aquitaine brasserie

the bouillabaisse brought out my inner teen wanting to scream "omg"!! a rich fish soup with plenty of fish and shellfish pieces, and a generous side of crusty bread with rouille -"rust", a spicy aioli-. so flavoursome, so many varied seafood bits, the perfect dish for a hot summer night.
the roquefort ice cream was original and a great complement to the main: the poached figs and the orange sauce brought the right sweet/salt balance. i finished with the mille feuille just to load up the calories. so good, i'm back tomorrow.

my thoughts on this restaurant are somewhat negative. we arrived and were given the normal menu however we mentioned there would be 9 of us so that menu (which included a range of interesting appetisers and share plates) was whisked away and a new, less choice menu took its place. two of our party were "plain food" eaters so found it hard to find anything on the new menu. the waitress then suggested they might like the kids meal of steak and chips but as one of them was not a child she would be charged an adult rate. 50+ minutes later the meals came out...
no apologies or forewarning regarding food service delay and venue not full.
the two 'children's ' steak and chips were identical cuts of meat on top of a bed of chips... same amount of chips.....1 cost $15 and the other $39 when the bill came and then add the 15% surcharge. "
another member of our group had the fillet steak from the menu advertised at $39 ... guess what ... different cut of meat, thick and delicious looking with interesting additions to complement the meat. when bill was challenged it was basically " tough luck" and we don't care.
so very long story short ... great company (our family :) ), ok but certainly overpriced food with exceptionally poor customer service from inflexible staff and owner. needless to say we won't be back ever.

all i can say is..wow!

aquitaine has been on my foodie bucket list since earlier in the year when i learned of its existence and after months of wiping drool of my phone screen through their instagram and contemplating blowing the weekly food budget continuously i have finally caved to the occasion and took the leap of faith. i was not disappointed.

to say the food was perfect is an understatement and to dine on the water at southbank with the shimmering sunday afternoon sun in my eyes just added to what seems to now be an experience such as dining in france itself.

starting with the entree moving into a main and tipping it all over with what is to date one of the best executed desserts i have even had the joy of tasting created a bombardment of flavours, textures and vibrant plating coming from what i can only now put into one of top experience not only in brisbane but anywhere i have dined.

aside from som minimal knowledge of the wine list in which the waitress was extremely apologetic about nothing could of been more perfect.

highly recommend to experienced diners and anyone on the market for what is sure to be an unforgettable but affordable foodie experience!

had a great meal out last night at aquitaine.. my partner had the kangaroo and said it was flawless, i had the mushroom entree and chocolate and salted caramel ganache which was also flawless.. the breads and cheese entree special weren't bad but felt like they were missing something.. would also be good if they ask if you want all the elements on the plate explained prior to launching into a lengthy explanation. otherwise great food and service, just these few things would make the experience flawless :-)

lovely night with the family last night. mixed reviews round the table about the food. i had the duck and it was cooked to perfection and the yoghurt that went with it was a perfect combination. however my partner had ordered the same thing and it was slightly over done. the chocolate ganache was every bit delicious and not too sweet. nice way to end the meal and they did a little something special for my mil who was celebrating her birthday. kids meals are not that kid friendly so you might need to consider that if you do have children.

had a great night here with some friends but lost my phone that night therefore had to borrow my friend's photos which were taken half drunk... dishes showed simplicity yet technical, my steak was cooked to perfection and the sauce was amazing. the desert left a very memorable taste to end a wonderful night. very technical and executed perfectly. beautiful decor and very prompt service, will return again to take more photos!

great service, reasonable price and the meals were fabulous!!! had the jamon, sardines, mushroom, duck, beef and bouilliabaisse. delicious. partner and i will definitely be going back.

situated in the new section of southbank near the goodwill bridge, it offers a nice view of the river and the city on the other side.  it was a shame that on the night we went it was raining.  service was okay; it did take them a little longer than usual to take our order and bring our drinks, considering it wasn't busy at all.  food was enjoyable, the escargot in butter and herb sauce were to delicious as was the pork belly and scallop.  mains was also good with the beef being tender and juicy.  all in all a good night out.

very disappointing experience overall. wait staff were friendly but inconceivably slow. my partner and i shared the jamon flatbread as a starter which was delicious. 
my main, snapper fillets with clams (and other stuff) had bones in it. no apology or any attempt to reconcile this was made. had to ask 3 times for the wine we ordered, and side dishes came out 15 minutes after our mains.
asked the waitress 3 times to get the bill and when it never came, i walked to the counter to pay. the manager told me to go and sit back down, and when i told him that we'd asked for the bill, he rolled his eyes and slammed the eftpos machine on the bench.
considering acquitaine wasn't even half full, the service was atrocious and we certainly won't be returning.

love if from the first time. 
love it more cause is on the entertainment book.
love it cause is at the quiet end of south bank. 
keep coming back for the dinning atmosphere and the food.

terrific food and service. we went using the entertainment guide and will most definitely be back again! i had the special which was a 'to die for' duck pie. the entrees of sardines were incredible as were the mushrooms. finish off by a great ganache. good location and very attentive service.

fantastic & super value, 3 courses and cheese plus wines for under $100 each. classic french food with a modern twist. food was impeccable and the bouillabaisse smelt absolutely devine!

it was time for a very long overdue catch up with my oldest friend and she had decided that aquitaine sounded like a good option for a friday lunch. we arrived nice and early and greeted very warmly by our friendly waiter.  the place was still empty so table choice was all ours and we chose to sit outside and enjoy the view.

the menu was with us quickly and our celebratory glass of bubbles in our hand in good time. the menu was interesting, but neither of us could go past the winter lunch special menu - choice of two courses and a glass of wine for $35 ... bargain. on the menu for our visit was pumpkin risotto and coq au vin - with a choice of either a glass of chardonnay, cabernet sav or a beer.  we both went with the white and it was great!

now to the food - the pumpkin risotto made its appearance and it was seriously good, and such a generous serve, wasn't sure how i would fit in my main.  it was creamy, pumpkiny and had a generous serving of goats cheese sprinkled on top ... my hubby makes good pumpkin risotto, this was even better than his.  

the coq au vin was also delicious - a really large bowl of hearty chicken, loads of carrots, plump mushrooms, onion and potato mash/puree surrounded by a delicious wine sauce.  the waitress explained that the chicken had been suveed, then finished off in the pan and it was delicious - so moist, tender and melting off the bone. but those mushrooms - they were my favourite bit.

in all a lovely long lunch - the service was superb, the food was delicious and we both agreed that we needed to catch up more often and that aquitaine would be the place to do it!

rather let themselves down.

this is a fine location, perhaps a touch cool, semi-outdoors in late autumn, but the heaters are nice. the service is competent without being warm.

six of us - three couples who know a bit about food and about france and speak french - had dinner there one friday night in may 2015 and very much enjoyed the food. the "all things duck" entrée was seriously good as was the special shellfish.

we actually chose to go there because we saw there was a bouillabaisse. well, there is a limit to how good a bouillabaisse can be in australia, since we don't really have the right sorts of fish and anyway australian diners won't come at the ugly, bony little numbers that make a fish stew great (rock cod for example) but these guys get pretty near to that limit: plenty of saffron, a strong broth, a nice variety of textures and flavours.

one of us is a vegetarian and she was pretty well catered for - except that the rest of us kept pinching her stuff because it was so nice. go for the mushroom with cheese and egg!

a nice selection of cheeses for the grown-ups and a hugely chocolatey dessert for the rest.

and a good wine list: not too expensive, by brisbane standards.

all very happy so far.

but then, the bill.

so we are three couples and - this is australia, you know - we want to pay for ourselves, so we will just divide the bill in three and pay a third per couple.

and we all have credit cards.

well, it appears we are in luck because they will take separate cards but no more than three.

but my card is amex. well, there is a surcharge. ok, i'm used to that. i know that amex actually doesn't charge so big a fee and it does deliver higher spend customers to the restaurant so the surcharge is just a lie, but i just accept it and mark down the restaurant as a place not to go back to.

but wait! the amex surcharge does not just go on my portion of the bill - if one card is an amex, then all the cards get hit with the surcharge.

"oh, the system just works that way."

what utter rubbish! this, guys, even in france, is the 21st century. cash is going out. people pay with plastic. you are not a hole-in-the-wall mum-and-dad eatery, you are a major player that can handle hundreds of diners, you want my money - you take my plastic.

and people split bills. you know that every time more than two people turn up at your restaurant, it is almost certain they will want to pay separately. you don't like this? then only have tables for two!

what worries me is that, if you have trouble with this, then what other basic 21st century technological issues also challenge you. food safety, perhaps?

went this saturday early afternoon - very good service from knowledgable staff. food was good and the venue very pleasant. the experience lives up to the price tag so a thumbs up from us!