Bar Alto - Brisbane

Reservations necessary, especially on a night when a show is going on. Friendly service, food doesn't take too long to come your way. Some dishes are really really good (mussels, fig & walnut appetiser with fresh mozzarella, lamb), others were average. On the pricey side, definitely save this for a special occasion.

The Powerhouse Museum is an amazing venue. The staff at Bar Alto are great too. No begrudgingly taking orders they're full of energy and enthusiasm. The pizza with prawn and salami paste is delicious, they have a good beer selection and make great coffee too

If this ain't considered a treat, I honestly don't know how the English language works anymore. We have something special here, not only with the quality of the food - we will discuss the nuances later - but also with just the whole atmosphere, and the location of this all-around wonderful venue, it is almost like it does not even have to try. Everything feels natural and right with how it is designed, and how it is presented. Alone, the Powerhouse is spectacular, and adding on great food to compliment it makes it even better. It had been such a long time since I had seen a good friend of mine, and I often try now to keep in contact with people. People get busy and whatnot, but the effort is always important to maintain that. Anyways, long story short I was meeting one old friend from university over at the Powerhouse in New Farm one day. The idea was just to catch up for some drinks, discuss some stuffy and to me get something to eat in the meantime. His idea was getting some wine, and I was happy with the usual coffee. In getting the food, I had a few commitments to get to so I was making use of time to get sustenance before heading back on the road with the schedule - it gets like that nowadays. Let's just say briefly with the Powerhouse, as much as Brisbane is lacking any real attraction on the level of some of its national counterparts at least the Powerhouse is something to get to and see. The design of it is really pretty, you can't argue for a better location overlooking the river and just near the fantastic New Farm Park. It was made to be the kind of place to go to be entertained, it was made to be the place to go for socialising and it was made for special events. There are not many places like it in town. Service is really friendly. The lasses at the bar were chirpy, approachable and with customer service skills that were top notch. When getting the food, at least at the bar, you are given a buzzer which goes off after a while. Come up to the counter when it does, and the food will be ready under the lamps to be picked up. It is a bit unlike me to start describing the menu by listing out the drinks. At least in this part, that is the case. There are two sections to this bar, one that is for drinks and bar snacks and the other is for some fancy sit-down meal. For the most part, this is a big wine bar. The glasses that they use are big (though they don't fill them all the way up). The wine list is big, with sections dedicated to sparkling & champagne, whites, reds - which is the biggest of them all, and a couple of dessert wines. For other drinks, there is caraffa which is to share, various spirits, cocktails, and beers and ciders. Non-alcoholic drinks are all available as usual. When it comes to food, most of the influence stems from Italian. It is a fairly modest selection, focusing highly on having cordon bleu quality, with each of the items well chosen and presenting an aspect of Italian dining to give the full experience. For this place, it would be perfection as a first date, or to be the location for a business venture. They have something for all tastes, and one can follow the menu to get the whole experience. Heck, they even have meals for two here. Someone wanting pizza can also be satisfied here, though that might be at the bar menu. Regardless, for something a bit cheaper and more casual there is a good range of items at the bar to get. You can get some of the basics here, though more quality and well-crafted canapes are on offer. Among these include focaccia and antipasti. Anyways, getting to the drink that I had it was none other than coffee - if it were not mentioned already. The coffee that I have now is doppio. I can't rightfully remember what bean was being used, but whatever it was the barista behind the counter really knew their stuff. It was strong, had a good, silky texture along with a flavour that was slightly fruity - maybe stonefruit - and the crema on top was good as well. It was extracted right, the temperature was perfect, and all-around what I needed at the time - something to perk me up. This one was so good, or I was going to be here for a while so another one was definitely in order. It was during then I pounced on the chance to get some grub to eat. Like I said, I went with a couple of snacks with the food. To get a decent idea of the place, I got two bits of food. One was salt cod croquettes, and the other was sort of like a sandwich. Chickpea patties made the "bread", and between them was fennel and pork belly. Both of these were good, and different which always helps. With the salt cod croquettes, they are quickly becoming one of the most reliable foods to my knowledge - they are sweet, soft as butter on the inside and these lot had a really hot and crispy coating to surround it. This is almost like eating fried mashed potato. On the side was some aioli, and it was not bad at all. Then with the chickpea one, it was a little less flavoursome. However, the quality was probably objectively superior. If not, the presentation certainly trumped it. Along side it, there was salsa verde which spiced it up a bit. The chickpeas were soft, the fennel and pork belly went together nicely giving different textures. It might not be one that I would constantly gobble at if there were lots of plates, but I certainly will give credit for the quality and care given. So yeah, there is no denying that this is a nice place. The location is spectacular, the atmosphere is one of the most lively yet relaxing and from the food that I had sampled here, the quality was top notch. Why it might have such a low score for its calibre, in honesty I don't reckon I can give it too higher of a score if I did not give the place too much of a go for what it offers. Maybe some more canapes, or a sit-down meal with a couple of courses, and I could talk more at length, but as of now just heed the work that it does not suck.

If this ain't considered a treat, I honestly don't know how the English language works anymore. We have something special here, not only with the quality of the food - we will discuss the nuances later - but also with just the whole atmosphere, and the location of this all-around wonderful venue, it is almost like it does not even have to try. Everything feels natural and right with how it is designed, and how it is presented. Alone, the Powerhouse is spectacular, and adding on great food to compliment it makes it even better. It had been such a long time since I had seen a good friend of mine, and I often try now to keep in contact with people. People get busy and whatnot, but the effort is always important to maintain that. Anyways, long story short I was meeting one old friend from university over at the Powerhouse in New Farm one day. The idea was just to catch up for some drinks, discuss some stuffy and to me get something to eat in the meantime. His idea... read more

A wonderful experience. Despite being very busy, both table and bar service were prompt and attentive. The food was light, fresh and delicious and of a decent portion size. The cocktails were decadent and very well executed.