Fish Lane Bistro | South Brisbane

While the upcoming Queensland election is covering a range of very important issues, there is one notable public debate that has been absent from major party campaigning. Brisbane wants more gastropubs!

And we want them to be as good as South Brisbane's Fish Lane Bistro.

Fish Lane Bistro is part of the Fox Hotel, which draws a mixed crowd. I confess I wasn't sure what to expect at its adjoining gastropub/ bistro, so when I rocked up and got a touch of fine dining, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

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Eat Brisbane once again organised an awesome Insta-Meet here last night, allowing a bunch of Instagram faithfuls to eat, snap and share.

We started the night with a couple of items from the Entrée Menu:

• Heirloom Tomato Tart with Smoked Tomato, Ricotta Salata and Crushed Olives
• Gin-Cured Tasmanian Salmon Tartare and Cucumber Salad

I absolutely love salmon so was gearing up to really enjoy this dish, but surprisingly the Heirloom Tomato Tart won the battle of the entrees hands-down for me.

I don't think I've ever had a smoked tomato before in my life and I'm not sure how I got through my first 30 years to be honest. It was so tasty and really made what could have been a standard dish really interesting and moreish.

The salmon was great as well, though a bit on the salty side. It was super fresh though and had a melt-in-your-mouth texture, perhaps as a result of the gin curing. Gin cures everything.

We then his the Mains and Sides Menus:

• Crispy Skinned Twice Cooked Duck, Steamed Asian Greens, Orange Caramel
• Spiced Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, Cranberries and Coriander Yoghurt
• Sticky Wagyu Short Rib with Hot and Sour Herb Salad

I love duck at the best of times, but I really, really, really loved Fish Lane Bistro's duck. Really. It wasn't fatty but at the same time wasn't dried out. It was just succulent, and the caramel in the sauce just made me want to eat it by the bowl-full.

The Wagyu Short Rib was also cooked wonderfully, slightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The Asian-style salad it came with was light and fresh and really nice to eat with a dense chunk of meat. 

While I don't mind the odd bit of cauliflower, I really don't rate chickpeas, but this side may have swayed me somewhat- I went back for thirds. I'm not sure exactly which spices were used on this dish but they worked to create something really tasty and moreish.

Did I mention I liked the duck?

One mark of a good gastropub is how much better its desserts are than the standard pub dessert of beer.

Below we had:

• Dark Chocolate and Olive Oil Mousse with Chocolate & Hazelnut Icecream and Honeycomb
• Vanilla Bean Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Rhubarb, Shortbread and Strawberry
• Kaffir Lime Crème Brûlée with Sorbet Gingerbread and Peach

I had many a discussion last night on which dessert was the best. The group consensus was probably evenly split three-ways. 

The kaffir lime was so prominent in the Crème Brûlée, it really worked and was more aromatic than your normal, every day lime-lime.

The house-made honeycomb on the Chocolate Mousse plate was sticky and crunchy at the same time, and added great texture to the creamy dollops on this plate.

Lastly the rhubarb added a nice tang to the Panna Cotta, which wasn't as thick and heavy as some panna cottas are; I think the yoghurt helped to lighten this a bit.

Every dish we tried at Fish Lane Bistro really went above and beyond all expectations. Especially the duck; did I mention I loved the duck?

This is the beauty of the gastropub- stellar food in an informal atmosphere attached to a pub. Surely more of this would be a winning platform for any politician? 

The Particulars

• Fish Lane Bistro can be found at 1 Fish Lane, South Brisbane 4101
• Open 7 days, 12pm – 2:30pm & 5pm – late
  
• Mains range from $19 - $33

Tanya dinned as a guest of Fish Lane Bistro and Eat Brisbane.