The best restaurants in Brisbane right now

Brisbane's restaurant scene has undergone a transformation over the past decade that has brought it into legitimate competition with Sydney and Melbourne. The influx of southern residents with high food expectations, the sub-tropical produce, and the waterfront settings that few Australian cities can match have driven a dining culture that no longer needs the qualification "for a city its size."

Honto

Honto on Constance Street in Fortitude Valley is the Brisbane restaurant that has done the most to change perceptions of what Queensland dining can achieve. Ben Williamson's Japanese-influenced modern Australian tasting menu in the intimate basement dining room is precise, creative, and consistently surprising. One of the most essential bookings in the country.

Onna

The wood-fired Italian cooking at Donna on James Street is Brisbane at its most directly pleasurable — the pizza is made with sourdough that ferments for 72 hours, the pasta is made daily, and the natural wine list is curated with the same seriousness that the kitchen applies to its cooking.

Agnes

The open-fire restaurant in the James Street precinct has wood fire at the centre of every dish — the charcoal grill, the rotisserie, and the wood-fired oven produce the kind of cooking that rewards the carnivore and the vegetable-lover equally. The service is precise without being stiff.

Gauge

Ben Devlin's Gauge in South Brisbane is the city's most thoughtful restaurant — the ingredient sourcing, the seasonal constraint, and the intelligent menu that finds pleasure in limitation without making it feel ascetic put it in the company of Australia's most important dining rooms.

Gerard's Bistro

Gerard's Bistro in the Valley has been one of Brisbane's favourite evening destinations for a decade, delivering Middle Eastern-influenced cooking in a setting that manages noise, energy, and intimacy in the way that the best bistros always do. The mezze selection is outstanding; the house-baked bread sets the standard for the meal to come.

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