For this third dinner in Brisbane I was looking for something a little bit different from the excellent Elska where I had dined the day before and I thought that an Asian fusion restaurant would do very well. It’s a good thing because during my investigations I had read several glowing reviews about Southside and moreover they had space available.
You will find the summary of the articles about this trip in Australia at the bottom of the page.
Booking
I made my reservation on the restaurant’s website a few days before my arrival. He was one of the few on my short list who had availability and I thought I was lucky…or wrong in my short list.
The concept of Southside
Their website says “We serve oriental cuisine with a love of Chinese tradition”. In my mind I’m thinking this is an Asian fusion restaurant, the menu looks good to me, and they offer a tasting menu which is usually the mark of somewhat upscale restaurants. In my idea I was going for something a bit similar to To Paris, but not as high end.
So much for the concept, we’ll see later for the reality.
The setting
There is nothing exceptional about the setting. A very large terrace outside which is mainly a bar (we are in spring) and a large room nicely decorated but without particular inspiration. There is also a room upstairs that will not be open that evening.
The menu
I will take the following degustation menu:
The dinner
I arrive at the restaurant 15 minutes early. My table is not ready and they send me to the terrace to have a drink while waiting. They don’t even bother to accompany me to tell the staff that I’m waiting for a table and maybe that the drink was offered to wait. I say maybe because I wasn’t even told, contrary to the best practices of the profession.
I will finally wait 20 minutes without anyone coming to take my order. Then no one will come to pick me up to let me know my table is ready but I will receive a SMS. I can’ t say I’m impressed with their customer care so far.
If the music is loud on the terrace it is just as loud in the room.
However, the staff inside the restaurant is young and friendly. My order will be taken quickly and the first dishes will arrive fairly quickly.
The staff will try to explain to me many things about the dishes, starting with their names, but the music is so loud that I will barely hear half the words.
Dishes will come in batches of two or three and not always in the order of the menu.
The oyster.
Bluefin tuna.
Calamari roll.
Wagyu beef in a puff.
The ribs of beef
Chicken and Shitake mushrooms.
That’s it.
What to say? It was good or at least not bad.
For the rest we won’t talk about a tasting menu since there is absolutely no finesse in these dishes. More like a discovery menu that lets you test the entire menu.
I can see a little bit of the fusion side but the Chinese side promised on the website was totally absent.
In short if the menu is a little creative and the execution correct the Southside is a restaurant without any interest.
The atmosphere
Noisy, very noisy.
The staff and the service
Bad at the reception, inattentive on the terrace, very nice in the restaurant.
Bottom line
Southside is a nice restaurant if you want to eat a little original food with friends and if the atmosphere counts more than the content of the plate.
Otherwise without any gastronomic or culinary interest and given the promise without expecting a starred restaurant I was hoping for something a little more refined, hence my disappointment.
As for the “love of the Chinese tradition” I am still looking for it.
Articles about this trip to Australia
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