The Dish: Brisbane food news you might have missed this week
There’s a lot happening in Brisbane these days, almost too much to keep up with. The Dish is a rapid-fire rundown of Brisbane food news – quick taster-sized tidbits to keep you in the know and, perhaps, tickle your taste buds.
Monal Dining’s four-course weeknight dinners
Newstead restaurant Monal Dining, located on the corner of Wyandra Street and Skyring Terrace, is offering several new culinary experiences for guests to enjoy this winter. The modest 55-seat restaurant – founded in January 2024 by Nepal-born cousins, Yogesh Budathoki and Roman Bhandari – has built a reputation over the past 18 months for its top-tier menu, emerging as one of Brisbane’s most comforting and intentional dining venues. Now Monal is ready to extend its fanbase by introducing a four-course weeknight dinner package, available every Wednesday and Thursday for $45 per person. The offering includes house-baked focaccia with caramelised-onion butter, grilled rainbow trout, crunchy kipfler potatoes and fresh baby gem salad with gochujang, all served alongside a glass of red, white or sparkling. Monal Dining is also giving its main menu a seasonal refresh, with four brand-new dishes joining crowd favourites like lemon molasses-glazed Elgin Valley chicken with curry sauce, bluefin-tuna tartare on fried potato and wagyu intercostal skewer with smoked labneh and fig-leaf oil.
Truffle Dinner at The Fifty Six
While we love the cooler change that the winter months bring, the best thing about the middle of the year is the onset of truffle season. The Fifty Six at Naldham House is wasting little time celebrating our favourite fungus, arranging a decadent five-course truffle dinner on Wednesday June 25 – hosted by Lady Truffle herself, Debs Oliver. The evening will see guests treated to a sumptuous selection of dishes, from Hiramasa kingfish with grapefruit and rosemary truffle soy, Bay lobster congee with yellow wine sabayon with caviar and truffle, King River purebred wagyu with burnt cabbage and truffled house oyster sauce, and burnt milk semifreddo with sesame and truffled gula jawa – all for $150 a head. For an additional $90 per person, each course can be accompanied by a matched wine. This event will likely sell out – be quick and nab a booking here.
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Yum Cha Sundays at Southside
Fish Lane favourite Southside is giving diners something a little bit different on Sundays. The East Asian-inspired restaurant has just launched a new yum cha service on Sundays, offering a refined take on the lunchtime staple. Promising a lively and flavour-forward dining and drinking experience, Southside’s Yum Cha Sundays will showcase an assortment of handmade dim sum – think pork-and-chive wontons with spiced vinegar and chicken and shiitake siu mai with sweet soy and spring onion – alongside Southside’s established favourites. For $99, guests can enjoy a yum cha banquet as well as two hours of bottomless beverages, including house wines, tap beers and cocktails like the Mando Spritz (a $59 non-alcoholic package is also available). Click here to make a booking.
Gum Bistro takes on weekend brunch with its Up Before Noon service
Now well established as one of Brisbane’s best restaurants, the team behind Gum Bistro in West End is setting its alarms a little earlier, with a brand-new morning service set to launch over the Easter weekend. On Good Friday and Easter Saturday, Gum Bistro will open at 8:00 am for Up Before Noon, serving a bang tidy menu of unfussy fare that bridges the gap between breakfast and lunch. The menu will be available until 2:00 pm, and will feature the likes of eggs (your choice of soft boiled, fried or souffle style) on Riser sourdough, soldiers with soft-boiled egg and gravlax, 2GR wagyu strip with boudin noir, fried egg and petit hashbrown, and salad sandwiches. There’s also a clutch of Gum Bistro signatures if you’re dining closer to lunchtime, plus great filter brews from Light Coffee, mimosa spritzes and mezcal-laced bloody Marias. Head to the Gum Bistro website to make a booking.
Hungry for more? Keep up to date with Brisbane’s most anticipated openings with Pavement Whispers.