Aria Brisbane

Restaurant Review by Mitch Green

Aria, in Brisbane, like its sister restaurant in Sydney, sits right on the water with great views over the Brisbane River. It is set amongst a large group of restaurants on Eagle Street Pier and has an understated elegance and once inside you immediately feel at home. We were shown to our table swiftly, sitting in the middle of the expanse of windows, which cover one side of the restaurant.

We ordered two pre-lunch drinks, Hendricks Gin and tonic (got to love it when a place has Hendricks and they serve it with a big slice of cucumber) and a chilli Mojito, which was not on the drinks list but they very kindly made it for us anyway. Full marks to the bar staff.

The wine list is extensive, as you would expect from a quality establishment such as Aria. It includes a good selection of wines by the glass, half bottles, an international selection of full size bottles and magnums, as well as a number of Queensland based wines. You should have no trouble in finding a wine that suits both your palate and price bracket. We chose a 2011 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, which matched our food admirably.

The menu is seasonal and produce driven (applause!)

We started with an amuse bouche of pea velouté with crisp pancetta, a generous serving with lots of flavour.

We ordered the ‘Spring salad of goat’s curd, green beans, beetroot, roast shallots and a hazelnut dressing’ and ‘Twice cooked Bangalow Sweet Pork belly with Asian spiced black bean sauce and an apple, radish and crackling salad’ for starters The goat's curd salad was good, but it was the pork belly that shone; one of the nicest I’ve had. It was a wonderful, complex marriage of salty, sweet and sour flavours. I could have easily eaten one more serving.

For mains we ordered the ‘Seared fillet of King Salmon with a crab and Kipfler potato salad, broccoli, almonds and quail egg’ and the ‘Fillet of Ranger's Valley’ 300 days, grain fed, both very good. The salmon was beautifully presented and the fillet was a classic example of letting the produce speak for itself. It was served with only a cheek of lemon and a small watercress salad. It was rare as ordered (and perfectly rested). A selection of excellent condiments was offered with the fillet including an outstanding chimichurri.

For desserts we tried the ‘Rhubarb Compote’ served with doughnuts, apple and vanilla custard and the ‘Valrhona chocolate délice with honeycomb, milk chocolate ice cream and honey tuille’. The desserts were solid and the only disappointment was that I would have liked the délice to be a little softer in texture, but that very small criticism didn’t stop us from eating every last scrap. The rhubarb dessert was lovely and tart cutting through the sweetness of the light and fluffy doughnuts.

There was excellent bread served throughout the meal and service was good, with one little hiccup to start, when we were seated and left alone for a little too long.

This is a great restaurant in a great location and well worth it for both a special occasion (as it was for us) and a sophisticated business lunch.

Would I go again? In a heartbeat!

Would I recommend it to a friend? Absolutely

Noise Level: 72 db

Score: 8/10

For more information or bookings:

ARIA Restaurant

1 Eagle Street

Eagle Street Pier

Brisbane 4000

Tel: +61 7 3233 2555

Fax: +61 7 3233 2500

Email: enquiries@ariarestaurant.com

Reservations: brisbanereservations@ariarestaurant.com