embrace your brisbane-ness. well what a find this has been. well prepared food with exquisite ingredients and a balmy riverside dining atmosphere but a little quirky in its effort at “authenticity”. after eating in the cbd fairly regularly over the last few years a shortage of hotel rooms left me in south bank looking for somewhere for dinner. for all its efforts to try and convince me that it is authentic south-of-france i found the experience at aquitaine quintessentially brisbane (in the best possible sense).
i approached the idea of red emperor in mussel broth with fennel and spring onion with trepidation. although mild by brisbane standards, i was finding the evening a little humid. i opted for the fish and eschewed the offerings with heavier french-inspired ingredients (foie gras, blue cheese, et al).
i was pleasantly surprised .
not only was the portion size perfect (that is not supersized, but not nouvelle cuisine either), the broth was light and delicious. some may measure value for money by total calorie count and not quality and freshness of ingredients. if that's you then you may not find this good value. fennel and whole spring onions balanced the flavour of the small mussels in the broth. the cherry tomatoes were few but were an intense and novel in flavour and a real highlight of the meal. the kingfish (which can be a little dry) was perfect in broth. a small freshly made bread roll with herbed butter with a glass of hunter valley semillon (2005, 2006? i can't remember) finished of the dish nicely.
my direct comparison is trying to find somewhere in southbank in melbourne after a show and being sorely disappointed. for all the hype it can be really easy to find sub-optimal dining experiences in melbourne.
which brings me to the quintessential brisbane part: brisbane tries so hard to be as good as other places sometimes that it inadvertently surpasses the competition. aquitaine is a case in point. the service was a little too try-hard and supposedly french (without the rudeness i have to say), tried a little bit too hard to be “authentic”. but what has happened is that it has surpassed the standard fare in equivalent tourist strips in melbourne and sydney – and has done this through its local strengths: good interpretation of provincial french cuisine with great fresh ingredients and a to-die-for outdoor dining experience.