The Five Best Cheap and Cheerful BYO Restaurants in Brisbane

Here at Concrete Playground we know what it can be like trying to organise dinner with a group of friends. Everyone has an opinion, some are poor, some are rich, some have allergies and some are just fussy. When you’re trying to please everyone, often your best option is to go for the easiest and most fail-safe option: a reliably tasty, affordably priced BYO restaurant.

To make your next dinner outing with friends a breeze, Concrete Playground offers you five of our favourite cheap and cheerful BYOs. All of these restaurants are very popular so we recommend booking ahead.

Trang Vietnamese

Down the city end of Hardgrave Road, Trang will often be found jam-packed, with a line-up of people waiting to get in. Another indicator of Trang’s authentic and tasty food is the amount of Vietnamese people eating there – usually a pretty good indicator that the cuisine is legit. Family-owned and run, you will always see the same familiar faces greeting you at the door. Accustomed to their popularity, the lines don’t last too long and the friendly wait staff manage to shuffle you through without too long a wait – and you can prevent this by booking ahead.

With a Vietnamese-Chinese menu you and your friends will have the option of fresh and healthy Vietnamese dishes, or some of the more sinful Chinese dishes like deep-fried duck with plum sauce. A Concrete Playground favourite are the rice paper wraps with grilled pork balls (roll your own). They have all of the sauces you will need right on your table so you can add all of the kecap manis and chilli sauce that you need. If you are fighting a winter cold we recommend the clear noodle soup with fried chicken.

2/59 Hardgrave Road, West End; 07 3255 1610

Lefka’s Taverna

Up the other end of Hardgrave Road we have Lefka’s. Greeted by your smiling host you have the option to sit in or outdoors. With an extensive menu of Greek favourites like spanakopita, moussaka and souvlaki, there are plenty of options.

If you want a bit of everything we highly recommend the share platters. Start off with a meze plate, which has a variety of octopus, olives, fetta and tzatiki and taramosalata to dip your fresh and warm pita into. For mains, the combination platter for two (which can probably be shared by about four…girls, that is) gives you a selection of meat and seafood all full of those delicious Greek garlic and lemon flavours. A final recommendation is the Paithakia (lamb cutlets with lemon potatoes and Greek salad). The lamb is off the chain. We promise, everyone will be happy.

170 Hardgrave Road, West End; 07 3844 1163; www.lefkas.com.au

Super Bowl

Located in Fortitude Valley, Super Bowl is about as cheerful as it gets. The restaurant is always packed, often with people celebrating birthdays (or fake birthdays). With delicious meals and owner Jimmy’s tendency to turn a blind eye to rowdy behaviour, Super Bowl is the perfect place to begin a boozy night out.

Super Bowl’s signature, other than delicious salt and pepper quail and a mean pork belly, is their enthusiastic birthday celebrations. For each guest celebrating another year of life, they will turn the lights down and play a happy birthday song ‘to my dear friend’ while waiters bring out a sparkler adorned bowl of deep-fried ice cream and sing to the lucky guy or gal. The whole restaurant tends to join in and clap and sing along and it is generally a very happy communal experience.

185 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley; 07 3257 2188

The Vietnamese

One difficult thing about going out to dinner with a group of friends is trying to decide what to order, whether it’s ‘every man for themselves’ or a shared situation. The Vietnamese is the perfect place for a laidback group who are happy to have only one choice – which banquet to choose. Their banquet options are very reasonably priced and offer a wide selection off the menu, of fresh and hot dishes.

The Vietnamese also has amusing waitstaff equipped with classic responses like ‘everything here is special’ with a wink, when asked what the special is. With a large upstairs room you can fit in a large group of friends and will have a bit of privacy to celebrate a special occasion with speeches… or to protect other diners from socially unacceptable behaviour.

194 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley; 07 3252 4112

Sings Asian Kitchen

Located in Rosalie on the west side (or Coorparoo on the east side), Sings is your suburban BYO option. Perhaps more suitable for a quiet night, the food at Sings is exceptional. They offer an Asian-fusion menu with Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese influenced dishes. Made with very fresh ingredients, the meals at Sings rarely disappoint.

Whether you are after something warm and hearty like a red duck curry, something fishy like saw leave coconut fish or something fresh like the sugar cane prawn salad, Sings nails it all.

5 Nash Street, Rosalie Village; 07 3511 6511; www.singsasiankitchen.com.au

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