Posts Tagged ‘Portside Wharf’
March 29, 2009 | 
Author Gusto Da Gianni
Cuisine: Italian and Spanish
Portside Wharf
Gusto Da Gianni sits along the Portside Wharf promenade and features a menu of pizza, pasta and tapas style food. Its the kind of place where it is a good idea to have at least one or two other people who are happy to share “a bit of everything” with you. That way you can order all the tapas that sound enticing (a lot of them) and not feel like you’ve missed out on something. Luckily for me I had just the right dining companions!
Before I continue this post let me apologise for some of the mis-focused photographs. I recently acquired a new camera (thanks very much to Min Wye) because of a silly accident with my G9. This was the first food test of the camera but we were so excited when the food came out (and my companions so hungry) that I hurriedly snapped away so we could dig into the food. I think I need a bit more practice with the digital SLR before I venture out again.
Most of the tapas are $7 to $8 for the “tapa single” serves and either $17 or $21 for the bigger “racion shared” serves.
Zucchini Flower with Goats Cheese and Olives
Octopus Gallega Style, Potatoes and Sweet Paprika – Tender octopus sitting on a yummy potato slice.
Cipollata and Chorizo Sausage – Slices of sausage in a tomato and onion sauce.
Home Made Meat Balls served with Tomato and Peas – These were really nice meat balls cooked in a very tasty tomato sauce. I think we all but licked this plate clean.
Patatas Bravas served with aioli – Fried potato pieces with an aioli sauce, we are potato fiends, so of course we loved this one.
Marinated Sardines with Cabernet Sauvignon Vinagrette – Tom really liked these and I was happy to let him have most of it.
Fried Calamari and Zucchine – Very nicely cooked calamari and zucchini fries. We shared this one amongst four but I could have had one to myself … maybe.
Black Mussels cooked in a white wine chilli sauce – The white wine chilli sauce was not that spicy (to me, though that’s saying something). I remember someone commenting that something was a bit spicy for them but I’m not 100% sure if it was this dish. The mussels were plenty and fresh and somehow I was left with the task of eating most of them. I’m happy to say I did my duty.
Organic soft Polenta and mushrooms served with italian sausage – This was the least favourite dish of the night for anyone who tried it. The Italian sausage was nice but we felt it was the only part of the dish with flavour. The polenta was mushy and tasteless and while the mushrooms were okay, we felt that the whole dish was missing something.
Most pizzas are $21.50.
Pizze Bianche (Olive Oil Based), Campagnola – Caramelized Spanish Onion, Mozzarella, Lemon Thyme & Italian Sausage. Gusto’s pizzas are made on a thin light base, almost like a pita bread. There is a definite taste of olive oil as expected on the olive oil based pizzas and while it seems like the toppings are scant they are packed with flavour and you won’t find yourself disappointed.
Pizze Bianche (Olive Oil Based), Al 4 Formaggi – Dolce Latte, Stracchino, Buffalo Mozzarella and Caprino Cheese.
Tagliatelle All’Abruzzeese – Slow cooked white veal mince ragout and mushroom pasta.
On another occassion I have tried the potato pizza and also one with porcini mushrooms and they were a huge hit with our table.
I enjoy eating here, especially with a group who like to share dishes but there is the tendency to want to order almost everything off the tapas menu. Not that you’ll regret it, you just might have to sit there a bit longer to finish it all.
Sono
Cuisine: Japanese
level 1, Building 7
Portside Wharf
39 Hercules Street
Hamilton, Brisbane
Ph: 07 3268 6655
Not only is Froggy my breakfast companion but she is my my partner in crime for skipping night lectures and eating at Sono instead. When we started out we frequented the City Sono restaurant at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall. Our must-order dish was the Japanese potato salad. We suspect they would prepare it as soon as they saw us walk in the door as it would reach our table just as we barely finished ordering. I guess that is a testament to how much we used to go there.
Sometime ago they spent a lot of money fitting out a new premises at the Hamilton Portside Wharf complex. This new establishment has several private dinning rooms and a wonderful view of the river. The other night we were up to our old tricks again, this time with hubby-to-be.
The menu had changed since the last time we were there (over 6 months ago). But it didn’t take us long to start reading out dishes that caught our eye. Even though there were only three of us we ordered pretty much everything that took our fancy and it ended up being 8 dishes. We didn’t order rice (good decision) and managed to eat everything. We started to struggle a bit at the end and skipped dessert but its difficult to let any morsel of Sono food go to waste.
Soft Shell Crab with Shiso Salsa
Crisp deep fried soft shell crab with a rice vinegar sauce and shiso leaf salsa. The vinegar sauce was very tart and there was a lot of it for just three pieces of crab. Still the crab was delicious and crispy.
Portobello Mushroom and Tofu, served with seasonal vegetables, enoki, shiitake and oyster mushrooms in teriyaki sauce. This dish was really nice but it felt like it could use something else. I think some melted cheese on top would have been perfect.
Wagyu Beef Stew
Slow cooked wagyu beef with garlic, miso and soy sauce.
Hubby-to-be and I ate this about a year ago at the City Sono. It was just a seasonal special and we felt it was a shame we might never be able to eat it again. But its a year later and we were very excited to see it at Portside. The wagyu was so tender it just falls apart effortlessly. The first time we ate it we had trouble picking it up because each time we put a fork in the beef just broke apart. We almost licked the bowl clean this time the sauce was so tasty. We will be back next year for more of the same.
Kani Cream Croquettes
Deep fried crab and cream croquettes. We always get these and there is a fight for the last one every time. We’ve learnt to be diplomatic and cut the things in half. It saves the tears.
Moreton Bay Bug Ume Cream Yaki
Grilled Moreton Bay Bug with a plum flavoured white sauce. Make sure the pieces of bug are drenched in sauce when you eat it. The meat is tender and the sauce is a little bit sweet. Just try and stop yourself from licking the shell clean.
And here are the dishes we ordered from the March Special Menu:
Pan Fried Duck Breast with Mustard Miso Sauce by Chef Hiroshi Tanno
This was served on a bed of asparagus. It was quite nice though I would have preferred more tender duck pieces.
Beef omelette Tempura in a Seafood Broth by Chef Isamu Kudo
Slow cooked egg omelette filled with beef then deep fried in tempura batter, served in a seafood broth. This was really tender and juicy.
Shrimp Cocktail with Miso Mayonnaise by Chef Kohei Nakazawa
Cooked tiger prawn cutlets dressed with Miso Mayonnaise sauce, accompanied with witlof salad
The prawns were exceptionally fresh and the crisp witlof salad was the perfect partner.
So our old friend Sono has new surprises to distract us from our old favourites that have disappeared off the menu. It seems to have worked though I do miss the clams, baked scallops and of course the potato salad. I’ve heard rumours that sometimes if you ask for things no longer on the menu they may be able to prepare it for you. Fingers crossed!
Posted in Brisbane, Japanese, Portside Wharf | 
Tags: Brisbane, Japanese, Portside Wharf, Seafood, Wagyu | 
1 Comment »
Wilsons Boathouse – Hamilton
Cuisine: Seafood
Mains: Average around $40
Portside Wharf
Shop 1, 39 Hercules Street
Hamilton, Queensland
Tel: (07) 3868 4480
I’m not sure what brought on the urge for my husband-to-be to take me to eat yummy seafood at Portside, but hopefully it happens more often! He even called to book 
Wilsons Boathouse is located at Portside Wharf in Hamilton, though another and the original boathouse still exists in Manly. Wilsons Portside sits with a river view and has big glass doors so most diners in the restaurant can enjoy it. Our table was a bit tucked away behind one of these doors which could have been the reason why it took us a while to get someones attention to take our order.
In order to prevent me from spending a million dollars on oysters and lobster, hubby-to-be suggested we each have the fisherman’s platter. At $41.90 it provided us with a variety of seafood goodies to feast upon. I also added a side of cooked vegetables (though it was a seafood restaurant I REALLY enjoyed the veges).
Local sand crab (half of one), Fraser Island prawns, Balmain bug, shucked oyster (Sadly only one!),salt & pepper calamari, beer batter whiting and prawns (2 fresh and 1 in some kind of batter). You also get some chips, cocktail sauce and a clothed lemon half.
I wish there were more oysters, but only because I’m an oyster fiend.. maybe I should have tried harder to convince my dining partner to buy me a whole plate of oysters! The platter was filling without the extra oysters, and we didn’t even have any starters. Besides of course the complimentary something they served us to whet our appetite. I can’t really remember what it was but it was seafoody and yummy.
On a whole, the food was really nice. I would have liked to have tried some other things though as it is difficult to generalise how good their food is based on one dish. Hopefully I get taken there again *hint hint*.
I think one of the most memorable parts of our dining experience at Wilsons was that we had an exceptionally lovely waiter attend to us all evening. If I remember correctly, his name was Graham. He was very pleasant, just chatty enough without being a bother and just generally fun to have around! I can’t even remember the last time I had a waiter that I actually enjoyed having been served by so we left him a small tip.
So if you are after some nice seafood with a view, or even just a place where you will enjoy the service, please do give it a try, and consider taking me along too!
Posted in Brisbane, Portside Wharf, Seafood | Tags: Crab, Oyster, Portside Wharf, Prawns, Seafood, Wilsons Boathouse | No Comments »