aquitaine brasserie

went to aquitaine last night for dinner for the first time, excellent service,menuand food. will be back again.

i had a delightful leisurely lunch here while on holiday from new zealand. the beef tartare to start with was generous and seasoned beautifully. the raw beef was cut into larger pieces than i'm used to, but it was perfect because it gave it a lovely chunky mouthfeel. i reckon anyone who's never tried beef tartare would find this texture less daunting than the more traditional finely-chopped version. the crispy home-made lavosh bread was really novel and delicious because i think it was deep fried rather than baked.

my main was the pan fried barramundi. i've never had barramundi before and this example of it was cooked perfectly. the skin was so crispy it was like a chip, but still attached to the moist, flakey flesh. i can see why is an aussie favourite. the dish was missing the candied fennel chips listed on themenubut i've only just realised that now that i'm referring to themenuas i write this. it would've been interesting to see what they added to the dish. despite their absence, i'm still giving 5 stars. i'm glad the apricot remoulade was served as separate blobs because i could control how much i added to each mouthful. i have a sour palate so i used the quite sweet (to me) remoulade very sparingly. the pearl barley and shaved fennel accompaniments made it a compete plate, with no need to order any side dishes.

despite not having much of a sweet tooth, i'm a bit of a sucker for french desserts. i knew a whole dessert would make my tummy explode so i opted for the petit fours. at $10 i thought it would be a couple of small morsels to go with my coffee. oh my god! those petit fours have to be the best bargain in brisbane. i'm still in a happy, happy sugar coma so i might have misremembered some of the flavours. there was a square of ginger and caramel fudge, a sesame(?) macaron, a piece of hokey pokey (honeycomb to you australians) and a square of lychee gel that was like a very light turkish delight. these were definitely not small morsels; each one took 3-4 bites to consume. the fudge is the best i've ever had. i'm used to fudge that is so sugary that the sweetness 'burns' your throat as you swallow it, which is why i'm not a big fan. this was not like that at all. it was also super creamy and not grainy at all. now i have a benchmark by which to measure excellent fudge! the macaron was very dense, but not unpleasant. maybe that's what brisbane macarons are like - might have to hunt when another macaron while i'm here in order to compare and contrast. i would've been more than satisfied with the petit fours on their own but aquitaine took them to a higher plane by serving them on a generous bed of white chocolate powder studded with pieces of fresh raspberry. the powder just melted the instant it touched your mouth and was like a separate dessert in itself.

the service was warm and solicitous but not obtrusive. aquitaine calls itself a brasserie, but i thought the food was far more elevated. the very good thing is that it charges brasserie prices!

i'd planned on what i was going to do with my day before i fly home tomorrow, but now i think i'm going to have to rearrange those plans to include another lunch at aquitaine!

very impressed with all the food i tasted at this
place!!! there was a setmenuas my friend was having a function but we were not the slightest bit disappointed. the real star was the duck and dessert, beautifully presented and perfectly flavoured. will definitely be back for more

my wife and i had the prix fixemenuwhich had a great selection for the price both meat & vegetarian choices. the duck & chicken were very tasty. although busy we were well attended by staff and meals came promptly and beautifully presented. had a dozen pacific oysters before which were fantastically fresh and came with the most delicious champagne/dill foam. a most enjoyable wedding anniversary outing!

great location, nice view, friendly service and the food was very good (but not great).  i've dined at aquitaine four times, including hosting a business dinner for 10+, but haven't been compelled to return for business lunches or date nights with my wife in the past 6 months.  i wouldn't be opposed to it, but there are other, more interesting options nearby.  my wife enjoyed the escargot and i recall the steak chasseur was nice.  i got excited to see pommed de terre sarladaises on themenu- i guess duck fat excites me - but they were ok at best.

my thoughts on this restaurant are somewhat negative. we arrived and were given the normalmenuhowever we mentioned there would be 9 of us so thatmenu(which included a range of interesting appetisers and share plates) was whisked away and a new, less choicemenutook 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 themenuadvertised 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.

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.

themenuwas with us quickly and our celebratory glass of bubbles in our hand in good time. themenuwas interesting, but neither of us could go past the winter lunch specialmenu- choice of two courses and a glass of wine for $35 ... bargain. on themenufor 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!

good food, great service. went for lunch with my elderly parents. a massive downpour meant we had to be moved twice to stay dry. despite this, the staff were great, the food and service were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals. beautifully presented and tasting food with staff who can know what themenuitems are

severely disappointed. dined here for valentines day, the offering was a setmenuwhich is understandable on one of the busiest nights of the year. also allows the kitchen to have enough of each meal, as well as enables a fast preparation and service of the meals. with the intention that the customer does not have to wait long for their meals and therefore a higher turn over of tables.

except which was not the case for valentines dinner!

the issues:

wait staff were not organised and seemed in complete kaos. wait staff didn't have designated sections to look after. resulting in customers being forgotten. i saw a number of hands being raised to catch wait staff attention.

the meals were pre-prepared a number of days in advance which is normal, except for some particular items. for example goat cheese in vine tomato and charred lavosh. the tomato was at the point of turning bad with loss of flavour & watery taste. the lavosh was far from charred as its texture & taste resembled a stale water cracker lacking the crisp factor.

the portion sizes were not consitent across the board of the meals.

on an important date for couples looking for a special experience to enjoy with a loved one, a restaurant should have well rehearsed staff and faultless food!

the chefs at aquitaine should ask themselves would i feel confident to serve up that slop to someone that i am trying to impress?

the apprentice chefs and wait staff south bank college easily put you lot to shame! perhaps you should go back to college?

on a positive note the bar staff were outstanding, mixing the cocktails to perfection! pity that experience, presentation and taste perfection did not carry across the whole night!

if intend dinning at aquitaine lower your expectations to the level of that of broncos leagues club!

ten thumbs down!

fancy french cuisine. my partner and i dined here the other night as a spur of the moment outing. we were a bit concerned about the cool weather but this venue has heaters and blankets to keep you warm!
the house bread with confit garlic was a prefect little appetizer to share between the two of us.
i enjoyed the market fish for my main with amazing flavours, colours and textures and my partner loved the corned beef cheek. you must try the brussels sprouts and pork belly side, it simply delish.
we finished off with the summer snickers and the crime brûlée for dessert - we could have had two desserts but was simply too full!
staff were friendly and knowledgable about the dishes. the food was outstanding and we will definitely be back for more indulgence :) loved it!!!!


-----01 dec, 2013-----

i recently celebrated my birthday here with a group of friends on a lazy sunday afternoon.
staff are friendly and attentive. they have a good knowledge of themenuand helped me match a nice bottle of wine with my entree and mains. the pork entree is a definite winner and the lamb main is divine!!!
but the stand out for me was the snickers dessert, delish!!!
best birthday lunch to date :)

brilliant. last night i celebrated my birthday with a few friends at aquitaine brasserie, southbank and could not have picked a better venue for it.

the front of house staff are polite, professional, attentive, thoughtful and friendly. one of my fellow diners pointed out that they were particularly impressed that our waitress waited until we had all finished our meals before beginning to clear the plates, something that is not done in a lot of establishments as they try and rush covers through.

highest compliments to the chefs at aquitaine brasserie. themenuwas varied, creative and seasonal. the meals were beautifully presented and delicious!
for dessert i had a special surprise as our waitress must have figured out that it was my birthday and my (incredibly presented and gorgeously delicious) snickers inspired dessert had been decorated with "happy birthday" written in chocolate across my plate!

thank you to all the staff and chefs at aquitaine brasserie for a beautiful evening out to celebrate my birthday. i will certainly be returning in the near future.

exceptional function venue. we recently had our wedding reception here and could not have been happier with the service that we received from aquitaine.

we chose to have a canapé style evening, very informal and fun.

lucy worked with me to get amenuthat catered for all of our guests. we had a lot of gf/df, so i wanted to make sure that they weren't disappointed every time a platter came around, filled with food they can't eat. so we did the majority of themenuto be gf/df, with a few special meals for the vegetarians and other allergies.

the quality of the food was fantastic, mostly rich and delicious as french food is. the only thing that i would have done in retrospect, would have been to have extra plates of bread/dip to fill up the guys. i had specifically asked not to do this, so that one is my fault, hadn't really gauged how much guys want to eat/drink over such a long day. oops.

everyone commented to me about how good the service was and how beautiful the venue is. the staff were so friendly, always made sure people had a drink and got the food around. the venue itself and its view, really were amazing. absolutely no need to add expensive/unnecessary decorations, the best of brisbane's view was there to enjoy.

(i also consider that what we got was very good value as well)

will be returning. after checking out themenuof other near neighbours this grabbed our eye. service was great and the food fantastic. flavours married together and for a smallmenuplenty that took our fancy. will return, all in all great food and a lovely setting. well done.

classy tastes. partner and i dined on a friday evening. pretty vista with a water front table. once seated initial service was a tad slow however after that was friendly and professional. starter was onion soup which was lovely and sweet. entrees were beef tartare and absinthe cured salmon. both were lovely and well presented. mains were pork belly and spatchcock. again, both tasty and well presented. wine selection was lovely. we both did feel that themenuhad a slightly heavier winter feel then we expected in summer though. would definitely return.