patina at customs house

ambience, atmosphere, location andservicewere excellent. food could have been more seasoned, but very well conceptualised and the flavours in all the meals worked well togehter. favourite was the veal as the main. asparagus spears sharpened in a pencil sharpener were a nice touch.

absolutely delightful. we dined on mother's day or breakfast.servicewas quick however relaxed. started with fresh yoghurt and berries as
part of a set menu for mother's day. followed by beautiful pastries. my mother loved every minute of her pancakes she ordered and i had the eggs and mushrooms which was also nice.restaurant is slightly hard to find however we will be back hopefully for dinner next time.

there's not really any other place quite like customs house, we have been here for events, christmas parties, and smaller things like valentines day and mothers day. everything has been very well executed each time, food, drinks &service- but the real plus is the historic venue itself with the river view. definitely recommend.

dinner at customs house was a lovely experience with the views and ambiance matched by the tremendousservice, entree we had the seared scollop and the duck buns which were delightful, for main i had the seafood platter which at $55 consisted of 4 oysters , 4 prawns a more ton bay bug and a small serve of tuna , whilst it was delicious i would say it is overpriced and the sauces were a bit of a letdown, the others had the gnocchi and the eye fillet, no complaints there
all round a great night and the views over the river to the story bridge and hsw make it a special evening

had a group booking for high tea and due to allergies, i emailed a week prior to see what i could/couldn’t eat. a few days to get a reply with their menu attached stating i’m best to order off the main menu, not the high tea as there would be “options” for me. when i asked what “options” there were, there was no response. fast forward to the actual “event” and their main menu is extremely limited and had one option for me. a tiny beef cheek about the size of my thumb for $23. the others had their high tea and, sandwiches were apparently the best thing about them; the cakes apparently look better than they taste and they didn’t bring out any milk with the tea. for a place whose menu states they’re “uq’s premium downtown restaurant”, i was disappointed with theirserviceand their food. won’t be returning.

i enjoyed a lovely high tea at customs house on the weekend. the sandwiches were yummy, coffee was good and the sweets were okay. theservicewas exceptional. i loved the view of the brisbane river while having high tea. stunning!

my family and i came here last saturday for dinner. where we were seated had the best views of the story bridge, it was nice as the sun set. theservicewas excellent, all the waiters were really kind helpful!!

i was a bit disappointed as it was hard to find a vegan meal. i definitely understand that majority of people who eat at fine-dining restaurants consume meat and dairy, however i think it would be beneficial for the menu to at least have some sides without cheese. i am not a super strict vegan and occasionally have cheese or a some non-vegan cake when we go out but i do prefer to eat no animal products. but! i shall not dwell on the negatives.
my family really enjoyed all of their meals, their plates were practically crystal clean. the highlight was dessert, my mum and brother both had the chocolate souffle which was absolutely spectacular! they said the mix of melted chocolate and the light chocolate sponge cake was perfect. i also enjoyed my dessert which happened to be some dark chocolate that came with my mum's tea. i liked it (and it was veg) so much that we asked if we could have some more and they gave me a plate full, quite accomodating!
for entrees my family ordered: seared scallops, roast quail and the crispy pork cheek. my dad loves scallops and orders them whenever they are on offer so he very much enjoyed that. my mum says the quail was perfectly cooked and very tasty, tender.
my brother says (about the quail) that "i never thought all the flavours would work together but it was really nice."
for mains: steak, the veal medallion and the duck breast all of which were once again cooked to perfection. i think it was hard to find a fault.
i ordered a selection of sides (asparagus, mushroom and green beans) which were all very tasty and simple.
overall, i think this restaurant is absolutely great. the location provides beautiful views and the waiters are really nice and helpful. however, i feel like i can't rate this restaurant super highly because i didn't enjoy it a lot. i had some lovely food but i couldn't indulge anywhere near as much as my family because of the lack of options that suit my preferred diet.
a suggestion for customs house would be to add an item either in the entrees or the mains that can be entirely vegan or easily made vegan.
i would most certainly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a very fancy and pretty restaurant and one who enjoys all types of foods! the food is presented well and tasted really amazing!!

side note: i understand that veganism is still a growing "trend" if you want to call it that, and not a lot of restaurants offer vegan food. that is ok! i am hoping that i haven't come across as difficult or fussy or anything like that!!

lovely spot by the river, lovely building. seems like thye have too few staff for the tables. i had to get up and ask for our bottle of wine to be poured - very poorservicefor a restaurant with these prices. our sparkling water suddenly got substituted for still. we had entres of smoked quail, lovely and delicate and pork belly, tough and over cooked, but at least crackly skin. nice flavours. mains were again a bit hit and miss with peppered pork loin a huge portion and pepper a bit overpowering. duck 2 ways ok with the confit duck and sweet potato "tart" a hit but the seared duck breast was a very small portion and a bit chewy. a desert of rum roasted bananas with custard, pastry and butterscotch was a nice finish. overall disappointing considering the massive prices $280 for two of us, with a cheaper bottle of wine. probably better value going to a french-bistro style place.

this renowned restaurant located inside the heritage customs house. needless to say, you can imagine the ambience is so nice and elegant. had dinner last night there and sat at indoor because it was so windy outside (although there is nice view at the waterfront, it is also hard to enjoy the meals). we were the first table sitting in the nice deco dining area. though, the manager had explained to us that there might be a bit noisy due to a big group of table was coming, i told her that it is alright and she was so nicely welcome us to the corner table for privacy. within three minutes after we ordered, the lovely waitress brought us the entrees of crispy pork belly and smoked quail. the crispy skin of pork belly really attracted lots of marks but there were only two tiny pieces of quail breast which counteracted the marks down. mains of duck breast and sugar cured pork loin gained back most of the marks again, particularly the pork loin was cured perfectly and it was the hero of the night. i have to mention about the side dish of the house made sebago chips, which were done with crispy skins and perfectly matched with the well prepared aioli. well done. overallservicewas professional and proficient, certainly is a good dining option not to be missed.

i have been here multiple times over the years and found it consistent each time.  theserviceis professional and attentive; there is attention to detail and the food always comes out after a reasonable time.  food is modern australian and i have loved all their dishes as they source the fresh produce and all the flavours work well together. 

as it's along the river, you can either sit outside and enjoy the views of the brisbane river and the story bridge or if you prefer, there's also an intimate inside seating area.  they also cater for functions as well.

dreadful high tea. high tea very very disappointing. cold tea served just in a cup with a tea bag on the side , no pot of leafed tea!! food was basic for the price. overall very badserviceand value for money. the stamford plaza is streets ahead .customs house requires a class upgrade in terms ofservicethese guys need to research what high tea is!!!

high tea. visited customs house this morning for high tea which we found was not value for money ( maybe we were paying for the view). considering there was only 2 tables occupied theservicewas poor. the sandwiches were nice but not an uneven amount for the number of people we had. the food was taken away before we had finished. very disappointed with the food. have been to other high teas that cost less with better food and service.

great romantic dinner.. we had a lovely romantic night at customs house. it is the perfect restaurant for those that want to talk as it is quiet and it has one of the best views at riverside. my oyster entree was fresh, properly shucked and delicious. the market fish was king fish, which came perfectly cooked with a reasonable amount of vegetables as well. the kipfler potatoes were nice but we needn't have ordered them. the food did cool down very quickly. dessert was a peanut butter cookie with salted caramel ice cream chocolate sauce and strawberries. could there be any more brilliant taste sensations all on one plate - very indulgent. theservicestarted well but towards the end of the night there seemed to be two people trying to look after us, which was a little over-bearing. i'm not sure whether they were trying to get rid of us or trying to look busy. it was only 8.30 so probably the latter. also, uq alumni get a discount but we didn't discover until after we paid. however, despite the minor niggles we had a fantastic night overall.


-----15 mar, 2013-----

ambiance +++. i have been to customs house a few times and have always enjoyed the food. however, the main draw card for me is the setting. customs house is a wonderful victorian style building and has been beautifully restored by the university of queensland. although it is now dwarfed by the surrounding skyscrapers its green dome is still a prominent riverside landmark. the views from inside are wonderful but it does depend where you are as it wasn't designed for views as the more modern riverside restaurants have been (eg. aria).

amazing. we dined here to celebrate our engagement and could not have asked for a more perfect evening. the food was delicious and flawless.servicewas fantastic and the view of the story bridge made for a great atmosphere. i would highly recommend customs house restaurant to anyone looking for a romantic dinner.

my first choice.serviceoutstanding. attentive, not intrusive.
food excellent.
prices reasonable.

would recommend without hesitation.