After Sono and Rise in the first day, it was time to get out and about in the heart of Brisbane and there is no better places to do that than in Fortitude Valley and in Southbank. These two hot spots seem to contain some of Brisbane’s best bits.
We also went on a little museum discovery. The Queensland Museum happened to be hosting the Dinosaurs of Patagonia display, so we thought we’d take a look while we were there. No, museums are definitely not Ben’s thing but this was my birthday stay-cay and you don’t get to see dino’s every day. The museum is free to walk around but, of course, if you want to see the featured exhibition or go to the Sparklab, the science section, then payment is required.
The dinosaurs are definitely worth a look. The amazing skeleton displays really put prehistoric life into perspective and get you thinking about a world long gone.
With our sense of adventure sparked by dinosaurs, it was time to hit the streets again and find more Brisbane gems. Trust me, we found one particularly shiny one that I can’t wait to tell you about but first…
There was The Pig and Whistle, Felon’s Brewing, Byblos, Milky Lane, The Tax Office, Maggie May, Ole Sangria Bar, Holey Moley, Barbossa, Streets Beach, Southbeach Beer Garden, Stratton, Viscosity, Tippler Tap, Eat Street, The Triffid and Barbossa. We even saw the start of the Brisbane festival.
Special Mentions
Holey Moley receives our first special mention for being a cruisy, fun way to waste some time. It is basically a bar that you can play mini golf in, with some imaginative, themed holes that take inspiration from pop culture. Very cool.
Second, Felon’s Brewing never disappoints. Ben and I have been here before and we will keep going back because they have decent craft style beer and good food on offer that you can enjoy while you look at the river, the perfect place to relax really. It is massive and there is literally something for everyone here.
Barbossa in Southbank gets a special mention, not because the food is great, we don’t know, unfortunately, it was one of the places we would have liked to eat but because the drinks selection is good and the service was great.
The Triffid, you guys get a special mention for being grungy and for embracing live music and for letting us see a band, on the fly, we’d actually never heard of before. As well as being foodies, Ben and I are live band fans from way back. We need to keep more places like The Triffid alive and well. Seeing an unplanned live band, it’s the kind of thing that just makes a trip. Thumbs up to their staff too!
Tippler Tap lets you try lots of different drinks and they have a buy a card and pour your own system. The loaded fries were pretty good and we left there pretty happy.
Not So Special…
Unfortunately there were a couple of places that left us underwhelmed. Ole is first on that list, the drinks were good and we were in the mood for more but when it is hard to get staff to even look at you, let alone ask if you’d like another drink, and there are more options just steps away, well… you leave.
Maggie May, no we didn’t stay long, no we didn’t get to eat there but the vibe just wasn’t there.
Viscosity was a little… meh. Yep, its neon everywhere and glowing drinks were a sight to see but it’s not somewhere we’ll find ourselves again.
The Tax Office we found to have the looks but again, the vibe wasn’t what we were looking for. It had a pretentiousness that just wasn’t us.
Milky Lane
Now Milky Lane is essentially a burger joint, but it gets it’s own heading because it is up there in our favorite experience list, right near the top. Not at the very top… but near it. The burgers were just yum and the drinks were interesting. The decor was fun and the staff were amazing. In fact, Henry, the floor manager, was the reason we found our favorite place of the trip. We would go back in Milky Lane in a heartbeat. We have been to a lot of burger joints, this one definitely stood out. The main thing a burger shop needs it perfectly delicious burgers that make you think about them again and again after it’s gone off your plate, and these guys that have them.
Food & Fiction 