lunch in brisbane

July 15, 2009 11:25 PM

brisbane-lunch-filter I'm going to be in Brisbane (that's as in Queensland, Australia) tomorrow with Mrs southof40 and would like some mefite lunchery recommendations.

Won't have a car and will be in CBD. Nothing too fancy - prefer good food to ritzy views / surroundings. Lebanese or veggie indian would be ideal but open to suggestions.

posted by southof40 to food & drink (10 comments total)

If you want veggie Indian, you cannot beat Govindas on Elizabeth St.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 11:55 PM on July 15

Or, Pancake Manor on Charlotte St.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 12:00 AM on July 16

All of the Korean and Japanese places in the Elizabeth Street -> Charlotte Street are fantastic, and basically my go-to places for city meals. Govindas is a Krishna restaurant who do pretty good (and crazy cheap) Indian vegetarian. Best Lebanese, you'd have to cross the river into West End to hit up King Ahirman's, which looks dingy but is completely great.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 12:15 AM on July 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

Some nice places on Park Rd in Milton (you can walk there from the city, along the river)
posted by mahke at 12:18 AM on July 16

3rding Govindas. There's also a couple of good Japanese restaurants whose names escape me along Edward St near the mall.

(Dunno if it still is, but the Pancake Manor was started & run by one of the lawsuit-happy, couch-jumping, anti-psychiatry crowd. The Brisbane one was certainly very heavily tied in with them in the 80's, and friends who work near there tell me they think it still is.)
posted by Pinback at 1:06 AM on July 16

Ginga in South Bank or Hanaichi in Queen St are nice sushi train restaurants
posted by Chrysalis at 2:24 AM on July 16

Pancake Manor on Charlotte is a nice gimmick but the food is always a disappointment so I'd avoid. I'd go with something else rather than Jo-Jo's. The idea of asian, italian and australian cuisine in one restaurant is a nice one, but it tends to backfire far too often.

Having said that, I can't think of a single good place in the city that fits your criteria other than Hanaichi, which has taken a bit of a slide recently. It's still good given the prices though.
posted by doctor.dan at 3:40 AM on July 16

Assuming not too much has changed in the 3 years since I've been home, there were always quite a few good eateries along Little Stanley St/Grey St on Southbank. In particular, Ahmet's is some great Turkish.
posted by shewhoeats at 3:40 AM on July 16

nicolas léonard sadi carnot is referring to the Elizbeth St Arcade. It runs from Elizabeth to Charlotte sts, and can be a bit tricky to spot. The Elizabeth st end is easiest spotted by looking for the Napoleon Perdis outlet, then go all the way to the end for the best cheap asian fusion you'll ever eat.
posted by Jilder at 10:20 AM on July 16

Thanks to you all for your suggestions. In the end we couldn't resist the Lebanese so went over to the West End to King Ahirman's. It was great would happily recommend it to others. They have a seperate take-away and sit-down menu but once we got that sorted out we ordered and the food was just great - really enjoyed it even took home some of their cakes ! Thanks again for all the suggestions.
posted by southof40 at 5:29 AM on July 17