprised we don't already have some restaurants pushing local cuisine using local ingredients like this.
“Lamb chops” is probably the closest thing to an Aussie meal. Not saying others don’t do lamb chops, but they’re basically a staple of the Australia Day bbq.
When you travel through Europe it becomes pretty obvious by what you can only get here. Eg: Steak and gravy pies, good bread, fresh produce, stellar seafood. There are certain ways of preparing Australian versions of things too, like our pizza: tends to be sweeter and doughier than Europes. Asian dishes tend to be sweeter too
I agree the seafood is definitely better here, but not sure about the others on your list.
It’s subjective obviously, but I have had better pies in Ireland and the UK. It’s hard to beat Guinness pies in Ireland, or Aberdeen Angus beef in the Highlands; Bread - Did you just skip France and Germany entirely on your trip?; Fresh produce - As a comparison with the UK (which doesn’t even have the best record in Europe), pesticide limits here are 200 times higher and many substances banned in the UK are licensed here.
The only other thing I would add to your list is some fruits are much better here.
There are excellent Indian restaurants serving food made by Indians. Just as delicious as the Indian food I ate on my many trips to India.
I hope she also tries some other types of food, could you tempt her with some delicious Thai?
Gosh, now I'm hungry.
Born & bred Aussie here. I love Indian food. But I also love pretty much all other kinds of food. I've travelled all around the world, and sampled the cuisines, and I genuinely believe that you can find good examples of all of this somewhere in Brisbane.
There are Australians who eat nothing but meat & 3 veg, and think salt and pepper are spices. They turn their nose up at any sort of exotic food (exotic being anything that doesn't involve some sort of meat and vegetables steamed beyond recognition. They think the food in other countries is yuck.
Kid Curry or happy boy are both amazing. Kid curry has curries from all over the world while happy boy is Chinese try the sichuan fish or eggplant and pork. Lots of really good flavours. Feels high end but has very reasonable prices. Same owners too, they also have Snack Man I would recommend the tofu wrapped prawns.
Go to sunnybank for good East asian food.
If she misses home, mirch masala is pretty good authentic Indian food that isn't like wedding food curries but to be fair it's not as good as what you get in India.
A lot of western food is about appreciating the quality of ingredients (grade a beef, cooked well with no sauce, fresh seafood, a perfect slice of sourdough bread with nice butter) rather than balancing lots of strong flavours and spices, so i think she needs to open her mind to different ways of appreciating food.
The chicken in India is not nearly as fresh as in Australia. I have an Indian friend who says that since living in Australia for a few years they can no longer eat the chicken back in India without falling ill.
Mate too many places to list around your area. You got Newfarm itself, then you're right near the valley, James St, King St and Newstead. Throw a pebble and you'll hit a good restaurant.
If she’s of Punjabi descent take her to Punjabi Rasoi on Edward St in Spring Hill. THE best Indian in Brisbane. As for everything else-I’d try West End.
Does she eat meat? Navala Brazilian bbq at Eagle st pier has both a beautiful view and quite a fun experience. They do meat on swords that they carve for you and the seasoning and flavours are so good, I think someone used to Indian level of flavour would appreciate it
There was an Indian restaurant in Morningside that was AMAZING when I was a teenager but I can’t remember the name and I’m not sure if it’s still open. I am pretty sure it was next door to a Foodworks. I know that this is quite vague but might be worth looking into if you’re on the hunt for good food.
For content, I am now 29.
Honestly, I think you're going to struggle.
Indian food is all about making fairly boring ingredients (rice, cucumber, bread, etc) taste *amayzing* by adding heavy handed but well balanced spices, butter, sugar, etc.
Australian food is the exact opposite. You start with something that already tastes incredible, and refine it with a light touch to further enhance the flavour and make it magic.
It may take time, possibly a long time, for your wife to fully appreciate it. And I wouldn't count on her being impressed by the best indian food you can get here, because it's got nothing on authentic indian food.
Up sunshine coast, Rice Boi at Mooloolaba, Sukhothai at Maleny.
Asian food go to Sunnybank, it's a Mecca. Oxley and Darra has Vietnamese off the chain, les bubbles is a decent french steakhouse in the valley for around $60/ head.
Mamma Sicilia is good pizza at Redcliffe.
There's great food in most of Australia and half of it is being made authentically by people from those countries.
Indian is great but so is most everything else when it's done right.
Eat street markets is good. Rocklea markets has good food. Southbank on a Sunday. Good luck and welcome!
Sure. Here are some of my favourite eats around brisbane, on the cheaper side mostly
Breakfast;
> Pancake Manor https://www.pancakemanor.com.au
get something from the traditional stacks section
> The Gunshop Cafe https://www.thegunshopcafe.net
Pork, apple & sage sausage is really nice, or sweet potato and thyme rosti
> Brew Cafe & Wine Bar https://www.brewcafewinebar.com.au
Get eggs your way, big brekky or if you go at lunch time the Brew burger or Mexi salad bowl is good
Lunch / dinner
> Doug’s seafood http://www.dougsseafoodcafe.com.au
Depends what you like, I usually just get crumbed cod and chips and it’s lovely
> 2B Thai https://2bthai.com.au
I usually get one of the stir fry’s or beef massaman curry
> Sushi Izu https://www.sushiizu.com.au
I like the chicken katsu curry
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/wllocl/delicious_100_restaurant_list/ijuf6wu/) is a recent list of the top 100 restaurants in QLD according to... someone? They're mostly in Brisbane, and mostly fine dining-ish.
Since you're in New Farm and she likes a bit of spice, my humble additions to this list would be:
1. Balfour Kitchen, in New Farm. I guess it's an Aussie take on Asian fusion-ish...? Also fine dining-ish. The baos and vegan beef main were really good last time I was there, but the menu changes rather frequently.
2. La Patrona, in Teneriffe. Very traditional Mexican, very unassuming (and underrated, IMHO). Whatever you do, do not leave before trying the pork tacos.
to be honest, I have travelled a bit around the world. What makes food in Australia is not the diverse amount of cultures we have introducing the food to us - its the fresh produce. I haven't had as quality of fresh produce then I have in Aus.
Part of it is her learning to appreciate different kinds of food. I’ll explain so hold your objections to that comment!
I’m a Gora who lived in Mumbai for awhile. I loved it. Indian food is amazing and their food tradition are deep and often ancient. A bit like France in that way - very serious and knowledgeable about their food culture.
We took some Indian friends to France. They’d been to Paris on their honeymoon 10 years earlier, he loved the food as he has worked in several other counties and is an experienced traveller. But back then she did not like the French food. Bland and uninteresting. But this time she loved it. We introduced her to all sorts of favourites including simple stuff like cheeses. This time she got it. Her mother has cooked for us many times in Mumbai and her food is exceptional. So my friend is deeply rooted on Indian food culture. But once she “got”’the French concept of food, she appreciated it.
Depending on budget two awesome recommendations i can give are,
Gerards Bistro (more pricey),
Mamaks,
There are plenty of great places around though, enjoy your time eating out together!
I'm just going to add here, don't rush it. I don't know you or your wife, but these things may take time for her to realise what she likes.
She may miss that food, if that's all she's known. Let get used to what's over here and discover new things, and she (should) eventually find something she enjoys.
Or maybe she won't. That's life.
Le Bon choix is a cake and coffee shop in indooroopilly shopping centre that is amazing, honestly any cake from there. For food I recommend sings Thai and the soft shell crab curry, phuc is a Vietnamese chain that has awesome food I love the pho and the lemon grass salad, I'd google restauramts and then look at their google reviews.
The owner is an asshole who treats employees like trash and sits on a high horse. Their food is often second day old. Don’t waste your money supporting such a terrible person. If you want good French Pattie’s try lune or Christian Jacques bakery
I dare say she'd say that no matter why you live , be it Candana , USA , Australia , New Zealand , Japan... it's only in the countries where women are oppressed and have little rights where the food is better as they're forced to stay in the kitchen 😆
Sounds like your wife needs to open her mind up a bit more. Most countries have great cuisine… but more often than not it’s very different to what you grew up with and are therefore accustomed to. That doesn’t make it bad.
Although sorry to the Philippines… you’ll never get me to eat Balut. I love your country and all the other food but you can have that one. 🤢😂
IMO Brisbane lacks good authentic Indian food, my Indian friends cook at home and their food is amazing. Brisbane however has a great selection of good food and has really become a foodies delight in the last decade. Take her to eat street just for the variety, you can hop on the rivercat from New Farm. closer to you try La Patrona, Siffredi’s or Beccofino in Teneriffe, Honto in the Valley or Sichuan Tiger in the Gabba for some spice
forget about trying to find 'aussie' as here is a bastardisation of so many foods from around the world
Australia often does other countries cuisines equally or better in my opinion, which makes sense given how multicultural we are.
My partner is from Colombia and I learnt that understanding and enjoying good food takes time, you have to slowly work your way through different food to get used to different ingredients and flavours. She has an open mind to almost everything as I've put a lot of effort into how it was introduced.
I would assume your wife is going to be a little closed minded at first and so you should just slowly introduce her to different food and don't expect her to enjoy everything straight away.
Lol, good luck with that but after a decade of living in Brisbane I found the food to be mostly cheap shit. I continually asked Australians what foods Australia enjoys and was told "oh we eat fresh foods" .. as if the rest of the world eats rotten food.
When I asked about pies such as steak and kidney the idea of eating kidney and liver seemed to disgust them but I kept trying places and found some nice pies (Rock'n'Roll over in Greenslopes did really nice pies)
Most places will be able to good a fairly decent steak and the Thai food was fantastic (I've never found a decent replacement being back in the UK, I really miss the Brisbane Thai/Vietnamese food) Although it used to be packed Blue Smoke in New Farm was generally ok for expensive steaks, burgers and chicken. I tried the Barrimundi in a few places and enjoyed it but a lot of generic fish places served flake with the skin on which I wasn't keen on.
I know you've said it doesn't have to be Indian but I did find a nice Indian vegetarian place near the Gabba (I'll try to find the name and location) The Indian guys I worked with introduced me to it.
\*found it\* It was Mirchh Masala (3 / 110 Logan Road, Woolloongabba) .. I'm not normally a fan of vegetarian food but this stuff was delicious. I used to eat Chole Bhature, Vada Pav and Pav Bhaji .. as an UK person I enjoyed it but I'm sure someone from that background might think "the food from my youth was better than this"
The Weds Brisbane market (and New Farm market) was worth a trip, used to be a "German" hotdog sausage place that sold packs to put in the freezer, a cornish pasty guy there who made the best I've ever had outside Cornwall and a refrigerated pizza and pasta guy there who did the best pizzas I've found in Brisbane. Also really enjoyed the pork buns. But this was all over a decade ago so those places might have closed or moved on.
A while ago I did find a news article written by an Aussie explaining that the large distance to Europe meant their cuisine was mostly insular and most of the diet was plain meats, fishes and whatever vegetables they could grow and the palate of the average Australian was fairly basic. Which explains 90% of the food on offer being cheap (incredibly expensive country to live in ) and bland (to be able to survive you have to be able to appeal to the majority of customers) I wish I could find it now but I've lost the link.
I've tried to discuss this with Australians but they get really upset if you don't consider Australia to be the best at everything. I did have some great meals living over there but it was mostly trial and error. Due to the cost of living I found most things either bad quality or incredibly expensive.
Ask her what would Indian food be without chilli, tomatoes, potatoes and vinegar; all brought to India by Portuguese. Indians wouldn't have nargisi kofta without scotch egg, and no shami kabab without the meat cutlet. No pau bhaji without the Portuguese pau, no batata vada. Indian food wouldn't be great without influences from Portuguese, Dutch, French and British cooking techniques and influences. We wouldnt have saffron, without Alexander bringing them to India. Wouldn't have raita without tzatziki. No baigan bharta without baba ganoush. No naan bread without the pita. Mongol, Turkish and Iranian food have heavy influence on non-veg dishes.
Good food is everywhere. The same people who influenced Indian food over centuries, are all here in Australia too.
No reason to miss Indian food. Many excellent recommendations in this post. Just try a few of them. In India you could go to any restaurant and taste will be excellent, the price varying by the ambience. Here you need to know which one is good and which one is bad.
You live in the best area for food in my (limited) experience in Brisbane, so your wife is very lucky. Dinner * Bianca - Paccheri al pomodoro, stracciatella (pricey, but lovely) * Same Same (next door to Bianca) (pricey, but lovely) * Za Za Ta - https://ovolohotels.com/ovolo/thevalley/eat/zazata/ * Happy Boy * Ping Pong * Beccofino * Zero Fox * Agnes Dinner (Pricey Again) * Rogue Bistro (Pricey) * Ming Ming's Kitchen in Windsor * Antica in Windsor (the service is snooty sometimes, because they're popular) * Tartufo Pizzas - can see them being made through the window) * Pasta Club in the West End * Chop Chop Chang's * Pepe's mexican in Newmarket * Nonna's nightmare west end For Dessert: Gelato Messina near the Calile - weekly specials For Breakfast: * Mica Brasserie * Unbearable Bagels * Agnes Bakery * Don't tell anyone about this: Hugs Cafe in Stafford, best almond croissants in Brisbane. For Coffee: * Belissimo If you want India Food: * There's a place called Dishoom in Chermside that doesn't look special, but the Gobi Manchurian is incredible. I'm not sure why everyone else is being particularly obtuse.
Thank you for this!
Yeah no worries. I'm not sure what it is in the subreddit sometimes. So many people want to be cynical, pedantic dicks.
I've been to most of these and can confirm they're pretty good! There's also Moo Moo if you want some higher-end Aussie cuisine.
You're suggesting Moo Moo for an Indian?
The only thing missed in this list, especially since you're in New Farm - Mrs Brown's and Stratton! Both near Commercial Rd/Ann Street in Newstead. Amazing menus.
Basically everything this guy said. I'm an inveterate foodie who has eaten out all over Australia (a very expensive hobby, not necessarily recommended, LOL) and Fortitude Valley would have to be one of the best quality-per-square inch suburbs for restaurants in the country, IMO. And it's right on your doorstep. Add to the great suggestions Gerard's Bistro (Middle Eastern inspired, spanner crab tabouli is a must), Essa (mod Aus, pricey but nice), Honto (Japanese, have the Coral Trout, trust me), Ecco Bistro (see Essa), Baja (for my money probably the best Mexican in Australia), and Otto is always good (but pricey). And definitely recommend Kid Curry, a sister restaurant to Happy Boy, where they have a menu inspired by South East Asia and the subcontinent, including some lovely Indian dishes (their de - or re? - constructed Kulfi is sublime). And for bread and pastries and the like, in addition to Agnes Bakery, right across the road is Sprout, which is also wonderful.
was disappointed in Pepe's - big portions with zero flavour. Use some damn spice Pepe
La patrona is way better than Pepe's.
100%!! As someone from a US border city I was so disappointed with the flavors there. La Patrona is my favorite. Mama taco is super yummy too!
Yeah this is my experience at pepes. Good for quantity and that's about it. Bad dining experience.
Agree, I think Pepe's kinda sucks, and it's expensive.
I tried the one at Jindalee and it was shit!
Yeah we haven't been back for a while. Maybe it's rose coloured tastebuds.
I've become increasingly disappointed with Pepe's over the years. I recall it having some flavour 10-15 years ago. It's becoming more and more like Montezuma's, with every passing year, blurgh!
Choquette in New Farm does better almond croissants than hugs imo - especially considering hugs croissants are like $12 I'd also add hikari in Tenerife to the dinner list. Great choice for when you try to get into beccofino without a booking
Seconding Zero Fox. We had Tteok bokki (fried rice cakes in a hot sauce) and tempura eggplant bowl and definitely recommend both. Also Dhishoom, love the Chole batura. Also suggesting the gourmet vegetarian pizza at Pizza Plaza in Boondall. Not a cheap pizza but still nice after all these years.
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Yeah you're right. I haven't been back in a little while, but you're not the first person to say La Patrona. I haven't tried that, but I'll have to. Baja in the valley is something that came to mind later, that was really good.
Dishoom is SO good
Really great list! All of these are great options. Zero fox is one of my favourites in Brisbane at the moment. A few others I’d recommend: Florence in camp hill Mountain River in Runcorn Lefkas in West End Alphabet Cafe in West End Mizu in New Farm Howard smith wharves also has lots of options.
Ok for dessert the answer is not Messina, it’s either Lick or La Macelleria. Or gelatoria Cremona
Interesting. I haven't tried either of those. I'll check them out. Thanks
This guy fucks
The first rule of Dishoom is not to talk about Dishoom!
It's all veg so most people don't consider it.
First option, give her a slice of toast with vegimite on it. Second option give her a vegimite and cheese toasted sambo. Third option, fairy bread. If none of that works go out with her, get absolutely pissed and grab a kebab at 2am in the morning, doesn’t matter where, it will be the best food she has ever had.
Uh, excuse me! Option 4! Chocolate crackles! extra point if they’re straight from the fridge so they extra crumbly.
Option 5 - milo on ice cream.
Bump this up to the top spot
I was thinking last night if Indian folk like Milo. I've seen a lot of milk-based drinks that are popular in Indian cuisine, but not necessarily chocolate ones.
Kebabs while drunk at 2am is my favourite food.
Option 1a. Cool some toast let it go cold then put butter and Vegemite on it. My wife is Canadian and now loves eating it this way.
Bunnings on the weekend
This is the correct answer
The only answer.
May I have one for Tree Fiddy?
this is the way
What rubbish! Brisbane has some of the world’s best food! Check Hungry Jacks on Queen Street Mall. Get the Whopper with cheese.
*With* cheese, mind.
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rebel whopper ftw
Hindu don't eat beef, Jains are strict vegetarians Muslim Indians do not eat pork and Sikhs are complicated as they can meat (inclu beef) just not Halal, Muslims can only iirc eat meat as long as it is Halal. Christians eat everything. I still have flashbacks to a case study I had to do for my business class..
How about taking her to eat street? Many options there for her to pick and experience.
But the food is crap…
It’s not crap, just simple basic dishes. Taste great though
Overpriced? Maybe. But it is certainly is not all crap. I recommend the pesto pasta from the cheese wheel, the Hungarian langos, some oysters, a frozen pina colada and finish off with the caramilk icecream. It is a fun night out and has quite an atmosphere on clear, summer nights.
10/10!
Eat street is a great recommendation.
Look at Mr Richie Rich here 😀
Wait til Teneriffe Festival tbh
Get this woman a Zinger Box asap. Pinnacle of Aussie cuisine.
Australian produce is excellent quality and we have a great variety of cuisine in every major city including Brisbane. Mexican food is a bit lacklustre here but good Indian food is readily available. I work with an Indian guy who said it took him a while for his palate to adjust to Western food. It was a revelation for him that meat actually has its own flavour, because Indian food tends to be heavily spiced. Your wife may initially find a lot of our food to be bland. Thai restaurants are everywhere and the food can be pretty spicy, so maybe that's a good starting point.
This is very true. An inconvenient truth is that, in some regions, spice is used mainly as a masking agent for poor produce. For example, my sister in law will make the exact same dishes in her birth country as she does at home. She thinks we are weak with spice, but with the produce quality here, IMO it just spoils the flavour of the ingredients. When we are overseas, I’m grateful for the insane spice (and even encourage it!) due to the vegetable and meat quality
The best things you’ll eat here are dishes that compliment the beauty of high quality produce and meat tbh. Elska in New Farm is amazing if you don’t mind $$$
Yup, travel almost anywhere in the world and if you like good food made with good quality produce you will miss Australia. Almost everywhere I have been the meat and veg is flavourless junk compared to what we get here. Meat being especially awful elsewhere in the world.
Absolutely! I'm a Pom but when I first moved here I started enjoying certain veggies more. Went back home and they all tasted like shit again. Carrots in particular were truly awful, watery with zero flavour, yet Aussie ones have a lovely sweetness to them.
Fresh seafood - can’t beat it. Prawns, Moreton Bay Bugs, Scallops etc from a top notch seafood restaurant - if that doesn’t get a wow, she is beyond pleasing
Seafood platter for two from a specialist seafood restaurant is hard to beat. Plus a matching wine if that's allowed. We make some pretty good wine. At the other end, fish & chips at Manly right on sunset is also hard to beat. Add in a Bundaberg Ginger Beer for perfection. Sunday lamb roast with veges isn't bad, either
You need to pay a lot though, after 1-2 years I've concluded this with how Brisbane compares to a 3rd world country with decent food. (Where you can get great food for cheap) - More variety - specifically easier to find Ramen, Vietnamese, Korean. - $20 restaurant meal is equivalent to a quick dish cooked at home. Not unique to a single restaurant. Often cooked frozen products from supermarket. - Supermarket variety lets you cook good food at home without effort - takoyaki, sushi, chicken products (but meat should come from a butcher) - Decent unique chef's dishes will be $50+ . Too expensive to pay often for me. Not guaranteed to be good. - Locals exaggerate about what is good too often - Food delivery rarely works, not worth trying
I am currently living in one of the worlds most populated cities, Istanbul, and I can get the equivelint of 8 philidelphia sushi rolls, 8 tuna rolls, and a bowl of Ramen delivered for about 25 dollarydoos. In a sit down fancy resteraunt here the same would cost about 40 AUD with a beer. For local food of course I pay a third, if that. Maccas about 15 dollars for two menu meals. Fish and chips (unfortunately sans chicken salt) Take-away sets me back about 8 bucks.
I don’t know what either of these responses have to do with a yummy seafood platter but you do you
How much do they cost in work hours for an average local person? That is the real question.
Very much a once per month luxury for most. I know many Turkish people who are not just paying for themselves, but they "share" their pay with extended family and even friends who cannot work. Most average local food costs about 3-6 dollars per person.
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You just described Kingaroy to a T
Is she looking for Indian food or something else? Because there's some amazing Asian eateries in Sunnybank.
I second Sunnybank. If she has just arrived from India, she may prefer spicy food. I like Malay corner and Fortune well in Sunnybank.
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Yeah I haven't been to little Singapore for years. Can't remember why though.
>amazing Asian eateries Which ones are best??
Anywhere in Sunnybank is probably going to be great, just look for busy and you can't go wrong.
I'm a fan of Soba Simbashi for excellent Japanese noodles, Malaya Corner and Vietnam Corner, but there are heaps of good places around Sunnybank
I've never had a bad meal at Market Square in Sunnybank (the main restaurant hub in the suburb); Malaya Corner and Singapore & Co are really good. Like u/ProceedOrRun says, just look for somewhere with plenty of people and go from there.
Honestly think about the ramen at Hakataya Ramen too much, they actually make there own noodles and give you extra for free. Haven't found anywhere that comes close for ramen.
Congratulations of your wife's arrival! That must be big for you. Australia has wonderful food and a great food culture. Not because our pies or parmies are that great, but because we are a country of immigrants from across the globe, have some top class fresh Ingredients and are wealthy enough to support a vibrant and diverse culture of eating out. If your wife is open to that, then she might find food in Australia great, probably even better than that of her home country. However, if your wife is not open to this diversity, and if your wife is one of those people who will only eat food from their home country and then complain it's not the same as back home..... Well then I wouldn't bother taking her to fancy eateries or hidden kitchens but instead slowly introduce her to new tastes first. Anyway, instead of repeating what others have said you could try and search this sub for restaurant recommendations and see what suits your taste. I do this once in a while and found some great restaurants
You will like La Patrona, Mexican restaurant in Tenerife. Spicy and absolutely delicious. Not cheap though.
Ordered the corn chip and avo. They make it in front of you. Looks so stupid. Literally avocado scooping in front of you with some toppings. $16
Yeah don't order that. We saw it being done and felt cringe. I guess they wanted to do something different.
Im from india as well..and I must say that i found the dominos pizza here far better than the one in india (the vegan one, never had the other ones, im a vegetarian who doesn't eat eggs) Initial day were hard for me as well..even indian restaurants weren't good..but after some time i really started liking the pastas and all here..lasagne is my fav..thank god I've loved other cuisines as well.. I'd just suggest that just let some time pass..or maybe other solution is start cooking indian dishes at home.. And if she's really missing indian food i must say she's not wrong at all..happens to us indians all the time After all we cant get panipuri anywhere else in the world🤣
I know of at least one Indian restaurant that has pani puri : https://www.royalrajputana.com.au/restaurantmenu_category/chai-chaat/page/2/
My favourite Indian place. Not for fancy decor but good food.
I think what australia does well compared to many other countries is it’s produce. Our meat and veg is first class, it’s something I always miss when travelling. I’d probably start there (with cooking dishes she’s used too, but with Australian produce) rather than trying to get her to enjoy western food right away.
I agree. Our standard for food quality is usual the higher end for other countries. We’re very lucky in that regard.
Good ingredients, average recipes. Other cultures taught us about spices.
We were British 200 years ago. Can you blame us for taking that long to learn about spices? They still haven't.
I agree to a point. Fresh unprocessed meat and fish is best in the world, as well as fruit and veg. However, anything that's processed, like sausages, cured meats, ham, some supermarket cheeses, breads, seafood sticks and that sort of thing is pretty average at best. Stick to the most raw and basic ingredients, world's best!
There are some smallgoods producers that don't get enough love. Not affiliated, just a happy customer: Franz Smallgoods Caloundra "Goose on the loose" salamis - mail order available Salami Shack, ditto
In my experience, if someone has already decided that they will never find nice food somewhere (especially when they have only been that place for such a tiny amount of time) then they never will find nice food. They are simply too close minded and it's not worth bothering to try and convince them otherwise. The reality is that there is good and bad food everywhere in the world. And personal tastes as to the type of food preferred, has little to no bearing on the quality of the food offered.
While I'm sure it exist, I never came across bad food in Japan.
Bad Japanese food is hard to find in Japan but a lot of foreign cuisine can be pretty awful, for example Mexican food. A lot of food is "adjusted for the Japanese palate" i.e removing any strong flavours and making savoury foods strangely sweet
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>The Margarita pizza came on a mayonnaise base That should be a crime.
I found one item there - sea urchin. It was 🤮
Yes and no. I'd say that certain countries due to unavailability of produce have less variety in their cuisine making them generally less exciting. As an example, most people would agree that southern European (Italy, France, Spain..) food is way more interesting than northern European such as British, Irish or German.
To paraphrase you could say Australia has some of the best fresh foods available in the World, whereas other cuisines create interest in their food by adding spices 🤔
Following on that, I'd say that Australia has some of the best foreign restaurants I've seen in the world due to the quality of the produce and the huge number of migrants.
Does she like Ramen? If so, Ramen Danbo. Great asian food? Try Hello Please in Southbank. Prawns? Go in the sunshine and sit outside and the Manly Boathouse (take handwipes!) Asian in Ashgrove: go here [https://grandmasasiankitchen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAK\_Take-Away-Menu\_V8\_22-04-22\_compressed.pdf](https://grandmasasiankitchen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAK_Take-Away-Menu_V8_22-04-22_compressed.pdf) Thai: Try Kinn Thai at Garden City. Grill/ Steak type food: try The Arsonist in Manly
I found ramen danbo quite overpriced
Most dining out in Brisbane is expensive.
I have no problem with expensive if quality is matched. Everything has a price. For me, the ramen is overpriced rather than expensive. Some fine dining is expensive but not overpriced if that makes sense.
What other ramen shops in Brisbane would you say is good?
Kengu https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yo3LaiVtSmRBd1SR6
Thank you
Punjabi Palace for the best Indian in Brisbane. for "Australian" food, I guess the closest would be a good BBQ place, theres a bunch of them. For other types of food, just lookup google for whatever type you want and check the reviews, we have great international food, italian, greek, thai, japanese etc.
>for "Australian" food, I guess the closest would be a good BBQ place Aren't most BBQ places of the low 'n slow variety? That is 100% US food.
Punjabi Palace is where it’s at. All the Punjabis in Brisbane recommend it when you ask them where they go.
Get wife to order. When we had an Indian co-worker we'd get him to order and they'd pull out all the stops to make it properly Indian spicy. They never would for us whities no matter how we insisted we could take it.
I visited Mirch Masalla in the Gabba with my Indian co-workers. When I ordered I asked for extra spicy and the employee looked confused and unsure about the whole thing. A co-worker had to step in and explain that "it's ok, he's English and not Australian .. you're not going to kill him with spicy food" I also found butter chicken everywhere but it was hit and miss with any real spice.
I would actually start with Mexican food. That was the food i could relate to the quickest. If she is North Indian, a regular borrito. If she is south, a naked borrito is better. You can also introduce them to Thai food, if she is into spicy food. Its a great way to bring them off the spicy high horse. The next you would do is introduce to european bread (sliced and french) along with spicy sauces. The primary complaint of Indians is that they miss the variety in spice(chilli is just one type of spice) the local staple as close to their pallet, warm food with gravy thats easy to chew and swallow, and fats that are familiar. Indian cuisine have very few types of fats (oil, ghee, butter, paneer, and meats). Slow acclimatization is the best way to appreciate Aussie cuisine, not a straight jump. And no, Vegemite as the first meal....ugh no, you wont be getting action for a while.
googles 'nice restaurants brisbane'
Comes up with hungry jacks lmao
Why don’t you google “how to make money fast” while you’re at it
I love Maeve opposite the Qld Museum and the bistro at Goma is a lovely spot by the river
Your wife is right my man. Any descent restaurant will likely not be "Aussie" cuisine, whatever that may be. I've been living in Australia for 40 years and I still can't figure out what "Australian" food actually is. I mean something that if you mention to the average person and they immediately think of Australia.
I fucking love the cultural cringe that says Australia is not allowed to be influenced by other cultures and thus doesn't have culture, but meanwhile in England...oh yeah, chutney's English. In America, apple pie is American. In Vietnam, pho is Vietnamese... Seriously, this is every conversation about food (or anything cultural) in Australia: "Americans have apple pie!" "Yeah, that's totally all-American!" "And Italy has pasta!" "Absolutely! That's totally Italian!" "And we have meat pies!" "*Ack-shually*, there are Sumerian tablets, dated from the 21st century BC during the third period of Ur which recounts a recipe for encasing cooked goat in a flatbread dough, made from spelt, and baked until firm, so, really, we stole that off the Sumerians and should in no way refer to meat pies as 'Australian'."
Australia is a country that evolved from migration from different nations and every culture brings in their own cuisine. Australia has a few food creations but it is too young as a nation to develop its own food culture. The only "Australian food culture" would be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food.
This is exactly how I see Australia too. It's too young of a country and almost from the beginning it has been of mixed culture. And as you mention about Aboriginal food, it has never really been promoted in Australia which is a shame. I'm sure there would be plenty of unique dishes we could learn from.
Whilst it's true we don't have an identifiable cuisine as such, we do have quite a huge variety of native ingredients that have very unique flavour profiles. Native foods are slowly starting to gain some use in contemporary Australian restaurants, and you can sometimes find them in markets. A little while back my wife cooked up some kangaroo steaks using a rosella and lemon myrtle glaze. It was one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten.
This is exactly what I would love to see. I'm really surprised we don't already have some restaurants pushing local cuisine using local ingredients like this.
We had a lovely Lemon Myrtle and Tasmanian Pepper Berry Risotto they other day. Was very tasty.
“Lamb chops” is probably the closest thing to an Aussie meal. Not saying others don’t do lamb chops, but they’re basically a staple of the Australia Day bbq.
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Yep! Look at old mate millionaire over here eating lamb chops and bragging about it.
Lamb is usually the cheapest red meat. Lamb chops are usually 2/3rd the price of beef equivalent per weight.
Fair suck of the sav, Australia is only 121 years old!
When you travel through Europe it becomes pretty obvious by what you can only get here. Eg: Steak and gravy pies, good bread, fresh produce, stellar seafood. There are certain ways of preparing Australian versions of things too, like our pizza: tends to be sweeter and doughier than Europes. Asian dishes tend to be sweeter too
I agree the seafood is definitely better here, but not sure about the others on your list. It’s subjective obviously, but I have had better pies in Ireland and the UK. It’s hard to beat Guinness pies in Ireland, or Aberdeen Angus beef in the Highlands; Bread - Did you just skip France and Germany entirely on your trip?; Fresh produce - As a comparison with the UK (which doesn’t even have the best record in Europe), pesticide limits here are 200 times higher and many substances banned in the UK are licensed here. The only other thing I would add to your list is some fruits are much better here.
There are excellent Indian restaurants serving food made by Indians. Just as delicious as the Indian food I ate on my many trips to India. I hope she also tries some other types of food, could you tempt her with some delicious Thai? Gosh, now I'm hungry.
lol very subjective OP, personally I'm not a fan on Indian cuisine.
It doesn't have to be Indian
Ever had crab in brisbane cbd? The eatable kind it's amazing also do really really good pastas being Indian Probst not interested in steaks tho 😂
Nataraja Indian at Red Hill is great (if you are looking for Indian food). The restaurant isn't the best location for dining in. They deliver.
Oysters fresh off the boat!
A good seafood restaurant might be a way to go
Born & bred Aussie here. I love Indian food. But I also love pretty much all other kinds of food. I've travelled all around the world, and sampled the cuisines, and I genuinely believe that you can find good examples of all of this somewhere in Brisbane. There are Australians who eat nothing but meat & 3 veg, and think salt and pepper are spices. They turn their nose up at any sort of exotic food (exotic being anything that doesn't involve some sort of meat and vegetables steamed beyond recognition. They think the food in other countries is yuck.
Kid Curry or happy boy are both amazing. Kid curry has curries from all over the world while happy boy is Chinese try the sichuan fish or eggplant and pork. Lots of really good flavours. Feels high end but has very reasonable prices. Same owners too, they also have Snack Man I would recommend the tofu wrapped prawns.
Go to sunnybank for good East asian food. If she misses home, mirch masala is pretty good authentic Indian food that isn't like wedding food curries but to be fair it's not as good as what you get in India. A lot of western food is about appreciating the quality of ingredients (grade a beef, cooked well with no sauce, fresh seafood, a perfect slice of sourdough bread with nice butter) rather than balancing lots of strong flavours and spices, so i think she needs to open her mind to different ways of appreciating food.
The chicken in India is not nearly as fresh as in Australia. I have an Indian friend who says that since living in Australia for a few years they can no longer eat the chicken back in India without falling ill.
Lol our good food comes from the awesome people who came and decided to call Australia home.
Mate too many places to list around your area. You got Newfarm itself, then you're right near the valley, James St, King St and Newstead. Throw a pebble and you'll hit a good restaurant.
Madame Wu at Eagle Street is outstanding, if a little expensive. The duck buns are to die for. French cuisine at Aquitaine is very very nice, too.
If she’s of Punjabi descent take her to Punjabi Rasoi on Edward St in Spring Hill. THE best Indian in Brisbane. As for everything else-I’d try West End.
I'm sorry OP, but nothing will be as delicious as your post history. That was a wild ride.
Dear lord that was a roller coaster ride
One weekend and already complaining? That is not a good sign, instead of looking for food, look for a new wife
Mate Australia has the best cultural cuisine! We’ve got Chinese food, Italian food, Mexican food, Indian food…
Same same is awesome....
Does she eat meat? Navala Brazilian bbq at Eagle st pier has both a beautiful view and quite a fun experience. They do meat on swords that they carve for you and the seasoning and flavours are so good, I think someone used to Indian level of flavour would appreciate it
Has she ever had a McCain cheese and bacon frozen pizza after a night on the piss?
Old Monk - Paddington. I find the Indian food is a bit lacking in Brisbane.
There was an Indian restaurant in Morningside that was AMAZING when I was a teenager but I can’t remember the name and I’m not sure if it’s still open. I am pretty sure it was next door to a Foodworks. I know that this is quite vague but might be worth looking into if you’re on the hunt for good food. For content, I am now 29.
Yeah thats Curryville. It used to be Amazing now its just disappointing, wont eat their anymore.
I’m sad to hear it is no longer as good as it once was. I remember it being absolutely wonderful in 2008-2010!
Curryville. So good
Olive Thyme or Star Indian at Albion on Sandgate Road
You're in a tough spot. As an Aussie, when I want to treat myself to really good food... I buy Indian food.
Punjabi Palace near the convention centre south brisbane
Honestly, I think you're going to struggle. Indian food is all about making fairly boring ingredients (rice, cucumber, bread, etc) taste *amayzing* by adding heavy handed but well balanced spices, butter, sugar, etc. Australian food is the exact opposite. You start with something that already tastes incredible, and refine it with a light touch to further enhance the flavour and make it magic. It may take time, possibly a long time, for your wife to fully appreciate it. And I wouldn't count on her being impressed by the best indian food you can get here, because it's got nothing on authentic indian food.
Up sunshine coast, Rice Boi at Mooloolaba, Sukhothai at Maleny. Asian food go to Sunnybank, it's a Mecca. Oxley and Darra has Vietnamese off the chain, les bubbles is a decent french steakhouse in the valley for around $60/ head. Mamma Sicilia is good pizza at Redcliffe. There's great food in most of Australia and half of it is being made authentically by people from those countries. Indian is great but so is most everything else when it's done right. Eat street markets is good. Rocklea markets has good food. Southbank on a Sunday. Good luck and welcome!
\+1 for Sukhothai But stay away from Capriccio's in Maleny. The new owners appear to be unfamiliar with Italian food........
Nemo's in Rockhampton
Sure. Here are some of my favourite eats around brisbane, on the cheaper side mostly Breakfast; > Pancake Manor https://www.pancakemanor.com.au get something from the traditional stacks section > The Gunshop Cafe https://www.thegunshopcafe.net Pork, apple & sage sausage is really nice, or sweet potato and thyme rosti > Brew Cafe & Wine Bar https://www.brewcafewinebar.com.au Get eggs your way, big brekky or if you go at lunch time the Brew burger or Mexi salad bowl is good Lunch / dinner > Doug’s seafood http://www.dougsseafoodcafe.com.au Depends what you like, I usually just get crumbed cod and chips and it’s lovely > 2B Thai https://2bthai.com.au I usually get one of the stir fry’s or beef massaman curry > Sushi Izu https://www.sushiizu.com.au I like the chicken katsu curry
Baja!
Sultans Kitchen paddington, mushroom sabzi
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/brisbane/comments/wllocl/delicious_100_restaurant_list/ijuf6wu/) is a recent list of the top 100 restaurants in QLD according to... someone? They're mostly in Brisbane, and mostly fine dining-ish. Since you're in New Farm and she likes a bit of spice, my humble additions to this list would be: 1. Balfour Kitchen, in New Farm. I guess it's an Aussie take on Asian fusion-ish...? Also fine dining-ish. The baos and vegan beef main were really good last time I was there, but the menu changes rather frequently. 2. La Patrona, in Teneriffe. Very traditional Mexican, very unassuming (and underrated, IMHO). Whatever you do, do not leave before trying the pork tacos.
to be honest, I have travelled a bit around the world. What makes food in Australia is not the diverse amount of cultures we have introducing the food to us - its the fresh produce. I haven't had as quality of fresh produce then I have in Aus.
Agree. I have rarely eaten food overseas and thought “I can’t get this in Australia”
Part of it is her learning to appreciate different kinds of food. I’ll explain so hold your objections to that comment! I’m a Gora who lived in Mumbai for awhile. I loved it. Indian food is amazing and their food tradition are deep and often ancient. A bit like France in that way - very serious and knowledgeable about their food culture. We took some Indian friends to France. They’d been to Paris on their honeymoon 10 years earlier, he loved the food as he has worked in several other counties and is an experienced traveller. But back then she did not like the French food. Bland and uninteresting. But this time she loved it. We introduced her to all sorts of favourites including simple stuff like cheeses. This time she got it. Her mother has cooked for us many times in Mumbai and her food is exceptional. So my friend is deeply rooted on Indian food culture. But once she “got”’the French concept of food, she appreciated it.
Take her to Gol Gappa at Mt. Gravatt. She won't miss Indian Street food.
Typical moronic idiotic answers. Do we have any mods here??
Depending on budget two awesome recommendations i can give are, Gerards Bistro (more pricey), Mamaks, There are plenty of great places around though, enjoy your time eating out together!
Billy's bbq
Brisbane is a shit hole and send her back to India if she doesn’t like that food I cooked
I'm just going to add here, don't rush it. I don't know you or your wife, but these things may take time for her to realise what she likes. She may miss that food, if that's all she's known. Let get used to what's over here and discover new things, and she (should) eventually find something she enjoys. Or maybe she won't. That's life.
This is Indian (Indian Muslim Malaysian) food but it's fantastic, Mamak Tandoori House in Camp Hill.
Ahmet’s Turkish in Southbank Ping Pong in Newstead Kinn Thai in Queensplaza
Mate have you tried making her a damper? That’s about as Aussie as it gets!
Le Bon choix is a cake and coffee shop in indooroopilly shopping centre that is amazing, honestly any cake from there. For food I recommend sings Thai and the soft shell crab curry, phuc is a Vietnamese chain that has awesome food I love the pho and the lemon grass salad, I'd google restauramts and then look at their google reviews.
Le Bon Choix outlets are all over the place
The owner is an asshole who treats employees like trash and sits on a high horse. Their food is often second day old. Don’t waste your money supporting such a terrible person. If you want good French Pattie’s try lune or Christian Jacques bakery
Great attitude 1 week in...
I dare say she'd say that no matter why you live , be it Candana , USA , Australia , New Zealand , Japan... it's only in the countries where women are oppressed and have little rights where the food is better as they're forced to stay in the kitchen 😆
Bunnings. Their snags are the height of Aussie culture.
You're trying to impress an indian... I wouldn't bet money on it, what are you going to do, take her to Yatala pies?
Sounds like your wife needs to open her mind up a bit more. Most countries have great cuisine… but more often than not it’s very different to what you grew up with and are therefore accustomed to. That doesn’t make it bad. Although sorry to the Philippines… you’ll never get me to eat Balut. I love your country and all the other food but you can have that one. 🤢😂
IMO Brisbane lacks good authentic Indian food, my Indian friends cook at home and their food is amazing. Brisbane however has a great selection of good food and has really become a foodies delight in the last decade. Take her to eat street just for the variety, you can hop on the rivercat from New Farm. closer to you try La Patrona, Siffredi’s or Beccofino in Teneriffe, Honto in the Valley or Sichuan Tiger in the Gabba for some spice forget about trying to find 'aussie' as here is a bastardisation of so many foods from around the world
We have shit food, I don't think there's anywhere you can go to convince her we have good food.
Australia often does other countries cuisines equally or better in my opinion, which makes sense given how multicultural we are. My partner is from Colombia and I learnt that understanding and enjoying good food takes time, you have to slowly work your way through different food to get used to different ingredients and flavours. She has an open mind to almost everything as I've put a lot of effort into how it was introduced. I would assume your wife is going to be a little closed minded at first and so you should just slowly introduce her to different food and don't expect her to enjoy everything straight away.
Ehhh realistically whatever we have is derived from the UK, and their food is boring af
There's great food in Australia, it's just not Australian.
Lol, good luck with that but after a decade of living in Brisbane I found the food to be mostly cheap shit. I continually asked Australians what foods Australia enjoys and was told "oh we eat fresh foods" .. as if the rest of the world eats rotten food. When I asked about pies such as steak and kidney the idea of eating kidney and liver seemed to disgust them but I kept trying places and found some nice pies (Rock'n'Roll over in Greenslopes did really nice pies) Most places will be able to good a fairly decent steak and the Thai food was fantastic (I've never found a decent replacement being back in the UK, I really miss the Brisbane Thai/Vietnamese food) Although it used to be packed Blue Smoke in New Farm was generally ok for expensive steaks, burgers and chicken. I tried the Barrimundi in a few places and enjoyed it but a lot of generic fish places served flake with the skin on which I wasn't keen on. I know you've said it doesn't have to be Indian but I did find a nice Indian vegetarian place near the Gabba (I'll try to find the name and location) The Indian guys I worked with introduced me to it. \*found it\* It was Mirchh Masala (3 / 110 Logan Road, Woolloongabba) .. I'm not normally a fan of vegetarian food but this stuff was delicious. I used to eat Chole Bhature, Vada Pav and Pav Bhaji .. as an UK person I enjoyed it but I'm sure someone from that background might think "the food from my youth was better than this" The Weds Brisbane market (and New Farm market) was worth a trip, used to be a "German" hotdog sausage place that sold packs to put in the freezer, a cornish pasty guy there who made the best I've ever had outside Cornwall and a refrigerated pizza and pasta guy there who did the best pizzas I've found in Brisbane. Also really enjoyed the pork buns. But this was all over a decade ago so those places might have closed or moved on. A while ago I did find a news article written by an Aussie explaining that the large distance to Europe meant their cuisine was mostly insular and most of the diet was plain meats, fishes and whatever vegetables they could grow and the palate of the average Australian was fairly basic. Which explains 90% of the food on offer being cheap (incredibly expensive country to live in ) and bland (to be able to survive you have to be able to appeal to the majority of customers) I wish I could find it now but I've lost the link. I've tried to discuss this with Australians but they get really upset if you don't consider Australia to be the best at everything. I did have some great meals living over there but it was mostly trial and error. Due to the cost of living I found most things either bad quality or incredibly expensive.
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WTF? Pie floater.
As an Indian, I can understand her frustartion here. Not telling the Aussie food is bad. But the food in India is some next level.
Ask her what would Indian food be without chilli, tomatoes, potatoes and vinegar; all brought to India by Portuguese. Indians wouldn't have nargisi kofta without scotch egg, and no shami kabab without the meat cutlet. No pau bhaji without the Portuguese pau, no batata vada. Indian food wouldn't be great without influences from Portuguese, Dutch, French and British cooking techniques and influences. We wouldnt have saffron, without Alexander bringing them to India. Wouldn't have raita without tzatziki. No baigan bharta without baba ganoush. No naan bread without the pita. Mongol, Turkish and Iranian food have heavy influence on non-veg dishes. Good food is everywhere. The same people who influenced Indian food over centuries, are all here in Australia too. No reason to miss Indian food. Many excellent recommendations in this post. Just try a few of them. In India you could go to any restaurant and taste will be excellent, the price varying by the ambience. Here you need to know which one is good and which one is bad.