85 miskin st

experience at a premium price. its nice to have theexperiencebut when expectations are shattered with poor cuts of meat, smaller than expected servings and grossly priced wines, it wins no customers. would i take friends there - no. would i like to be taken there for a gift dinner... i was asked that this month and i chose an alternative place at new farm! adieu

over promised, over priced and under performed. having lived in the brisbane inner south west all my life i had lost count of how many times we have driven past this restaurant on the woop-dee-doop hill street behind bbc (reference to the g-force you get from driving your car over the steep little incline mid way on the street where this place is located). we finally decided after reading several reviews and noting that the entertainment guide rated it as best restaurant, to try it out. so my wife, 2 close friends we met in italy and myself walked in to this place, all for the very first time, with high hopes........

the place is homely in feel.... the staff were friendly.... but the food which is perhaps the most important aspect of any restaurant was.......well where do i begin...

my wife and i firstly ordered the scallops to share... when they arrived it was literally one scallop no bigger than a ten cent (10c) coin in a shell with some melted butter. there is no way in the world that could be shared between two taste buds let alone two people.....

we were told kangaroo was on the special and i ordered that (i love this local lean healthy meat) not less than 5 minutes after ordering i was met with a ... "sorry we don't have any left"...... ok... disappointed i went with the next closest thing.. steak.

along arrived the steak on a plate..... which was literally one piece of steak cooked and then sliced on a plate with a little mustard in a small cup on the side... the steak was not bad, but it was not melt in your mouth stuff... i get better steak from my local butcher and cook it at home.. the kicker is you are paying close to $50 for a plate with a steak on it.... there was no vegetable no mash no potatoes no beans no caramelised onion it was just a mediocre steak sliced on a plate.... the steak had not been given the opportunity to rest and the plate was covered in blood. .....

what type of food is this..? there was no generosity, no feeling or flow in the cooking and there was absolutely no love on the plate at all!

the entireexperienceleft us dumb founded... how do people rate this place???? this was felt by all four of us at the table and discuss at length.... there is nothing worse than eating at a place and getting that badly done by feeling.....it was so bad that i felt compelled to write this review and i have never made the effort to write a review in the past.

in hind sight we had done well not to have eaten there in some 35 years of living in brisbane and i will certainly only enjoy the g-force as you hit the little hill driving past this restaurant because there certainly was nothing else to enjoy there.

this saturday we ventured to brunch, which is a rarity because after years of brunching i've become quite immune to the charms of poached eggs, pancakes and waffles that i can easily whip up at home. however, we ate at 85 miskin street and enjoyed our meal. i'd heard of 85 miskin street a couple of years ago but only visited recently thanks to my brother. my brother discovered scoopon this year and gifted us with a couple of breakfast scoopons that he purchased but could not use within the free time he has in his fifo schedule. we visited on a saturday morning around 10 am and apart from the treacherous toowong hills that it's sitting amongst which make parking and manoeuvreing quite difficult, the 85 miskin street breakfast diningexperiencewas great.

rated 4.5. went here with the partner after making a reservation as soon as the restaurant re-opened with the loosening of covid-19 restrictions.
we chose the five-course tasting menu at $65pp. between both of us, for entrees we tried: "citrus cured salmon" (light, fresh and well-balanced in flavours and textures) and "pork belly" (beautifully succulent with crispy skin). for mains: "barramundi" (perfectly cooked with crispy skin) and "eye fillet" (cooked medium-rare, standard but well-prepared accompaniments and flavours). for desserts: "chocolate tart" (beautifully moreish dark chocolate) and "fig pudding" (warm, moist and homely flavours). the complimentary amuse bouche and palate cleaners were refreshing and delicious teasers between courses.
service was friendly and efficient. smart casual ambience (and appropriately socially distanced between tables). reasonable prices.
overall, a good diningexperiencewith a modern australian/french flair.

my husband and i had dinner here last night for our anniversary. we had the degustation menu and i couldn't fault anything.
the service was absolutely impeccable and to the standard of a 5 star restaurant. the staff were very knowledgeable with the menu and wines.
the food itself was a little more fancy than i usually have but i really enjoyed it, i was able to taste a few things i hadn't had before like the chicken heart.
overall it was a wonderfulexperienceand i'd definitely recommend this place for a nice dinner out, in fact i already have to a few friends and family who live locally.

the breakfast degustationexperiencewas absolutely amazing! the service and staff were superb, food was delicious and served with heart. i note it also caters for dietary requirements as they asked if we had any when we ordered which i had never seen any other restaurants do upfront. i would definitely go back again if i didn't work so many weekends!

85 miskin st is a little place hidden in the back streets of toowong.  driving up to it i was thinking 'surely there is no restaurant here in the middle of all these houses' but there is was nestled amongst them at the bottom of the hill.  whilst walking up to it, my date for the night was quietly wondering what we were in for as the quirky little location used to be a corner store (as we were told by the friendly staff) and the restaurant front still closely resembles this.  the environment inside is not special, the bad acoustics make it difficult to hear when the room is busy and there is no outlook or view.  that is all totally irrelevant when the degustation menu starts to come out.  each dish was meticulously prepared and visually spectacular but what struck me most was the creativity in the menu.  the combinations of flavours in each dish persistently amazed me through the whole evening, from the first dish to the final chocolate desert.  i am by no means an expert on these things so i won't detract from the chef's work by attempting to detail them, all i can say is it is a diningexperiencethat reminded me what fine dining was all about.  the staff were friendly and the arrival of each dish was well timed, there was never a moment i wondered where the next one was and i never felt rushed.  the cost of the degustation menu was only $89 - i actually felt this was a bargain by the end of the night.  overall you may think the location and the dated exterior of the place detracted from theexperiencebut in the end it actually reminded me of one of those little hidden gems you can impress your friends with.

delicious as always and superb service as always! my husband and i made a last minute booking when the restaurant we had booked in the city cancelled our reservation without notice and all the other city restaurants we tried were fully booked. we decided to head back to toowong and try our old faithful to see if they could fit us in and boy are we glad they could. we've been here four times for dinner now over the last three years and have never been let down. the food is delightful - mushroom cappuccino, the pimms twist cocktail, the black forest dessert (a piece of art itself!) have been some of our fave items. entrees and mains have always been exquisite and desserts a delightful treat to finish the meal. menu has changed frequently so it has been nice to be able to mix it up and try new things. did prefer the old worldly formal decor which matched the old queenslander over the new modern mismatched decor (could do with some restyling) but that is neither here nor there. the most important part of a great restaurantexperienceis the food and we know we can always count on 85 miskin st to offer unique inspiring dishes and flavour combinations we have never tasted! cannot recommend enough!!!

loved it, highly recommend. mr b and i had a wonderful diningexperienceat 85 miskin street tonight. it all started from an email subscription with the latest dinner menu attached. mind you, it was earlier this week... the menu sounded really fancy and dishes were reasonably priced. i decided to reply and ask if there were any gluten free options on the menu. i got a response back quite quickly. (i was quite surprised, as i have asked a few places and never got a response).

restaurant manager kylie, had taken the time to highlight items that were gluten free friendly and/or could be altered to be gluten free... which was almost every item on the menu :-d i showed this to mr b and he was stoked so we made a dinner reservation.

the entree, mains and dessert were wonderful. the "braised beef" (special) was soooo tender, it melted in your mouth and it looked like pulled-pork :-) haha mr b's "slow cooked eye fillet" was also cooked to perfection. the eye fillet was so tender that a normal knife just cuts through the meat without any issues. and the dessert... when the waitress bought over a little pot plant, mr b and i were both confused... it was actually the "passionfruit, meringue, vanilla, white balsamic and garden flowers" (edible of course). hmm awesome.

overall, it was a wonderful experience, from the moment we stepped through the doors. mr b and i highly recommend to other diners out there. we will certainly be returning to try the breakfast and lunch menu in the near future.

the previous 'brent's' restaurant was my all time favorite restaurant. we would go there any chance we had to celebrate something and theexperiencewas always perfect. we were a little nervous when this restaurant changed from french to modern australian, but the same level of perfection has been carried across. the restaurant manager kylie is absolutely meticulous and always recognizes us when we arrive. the diningexperienceis still mind blowing and stands to hold the trophy of my all time favorite restaurant still. whether it be lunch with a girlfriend on a saturday sharing a few plates or a romantic dinner with my husband on a friday night, you won't be disappointed. i am eagerly awaiting this new breakfast menu they are about to open. highly recommend to anyone with a refined palate who expects only exceptional service.


-----28 jul, 2011-----

i daydream about how good the food is for weeks after i leave... definately the best french restaurant in brisbane. i would rate montrachet in paddington a close second. the truffle cuppacino is a must try. also the honey glazed pate is a good starter. all mains are fantastic and the show stopping desserts are 'mashmallows by the campfire' a chocoholics heaven and is presented to you on fire. then the black forest, which is quite heston blumenthal where artwork and imagination meets your dinner plate.

hidden gem. have dined here twice now and both fantastic experiences.

theexperiencefeels like you've been invited to a chef's home and they have a table just for you in the corner. the restaurant is nestled in a residential district and the dining areas are nicely separated for a homely feel.

the first time we had the degustation, par for the course for value and quality. returning a second time i enjoyed a lamb neck (succulent) and the partner had the venison (excellent).

friendly service is spot on with timing so looking forward to returning.

went to brents tonight and it was fabulous! we had the gourmand menu and everything was delicious! the highlight for me was the mushroom cappuccino while my partner loved the steak and brussels sprout main. the service was excellent and the wholeexperienceis one i will definitely be raving about in the future.

another birthday there. we come back to the brents every so often but our last time being yesterday 12-12-12 was a bit dissapointment. the place look terrible bare, no decoration, no color, no christmas atmosphere. i think previous years , maybe under other management, it was more cheerful. the portions as another writer says: way too small. you pay over 30 dollars for lucky if 100 grams of meat. the one thing it really disturbed was that the waiter (surely under instructions) comes with each meal and lectures you about what it is ,mentioning the lenght of ingredients. this is the first and only place where the waiter/cook takes priority and center stage of the 'romantic; meal. my husband and i were interrupted from our conversation time and time again to hear the ingredients of the coming course. i believe a good waiter is one whose presence is not felt and is there when needed. myexperienceyesterday was that i was not celebrating my birthday and a very special date, but one where we paid to be 'educated?' on ingredients. iam a good cook myself and needed no help to know what i was eating. perhaps the cook should wait to hear compliments and no impose himself.

not bad but not fine dining. went to brents with my husband for our aniversary because of the great reviews it had here, and i had to wonder if people were talking about the same restaurant! i did not find anything about the food, the service or the atmosphere that rated the "fine dining" tag.

the atmosphere: the restaurant is in a converted shopfront. the interior has vertical groove panelling painted in tasteful colors, and some paintings, but the effect was more homey, like being in someone's loungeroom. the decor item that stood out to me was a large urn of flowers next to our table, on first glance they looked lovely, but closer inspection revealed they were plastic.it was also quite bright and noisy, and the side plates were dirty.

the service: the service wasn't bad, per se, the staff were polite, the orders were correct, and the wait for the meals to arrive was no longer than one would expect for a busy saturday night. the issue i have was that the entire wait staff appeared very, very young, and all seemed nervous and inexperienced. one even joked about his mcdonalds training kicking in. unfortuately that is about the level they were at. certainly none had the bearing or confidence required. everytime the waitress filled our glasses she spilled the water.

the food: the biggest disappointment of the night. decontructed food, unusual combinations of ingredients and quinelles everywhere do not automatically make it fine dining! some dishes worked - my husband had the duck confit, which was nice, as was the duck pate appetiser , but the blue cheese gnocci was awful.the dish consisted of 4 pan fried pieces of gnocci 3 largish cubes of blue cheese, some kind of crunchy sweet candied walnuts and 3 unidentifiable pale green cylinders, all just sitting on a plate at room temperature. the cylinders tasted like some kind of bland melon, only not sweet, but after looking at the menu i can only conclude that it was the pear. the gnocci tasted ok, and the cheese was ok, and if it had been in a sauce on the gnocci it would have been great, but as it was nothing blended or complemented each other, the flavours were all separate and jarring.

we both found the evening a big letdown, the heart of the diningexperiencehas got to be the food, but between us we tried 8 different dishes, and not one dish of lot was exciting or left you wanting more.

quality food, venue needs a facelift. first time at brents for an anniversary dinner. chose not to follow the 'romantic package' as it wasn't much more expensive to order three courses from the menu, with the option of having a variety of wines by the glass rather than the single bottle required in the package. excellent food from the amuse bouche onwards. waitstaff friendly and helpful (... and generous when pouring). really good value, but theexperiencewould have been improved by a more modern interior - especially the bathrooms.
reminded me somewhat of azafran in annerley, good quality suburban dining although at a higher standard.