e'cco bistro

we decided to give ecco bistro a try after the recent changes in the kitchen. the new head chef has done a great job by introducing new dishes to the restaurant. every dish we had was packed full of flavor and enjoyable.  compared to the old menu, i'd have to say the dishes are more sophisticated and flavorsome.

the service is the weak point. there have been a lot of staff changes and this is plain to see. the new staff are unorganised and lack direction. one of the staff members didnt know what a sommelier was and if they had one. the maitre d is pleasant but she lacks the necessary skills for the position. 

the lack of byo wine now on the weekend is another loss. the wine list is ok, but after the departure of the old sommelier i feel this will also suffer the same fate as the service.

good points- great food
bad- everything else

excellent service and nice environment. enjoyed our night there

had the chiefs tasting menu and was very nice, 3 stand out dished for me the 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th. found the first dish the octopus a little heavy straight up and desert wasn't my fav. but all round great service and good fresh and tasty food

went to this restaurant yesterday for lunch with 8 pax. value for money and ambience was non-existent. on the very limited lunch time menu oysters were displayed at $5 a piece - so a cool $60 for a dozen. we ordered and i can say that they were the smallest oysters ever seen!! i also paid $31 for three pieces of cheese!! the pork belly was not a pork belly - its was basically a fatty sausage. i would give 9/10 for presentation but the menu is badly engineered so not the wait staff fault. wait staff were pleasant and thank you for turning up the air con at 3pm to try and get us out after dropping a cool $1100!! i now know why its called ecco - there was no one there at lunch but us! so you could here the ecco's in the restaurant. no wonder no one was there. i would go back but they have a long way to go before i do.

overpriced and over rated. i have previously written a negative review about this place. interestingly enough it has now been 'taken down' and has disappeared. i wonder how long this stays on the website? seems like ecco pays urbanspoon to delete bad reviews!! what other reason could there be?


-----25 nov, 2014-----

overpriced and overrated. we had dinner there recently. i just cannot fathom why this place charges so much for such a small amount of food.the minuscule portion was tasty but way, way overpriced for this amount. apparently one should have to pay top dollar here because 'it has a reputation'. we only had the mains. my partner's lamb dish was small in quantity but very tender but my swordfish dish was fit for the appetite of a toddler rather for an adult male. when we got back home got the good old toaster out and topped up after spending $80 for 2 dishes. average glass of wine was too expensive also. service was average. i feel this was the waiters first night though as it was in no way close to the standard expected for such an expensive place. if you want tasty food, have deep pockets and a tiny appetite this place is ok. if you are genuinely hungry go elsewhere.

there are a lot of reasons i love going out to dinner including not having to chop onions and not having to don yellow gloves to wash-up. while these things are a given at any dining establishment, other things aren’t guaranteed: great quality food, friendly service and finding an ambience that’s a nice place to be. one place that does offer all of these things is brisbane dining institution, e'cco bistro. recently revamped at the end of 2014, e’cco now boasts some new killer good looks but still maintains its chilled-out vibes. so how was the rest of the dining experience here? let’s find out. e’cco has been around for 20

end of an era...very sad. have enjoyed ecco since it opened and frequented it every few weeks since living nearby for the last twelve years...tonight sadly, will be the last! we had bistro service with fine dining prices...our waitress was patronising, rude and didn't listen to anything we said! she banged down cutlery and glasses, dripped wine on pouring and reached in front of us instead of going around to other side of table...our water (bottled sparkling...so could have made more money) glasses were empty for over half an hour...it took 25 minutes for her to ask if we needed more time to decide on our orders...what!!??? the food was good but lacked the usual ecco polish..we sat with empty dirty dishes on the table for ages while the maitre d' swanned around clutching her clipboard with the table map rarely actually doing anything...there was a distinct lack of service with many staff gatherings near the bar...
we noticed that we were not the only disgruntled patrons this evening...dinner took nearly three hours!!!

perfect for a romantic dinner. very classy place, perfect for a romantic dinner. came here for valentine's. great service, fine food and intimate atmosphere.

omg! best dessert ever!!!. have been here a few times now when i have visited brisbane and i love my food! i have to say this is my pick of the best place to eat in brisbane! the food and the helpful and friendly staff never fail to impress me. loved my entree and my main but i have to say the dessert (and i'm not a dessert person) would have to have been the best dessert i have had ever! haven't stopped raving about it to all my friends! can't wait to drop in again next time in town!

tucked away among the streets between the city and fortitude valley, e'cco sits on a slight hill just before the entrance to the story bridge on the corner of adelaide street....
despite all the waiting and the lack of quantity, most dishes were enjoyed and new taste and textures were experienced. it was a nice evening at e'cco but i just wished there was more for my buck.

expensive and disappointing. went here with a large group for a friends birthday. the meal that was arranged was an alternate drop arrangement, which is fine. the menu read (paraphrased) gnocchi with clams or scallops for entree, and for mains lamb rump or duck breast. i ended up with the gnocchi, which was really nice. my only criticism would be that there wasn't enough of it. i ducked off to the toilet and while i was gone the main course had arrived. what was in front of me wasn't duck, and it wasn't lamb rump. it was a piece of salmon swimming in a sea of squid ink risotto. this certainly isn't what i would have ordered, and would have made arrangements for something else if it was on the menu. everyone else had started so i was kinda stuck with it. i managed to stomach the salmon, but i didn't enjoy it at all. i didn't touch the squid ink risotto. worst meal i've had in the last 5 years i would say. i asked the staff "what happened to the duck?" to which they responded "there was a miscommunication between the organiser and the events manger". too bad so sad basically. i know a number of the other diners weren't happened with the salmon surprise either. it would have been nice to have been told there was a change in menu items. all about setting peoples expectations, which they failed on this point. and the experience cost me $100 too. value for money? no way. save your coin and go to aria if you want a nice dining experience that is worth your $100.00. give this place a big miss.

poor service, overpriced meals. i went here with work colleagues for a christmas party and haven't got round to writing a review until now. we initially had some drinks at the bar before we sat down to order our meals and the service was great - it was when we actually sat down and ordered our meals that the service got really terrible. our waitress had to have been the rudest waitress i have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. we would try to get her attention so we could order more but she would ignore us as she walked past. when we could finally get her attention by saying "excuse me" we got a frustrated "just a minute!" as a response. absolutely unbelievable. then she had the audacity to make rude comments about members of our group to others within our group. at one point i tried to order another drink (not for myself, but for my work colleague who was seated in the middle of everyone which made it hard for them to order) and her response was "maybe you should finish that one first" and she walked off ignoring my order!

i would like to note we were not acting rude or rowdy - as i said it was a work christmas party and we just met up at this place for dinner.

the meals themselves were okay but i only say okay because my work colleagues thought theirs were nice. i ordered the duck which was a terrible choice. the duck was chewing and the skin (fat) was soft and it was cut into slices like you see which takeaway chinese (and tasted about the same). others meals looked more appealing than mine but it was all quite small servings. unless you usually eat very little it is likely you will walk out here still hungry. overall the meals are not to the standard i would expect considering the price.

this place is overpriced and overrated and i will never be going back.

the best duck!.

get the duck! the duck with carrot puree was sweet, moist, tender, blushing pick - perfect.
it was a packed friday night so was impressed they could put out a dish to such a high standard.
en surface oysters were lovely and creamy.

the rest of the degustation was so-so and hit a few bum notes.

scallops were paired with a carbonara pasta and bacon chips, which overpowered the scallops and was missing an acidic zing.
lamb was dry and tasteless, watercress sauce was nice and bitter but missing some sweet notes.
dessert was a strawberry mousse, a white chocolate mousse and basil accents. was lovely but the paired rutherglen tokay was too sweet and heavy for this dessert, would have been better with something light, like a sparkling.

wines - were respectable but it would have been fun to have something a bit more out of the ordinary.
however they were extremely generous with the pours and the bar staff were helpful, friendly and were happy to share their wine knowledge.

it was a fun night out and i enjoyed the atmosphere but overall, apart from the duck, the food was a little underwhelming - not worth a return visit.

have been here twice. my first visit in 2012 i experienced the best meal of my life (scallop entree) and in 2013 enjoyed my visit but unfortunately the entree no longer existed. service was a par

had dinner last night here and it was terrible, had the chefs degustation, the duck was chewy, the main meals came out cold, the dessert was disappointing- paid $10 more last month at esquires and recieved 10x better food and experience- staff were good but that's not worth much if the food is ordinary for the price- very disappointed, won't be back!