In recent weeks, we stopped by Croft House Town Kitchen and Bar, the Sebel Hotel’s newly adjoining all-day-dining cafe-bistro. If you’re milling about Queen Street Mall, take a short walk down Albert Street to discover a café, restaurant and bar, offering breakfast, brunch, lunch, charcuterie and dinner. From produce, down to the wall hangings, Croft House has meticulously scoured through local producers to bring you the best this pocket of Queensland has to offer. Head Chef, Richard Mellor uses the likes of Brasserie Bread, Woombye Cheese Co, Salumi Australia and the Darling Downs’ own John Dee Beef to create a menu of contemporary share plates and bistro style dishes.
A partnership with local brewers, Newstead Brewing, allows Croft to showcase quality craft beer. On the local front, Croft have ticked all the right boxes and to mirror the quality of local producers and artisans, a premium range of national and international wines are available, some of which we paired with our dishes.
To begin our lazy Sunday lunch, a bowl of steamed green lip mussels in a saffron, garlic and white wine broth - the serving size enough to share between two as an entrée or even for one as a small main.
Firstly for mains, a signature dish and our idea of comfort food, a slow cooked beef brisket roll served between two milk buns produced by the good folks at Brasserie Bread. Layered with the slow cooked beef brisket were shavings of aged cheddar, spicy sauce and on the side, fries. Our second choice was this ricotta gnocchi with assorted mushrooms served in a wild mushroom cream with sage and burnt butter. This dish was paired beautifully with a Mother’s Milk 2014 Shiraz, a well-balanced spiced red from the Barossa.
And finally, for all of those chocolate diehards out there, you best hotfoot it to Croft to sample this dessert: bittersweet chocolate mousse with choc fudge brownie, peanut butter malto and espresso ice cream.
Croft House Town Kitchen and Bar
95 Charlotte Street, Brisbane, 4000
07 3224 3549