From the Donna Chang and Iris team, expect periwinkle escargot, turmeric marinated swordfish, and lemongrass braised pork belly, with imaginative cocktails to match.
It once would have been easy to underestimate Ghanem Group. In its early years, it carved out a comfortable niche for itself with Byblos, its flash, if relatively straightforward, restaurant and bar at Portside Wharf.
But then came Blackbird at Riverside Centre, Donna Chang and Boom Boom Room in the heritage-listed Family Services Building, and Iris and Bisou Bisou at Hotel X. Each project is more ambitious than the last. But, perhaps more importantly, all are very different.
In that sense, Luc Lac is in capable hands. The Ghanems opened this fancy new restaurant at Queen’s Wharf this week. The cuisine? Elevated Vietnamese and Thai.
Not that it was the Ghanems’ idea, exactly. Rather, it was Destination Brisbane Consortium, owners of Queen’s Wharf, who responded to the group’s pitch for a tenancy with a request for a pan-Asian-inspired restaurant.
“They came to us and said, ‘We think there’s a hole in the precinct. Would you be interested in doing this venue?’” explains Ghanem Group director Nehme Ghanem. “And we said, ‘absolutely’.
“It’s exciting because it’s a challenge, and we love challenges, but it’s a great opportunity to do a different style of restaurant, and a different style of cuisine, and really research that.”
The Ghanems didn’t skimp on the research, spending close to two weeks on the road with group executive chef Jake Nicolson and group bar manager Aaron Clark travelling through Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.
“It was essentially breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast lunch and dinner every day, and learning about the different regions,” Ghanem says. “And there’s always something you would never expect, so you’re learning a lot.
“As much as you can research locally and online, you can’t compare actually being there and understanding the culture of the people, going to restaurants, speaking to waiters, bartenders and chefs and seeing what’s on the ground.”
Nicolson and head chef Dann Rowell’s resulting menu ranges across shared snacks, small plates, wok dishes, curries and broths.
To start, you might order grilled beef la lot (beef wrapped in betel leaf) with nuoc cham, toasted rice, charred lime and watercress; hot, sticky and sweet chicken wings; scallop and prawn wontons in a pho broth with Thai basil; hand-caught Port Fairy periwinkle escargot with ginger and garlic; and wagyu beef skewers with a sweet soy glaze, chilli lime butter and pickled ginger.
From the wok there’s kampot peppered wagyu beef bo luc lac (the traditional “shaking beef” dish that lends the restaurant its name), cherry tomatoes and capsicum; tiger prawns with hot and sour dressing, and fried shallots; and turmeric marinated swordfish with fresh dill, bean shoots and spring onions.
From the curries and broths menu you might order pan-roasted spiced John Dory with son-in-law egg, cucumber and sawtooth coriander; lemongrass braised pork belly with baby tiger abalone, kohlrabi and apple; a fried eggplant curry with lychee, bean sprouts, herbs and fried shallots; and whole crispy speckled grouper with a Thai-style tamarind three-taste sauce.
“There’s a lot of very good Vietnamese and Thai street food in Brisbane so we understood we couldn’t just put pho or rice paper rolls on the menu,” Ghanem says. “It was difficult to go down that path of refinement but keep it approachable at the same time, but that’s where Jake came in … I think we started with 73 dishes, and we’ve cut that down to the 35 currently on the menu.”
Drinks are cocktail forward, with a focused list of signatures, as well as twisted classics, such as a variation on a Tommy’s that mixes in green chilli nam jim, and a Sidecar that features tamarind and toasted red rice. The wine list is a relatively concise 140 bottles favouring floral wines that can converse with the spice and flavour of the food.
As for the venue, the first thing that hits you is its relative openness and sense of scale. Regular Ghanem collaborators Space Cubed Design gave the space an immaculately detailed, lengthy timber bar, tiled walls, rattan furniture and richly patterned fabrics and wallpaper. It’s a treatment as colourful as the food that lands on your plate.
“While the precinct’s a destination, we want to be our own destination,” Ghanem says. “We’re going to add value along, with the rest of the restaurant precinct on this level. We’re going to bring a different dynamic of people coming to the precinct that wouldn’t normally come to a casino.”
Open daily 12pm-late
Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, The Terrace (Level 4), 33 William Street, Brisbane, (07) 3187 8088
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.