A very quick guide to Brisbane
If you find yourself in Queensland’s capital and in need of a good time.
Queensland’s biggest city has admittedly never hooked me in the past. Yet, it’s been awhile between drinks – twenty years, in fact.
So when an opportunity came up to spend around 36 hours in Brisbane/Meanjin, I decided to make the most of the city break. How you’re going to feel about a place as an adult is obviously gonna be a bit different to how you feel about it as a child.
I wasn’t in the mood to rush around and experience everything the city had to offer, in such a short amount of time. More just keen to walk around, soak up the vibes and make a bit of a mental checklist for the next time I visit – hopefully for longer than a day and a half, and not in another twenty year’s time.
So here’s a very quick account of both the meals and other things that immediately endeared the 2025 version of Brissy to me.
Eating in Brisbane
It’s been awhile since I’ve been out for a high quality feed back home in Melbourne, so I thought I’d go out for at least one really nice meal in Brisbane.
Hai Hai Ramen
I popped into this place mostly because it had a dinosaur as its mascot, I like ramen and I was really hungry. Ended up eating a next-level bowl of ramen with a mushroom and veggie broth, tofu, fried enoki (so good), pickled shiitake, black fungi and some other delicious bits and pieces. It was a nice moment, but now I’m sad I can’t eat it all the time.
Ippin Japanese
Ippin in the West End was my blow out meal. I kinda love dining alone at fancy restaurants (I like doing a lot of things alone, because a book is great company), but don’t often due to funds. But I did take myself out to this restaurant and allocate more than my usual food budget for a week to the set menu.
And it was delicious. It really was. But. It came out so slowly. I’m talking like twenty minutes wait between each plate. Which is fine when you’re with company and have wine to linger over, but I had a book and water. And I was so hungry, I’d inhale whatever was set down in front of me, and then be hungry again by the time the next plate arrived. I ended up asking for them to be brought out a tiny bit quicker and then it was the exact opposite situation, where I’d finish one plate only to have it whisked away and the next one immediately placed in front of me. So, I went from being ravenous to bloated. Oh well. Everything was delicious, regardless.
Greca
Greca is a Greek restaurant located at Howard Smith Wharves, a hip-seeming entertainment precinct. The best part about it is you can take the ferry there. More enthusiasm about the ferry located below.
Anyway, I ordered the lunch souvlaki plate with haloumi and a glass of non-alcoholic wine sparkling wine (somehow still 11 dollars… hrmpf) and enjoyed both the humongous plate of food that arrived, and views of the river.
Reading in Brisbane
I accidentally visited Avid Readers in the West End twice in 24 hours, which is the sort of thing that can happen to anyone. I bought copies of Slags, Human/Nature and the newest edition of Island Magazine. I really didn’t need any new books but I find it difficult to walk into a bookstore, and walk out empty handed. The simplest thing to do would be to not enter bookstores to begin with, but that’s not really an option. You can read my reviews of the books in the last edition of the monthly crumbs.
Ferry
Look. This gal loves boats. And I was very happy to jump onboard Brisbane’s ferry service to get to where I needed to be.
I caught the ferry from Southbank to Howard Street Wharves and enjoyed it so much, I ended up riding it all the way to West End (like, twenty minutes out of my way) and making the 40 minute walk back to the city. It was worth it, for every second spent on the water. Food for the soul, I tell ye.
So that’s everything I could squeeze in before I had to make my merry way to the airport! A quick and lovely break.
Check out my travel archives for quick guides to a handful of other places.
Next up, we have the crumbs of the month, which may be publishing a day late as I’ll be travelling. We’ll see how it goes.
’Til then, stay well and well-fed.
-Celine
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I similarly haven't been to Brisbane since I was a kid, and will be saving these spots for what I hope is a visit not too far away! Also, big big fan of ferries over here as well...