Overview
Already one of Brisbane's best Japanese eateries, Howard Smith Wharves' Yoko Dining wants to be one of the city's best Japanese bars as well. Five years after first opening, the waterside venue has given its top level a revamp. Meet B-SIDE, its new upstairs record bar — and get ready for vinyl-spun tunes, boozy slushies, and everything from chicken miso ramen and miso caramel soft serve to tuck into.
"We wanted to create something that encapsulates the energy and playfulness of Tokyo's vibrant back-alley bars but with a Brisbane twist," advises restaurateur Jonathan Barthelmess, who is behind Yoko Dining, as well as fellow HSW eatery Greca.
"B-SIDE is for those who want to kick back after work, enjoy amazing food and drinks, and let loose with good music," he continues.
For years, if someone said that things were looking up in Brisbane, they were probably talking about the Queen's Wharf precinct with its 100-metre tall Sky Deck, or the city's embrace of rooftop bars over the past decade or so. Over at HSW, however, levelling up is now also on the agenda (and not just due to the broader precinct's own plans to add a new nine-story hotel to the site, plus a music hall, overwater pool, and waterside food and drinks deck). B-SIDE is one of two new additions to the riverside spot in October 2024 alone, alongside the Hong Kong-inspired Stan's above Cantonese eatery Stanley — each from beloved restaurants revamping their second levels.
Welcoming in patrons from 5pm on Monday, October 14 —with 50 bowls of free chicken miso ramen on offer for the first customers through the door — B-SIDE takes inspiration from Tokyo in a number of ways. Firstly, Yoko Dining as a two-storey izakaya already owes the Japanese capital's similar joints a debt, so its record bar not only embraces that idea but runs with it. Menu-wise, however, B-SIDE is also nodding to the kind of fare that you'll find in Tokyo train stations.
For bites to eat, diners can also enjoy wagyu katsu sliders, prawn rolls on milk bread and kizami wasabi octopus — plus sashimi (with kingfish, tuna, ocean trout, Hokkaido scallop, ocean trout and eel the choices), Japanese potato salad, tuna tataki and chicken karaage.
The tunes come via DJs hitting the decks every night. On Monday evenings, 80s and 90s tracks are set to echo at the bar's retro vinyl sessions. On Sundays from 8pm, discounted rates for hospitality workers who show their RSA card are on offer.
B-SIDE's drinks lineup has another impressive name involved: Matt Whiley, best-known of late for his acclaimed low-waste Sydney bar Re (which placed 46th in 2021's World's 50 Best Bars list and made the 51–100 longlist in 87th spot). Fresh from whipping up a sustainability-focused cocktail menu across town in Brisbane at W Brisbane's Living Room Bar, he's done the honours for B-SIDE, where slushies and highballs feature prominently.
Find B-SIDE upstairs at Yoko Dining, Howard Smith Wharves, 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane — open nightly from 5pm–late. Head to the venue's website for more details.
Images: Nikki To / Dexter Kim.