Riverbar & Kitchen
Watch the boats slink down the river with an ice-cold cocktail in hand.
Brisbane's riverside dining and drinking scene just reclaimed a beloved favourite: the reopening Riverbar + Kitchen. For the past ten years, the Eagle Street spot has been an easy go-to for drinks by the water, and with a view of the Story Bridge. Out of action since late-February due to the city's floods, the Solotel and Matt Moran co-owned venue has now started welcoming patrons back in.
Since Wednesday, October 19, Riverbar + Kitchen is back doing what it always has: serving up bites to each and beverages by the old brown snake. It took eight months to get the venue up and running again after it was fully submerged during the flooding — with just the tops of its yellow-and-white striped umbrellas sticking out of the water — but now the bar is back with a Miami Beach shack look and a new menu.
Still nestled into Riparian Plaza's promenade level, where it first opened a decade ago, the new-look Riverbar + Kitchen now sports bright hues and white-washed wooden features, but one thing has definitely remained the same: those brollies.
Menu-wise, the new all-day menu includes eggs benedict, house pasties, buttermilk pancakes and honey-roasted granola for breakfast; then spanner crab spaghetti, cheeseburgers and chargrilled cauliflower for lunch and dinner. The latter selection also covers grilled half-shell scallops, Moreton bay bug sliders, kingfish crudo and a range of pizzas, plus a Buderim ginger tart for dessert.
That culinary range heroes locally sourced seafood, plus plenty of fresh local produce in general. As for the refreshed drinks list, it features sips by the glass and jug. Brunch service — booze included — starts at 10am daily, with new cocktails such as 'Rome Away From Rome' (with wild rosé, Campari and grapefruit), 'Wham Bam Jam' (Bombay Bramble Gin, strawberry jam, rose and a shiraz float) and 'Is This Mai Tai?' (Bacardi Blanca, raspberry and no.8 rums, triple sec, falernum, pineapple and yuzu).
As for those tipples to share, that's where 'Cherry Pie' (Sailor Jerry, cherry heering, cranberry, orgeat, lime and soda) and 'A Walk in the Tropics' (42 Below Vodka, peach, passionfruit, mint, moscato and soda) come in.
