Overview
While it might seem like another bar and eatery opens in Fortitude Valley every week, the latest addition to the inner-city suburb isn't your average restaurant or boozy hangout. For starters, when we say it's in the Brunswick Street Mall, we really do mean it.
That's because 88 Forty Eight Bar and Restaurant isn't just a new place to eat and drink when you're out and about. It's also the next pod-based space to pop up as part of the Brisbane City Council's Fortitude Valley revitalisation plan. From July 1, it'll serve breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week from its compact, cosy confines right in the middle of the popular thoroughfare.
Owned and run by Nepalese-born chef Hom Pyashi, 88 Forty Eight takes its name from the peak height of Mount Everest. The menu offers up modern multicultural fusion, such as French toast for brekkie; burgers, salads and schnitzels for a midday meal; and steak, nachos, pasta and Asian Atlantic salmon in the evening. In tribute to Pyashi's homeland, a percentage of the bar's profits will be donated to Nepal-focused charity The Uniting Hands Foundation.
In case you're not quite up-to-date on the pod concept, allow us to enlighten you. If you wandered through the Brunswick Street Mall over the last year or so, you've probably noticed a few new structures starting to materialise. They're ideal for small bars and stores, and can house anything from a Mexican joint to an entertainment space. As a matter of fact, the first two pods boasted just that, with Tuckeria's Burrito Shack unleashing everyone's favourite tortilla-wrapped dish since April 2015, and a second space operating as a combined stage and information booth.
Find 88 Forty Eight Bar and Restaurant in the Brunswick Street Mall from July 1. Check out their website for more information.