Fiascos Steakhouse

 Fiascos Steakhouse

640 Stanley St Woolloongabba

2/5

I have always heard good things about the Morrison and their steaks. Pronouncements such as the best steak in Brisbane aren’t uncommon so I thought that it warranted a look. Using a couple hours I had free on a Tuesday, I went for lunch around 12 and naturally ordered the steak from the laminated one sheet menu.

The feel of the place is very similar to many pubs that had their restaurants renovated in the 2000s, making the place feel dreadfully commercial in nature instead of feeling like a pub. In fact, sitting in the dining area made me feel like I was in for another mediocre overcooked steak. The Morrison is also unfortunate in being surrounded by freeways and main roads, making a decent outdoor eating area nigh impossible. The service was alright, however, the staff felt more put out then enthusiastic and therefore as a lone diner my presence felt like a burden rather than a customer.

After what I believe was actually a relatively short wait, my steak came out (I was eating by myself and was not drinking therefore a minute felt like an eternity) a rib eye with far too many details to be a good steak (10 month aged, 30 month grain, etc.) with chips, salad and mushroom sauce. The steak was a decent piece of meat, however it was unfortunately cooked like I would end up doing it, over-cooked, especially on one side with the red centre being south of the equator. The chips copped the curse of peri-peri (why is peri-peri a big deal now? Chips with steak don’t need peri-peri seasoning.) but otherwise were fine and tasted like chips should. The salad tasted like a pub salad: 2 wedges of tomato, some purple onion, and a bag salad with vinegar drenching. Overall it was a pleasant lunch but I would not be singing its praises: it was almost exactly the same as any pub steak and therefore not worth going out of my or your way for.

Fiascos Steakhouse is open 12pm-10pm every day.

Their mains range from $20-$40 and average around $30.

Their drinks prices are about par for pubs which are on the cheaper end of the dining scale.

Their website is at http://www.morrisonhotel.com.au

The Boatshed (Regatta Hotel)

This article was written prior to the renovation and may no longer apply to current restaurant.
The Boatshed
543 Coronation Drive Toowong
0/5
I never really planned to go to the Regatta's attached restaurant, but sometimes you just need to get a steak before getting really drunk and that's what happened. To begin the Boatshed is quite literally that, a big shed with clear roller doors for walls. Not very flash, yet like everything at the Regatta has an air of pretentiousness that it may be something more or different than just a pub. Unfortunately for both the Boatshed and the Regatta hotel in general that reality falls well short of what the hotel thinks of itself.

The Boatshed sells itself on steaks (The same way that every other Brisbane pub does) and what else would i order at pub in Brisbane than a steak, so i order a 400grm rib fillet with far too many details(eg grain fed for 120 day etc etc) medium rare, with mushroom sauce (written as ragout on the menu), chips and vegetables. There was a substantial wait for the steak, luckily as this was a pub i could pass the time by drinking, with jugs of beer available at only moderately inflated prices.

Now onto the steak, here's just a quick word to Coles and Woolies hotel divisions (Liquorland & ALH) STOP using 1824 meat, i have hundreds of steaks in my life, lots of those in pubs, and not one 1824 steak has been a good one, alot of above average 1824 steaks but never a truly good one. So on from that i congratulate the kitchen staff on cooking the steak perfectly to what i ordered, which for some peculiar reason happens so rarely in the pub steak scene that you would think that the art of cooking steak was endangered to be lost to humanity. Although it appears that something so simple as using mushroom instead of pepper sauce is beyond your abilities as at least somewhat trained professionals. The steak itself was tough and chewier than many of the "budget" steak i have bought at Woolies or Coles, and flavour wise was just regular with no particulary nice or stronger flavour than again budget steaks at the supermarket.
The side dishes of the food were boring and left me unfulfilled. A hand full of steamed vegetables (of which there were only two kinds broccolini and squash) and chips that tasted like i was eating dust wrapped in potato skin.

At the ridiculous price they were charging for said meal i think i would have expected better.
The Steak was $36.50 and was a 400grm rib fillet.
The Jug of XXXX Bitter was $14


The Boatshed Restaurant has a website at http://www.regattahotel.com.au/eat_boatshed_restaurant.html