Dine BNE City 2023

Overview

If Brisbane sounds a little quieter than normal between Thursday, June 1–Friday, June 30 you can thank (or blame) Dine BNE City. The noise you won't be hearing? The roar and grumble of hungry stomachs, with this food program returning for 2023 after successful runs in 2021 and 2022, and serving up everything from cheap lunches and bar specials to winter roasts and cocktails in igloos.

When it first arrived two years ago, Dine BNE City sprang from an understandable idea: to get everyone out and about, and eating and drinking in particular, in this fair city of ours after a tough pandemic period. As a result, it's a choose-your-own-adventure kind of affair. You can treat yo'self to a special midday meal (and more than once), or decide that you'd rather hop between watering holes. It's all up to you, and there are plenty of options to choose from.

From the Let's Do Lunch program within the broader program, options start at $19, which will get you pizza or pasta at Albert Lane's Vapiano. From there, highlights include three bao and a beer for $25 at Mr Bao, steak and chips at The Walnut Restaurant for $35, and a five-course seafood banquet at Tillerman for $65. Or, there's Luke Nguyen's Vietnamese chicken salad paired with two spring rolls for $25 at Fat Noodle; Patina's Moreton Bay bug, prawn risotto and wine combo for $39; a two-course Cantonese roasted lunch at Brisbane Phoenix Chinese Restaurant for $40; and an Amalfi-style four-dish spread at Guy Grossi's Settimo for $50.

Fancy adding drinks and bites to your after-work routine? Dine BNE City's quittin'-time selection, aka Bar Safari, spans oysters and champagne at Rothwell's, buns and beers at Red Hook, skewers over a schooner (and a view from the rooftop) at Sixteen Antlers, and whiskey flights with wagyu at Bar 1603. Boom Boom Room has a bar sets for snacking, and everywhere from The Hibiscus Room to Frog's Hollow Saloon and Birrunga Gallery and Dining have a special on offer.

For dinner, there's also a Supper Club lineup. That's where you'll find a three-martini dinner at The Inchcolm, a six-dish banquet at Donna Chang, and tacos and tequila at Comuna Cantina — and a Middle Eastern spread with wine at Babylon, Longtime doing yum cha for two and a range of Japanese set menus at Tena as well.

In addition to all of the above excuses to drop into just about every bar and restaurant in Brisbane's inner city on any day you like, Dine BNE City also serves up special events. So, get ready to sip prestigious sparkling drops at Lennons Restaurant and Bar's Champagne Icons Series, stroll the streets for Urban Wine Walk's latest outing, and learn a thing or two at rosé blending workshops at City Winery's Edward Street Cellar Door. Or, you can hit up a fireside food and wine party at the Cathedral of St Stephen, enjoy live Italian opera as you eat at Massimo, and taste the results when Walter's Steakhouse and E'cco team up for a collaborative dinner.

Top image: Naga Thai, Darcy Starr.