Central
Sat beneath Queen Street, Southside's sibling dumpling bar is your moody CBD spot for a Hong Kong-inspired bite.
Overview
Central's name works in two ways. Located in the Piccadilly Arcade building on Queen Street in Brisbane's CBD, this 80-seat subterranean restaurant is indeed central in the River City. The moniker also takes inspiration from the Central district in Hong Kong, as does its menu.
It comes from the team behind Fish Lane's Southside and Rick Shores in Burleigh Heads, now gathered under the Friends Of hospitality group alongside Marlowe, Norté and Sueño. At those two, dumplings are a staple but never the star. Here, they're front and centre. The idea is to bring a slice of Hong Kong's dining-out culture to Brisbane: somewhere to drop in for a snack on your way elsewhere, or settle in for a long, generous dinner.
Dim sum is the highlight. Classic pork soup xiao long bao and scallop and prawn dumplings sit beside corn-fed chicken siu mai with foie gras, scampi and prawn toast, 'Four Seasons' lobster and prawn har gow with bisque and caviar, pan-fried wagyu sheng jian bao and king crab and prawn spring rolls. Kick off with oysters in a rice wine and ginger vinaigrette or a seared Hokkaido scallop with XO butter and caviar. Then move on to bigger plates mixing Cantonese cooking with western influences: crispy-skin Shandong chicken, a Three Cup seafood hotpot, a 2GR wagyu striploin with Chinese chimichurri, and a lychee wood–smoked roast duck. The signature barbecue platter pairs that duck with char siu pork. For dessert, mango pudding still leads the list, with Hong Kong French toast hot on its heels.
Can't decide? Banquets start at $55 a head midweek and climb to the $135 Executive. At lunch, the midday menu adds a Hong Kong fish burger and a cha chaan teng-style steak. On Saturdays, Dim Sum Club serves up a $59 banquet, with a two-hour bottomless drinks package as an optional extra.
Whatever you pick, it's whipped up in the venue's raised kitchen. After helping revamp Gerard's Bistro, architect and designer Jared Webb of J.AR OFFICE turned his attention to Central, where granite and timber are heroed among exposed-rock walls. The lighting remains low, befitting the restaurant's underground berth. Another inspiration comes from one of the space's past guises: Primitif Cafe called it home in the 50s and 60s, with jazz and poetry a feature.
The drinks nod to that history and to Hong Kong's nightclub scene, with a wine list built to mix and match with the food. Saturday's Dim Sum Club pours disco-named cocktails like the Heart of Glass (vodka, oolong, ginger and makrut lime) and the Night Fever (prosecco, jasmine, rhubarb and peach).
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Images: Supplied.
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