Era is its own food and drink island caught between South Bank and the West End, on Melbourne Street. There is a cafe, bar, bistro and bottle shop which all open at various times.
I was off to see a play at the Billie Brown Studio and needed to kill two hours before the show started. So we headed for Era and sat down outside in the table serviced area. There is a self service bar type area or further seating inside.
The place itself looks and feels great and I love the wall of wine bottles on the inside. The service was fantastic too. We got menus straight away, along with glasses of water.
The wine list is extensive with plenty of wines by the glass. Some started from $8 with the average being around $10 so usual prices. The beer list is very long too with plenty of options on tap, local and foreign.
We all ordered glasses of wine and were pleased with our selections. I was pleasantly surprised that the $8 Shiraz which they were featuring tasted great too. I generally like trying out the suggestions from the establishment itself but am often disappointed by the outcome – Not this time!
Food – there was a nice list of tapas and sharer plates. Most people around us were eating which was a nice thing to see. We ordered the Charcuterie Plate and a vegetarian pizza.
The pizza left a lot to be desired. The base was obviously a pre made one – you can always tell from the holes at the bottom! The cheese was very plastic like and the toppings kept slipping off the base. It was the type of pizza you would find in a pub and not in a bar and bistro!
The Charcuterie plate was great though and a good size. There was a liver pate, a pork and pistachio pate, some salad, pickles, gherkins, apple chutney and bread in the centre. Good plate. We could have done with another small plate or perhaps some chips but that was obviously our shortcoming.
As we were going to watch a play we had a couple of coffees to counteract the wine and perk us up for the show.
I have been to Era before and the experiences were pretty similar – overall good food, good wine and a nice atmosphere with an easy to get to location (and easy to park).
**** – will be back!!
Bare Essentials
Address: 100 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane, 4101
Phone: 07 3832 4722
W:www.erabistro.com.au
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun: 11.00-12.00
Drinks: Licensed
Price: $$
