Ole Restaurant is in Southbank towards the Piazza end. Like all Southbank restaurants, it has great outside seating where you can enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner (and I hear they serve breakfast too?). The menu has a great selection of tapas and raciones (more substantial plates to share) and wine and cocktail menus as well.
Red Sangria - Red wine punch
You can't have Spanish tapas without a jug of sangria. I was surprised that they offered white and red wine sangria. I've never tried white sangria but I'm not a fan of white wine so Cora and I opted for red. The amount of wine was only slight, so I definitely recommend this for those non red drinkers as well. It was fruity, refreshing and ice cold. Best one I've had to date. The jug works out to be about 4-5 glasses so for us two it was a bit of a struggle to finish.
(Tapas) Pulpo Con Chorizo - Grilled octopus, chorizo, fresh lime, parsley and tomato
I love anything with chorizo in it so I'm slightly biased to this dish. The octopus was cooked perfectly, I can't say anything negative about it. The dash of lime gave the dish a nice freshness and tang. The chorizo was slightly overcooked and cut a bit too thinly but nonetheless it was chorizo, therefore it was delicious. The only thing I didn't like about this dish was the overuse of parsley. I'm not a fan of using herbs as a salad filler. They should accompany a salad, not be the salad.The few sprigs of mint went well with the dish though. I ended up pushing the rest of the parsley aside.
(Tapas) Sobrasada Y Vieras - QLD scallops on soft, cured pork and paprika sausage, w/ pork crackling
Although impeccably presented for a causal dining restaurant, this dish was a disappointment. The scallops yes were cooked well but I didn't like the sausage and the crackling was rock hard. The sausage was mashed on the plate and along with the soft scallops, the whole dish was too mushy for my liking. I think the crispy crackling would have saved the dish but unfortunately most of it was inedible.
(Raciones) Mejillones Con Mojo Verde - mussels poached w/ parsley, mint and lemon
This dish came out with a stone lid on top. It was all very dramatic opening it and having the steam pour across the shared tapas table. These mussels were the small kind and were very sweet and fresh. I absolutely loved the sauce that came with it. It was creamy, savoury and light. I made sure each mussel I had was lathered up in this sauce. Cora said it was a shame we didn't have extra bread to dip into the sauce. I think it was shame we were at a restaurant, otherwise I would had slurped up the rest of it.
(Racione) Mejillas De Carne - beef cheeks braised in pedro ximenez, green pea and radish salad
This wasn't a great dish in my opinion although I think some would enjoy it if slow cooked beef was your thing. I have it often since Vietnamese soups involve a lot of slow cooked beef and it's much tastier than this. The beef cheeks were tender and well cooked but the sauce that came with it had a bitter aftertaste. I'm not sure if it's from the sherry or whether they burnt the beef when searing it? Again, I didn't like that the 'radish salad' turned out to be a parsley salad with two slices of radish.
One dish I would definitely try next time is the paella. I saw lots of tables ordering it and it looked amazing, especially the seafood and chorizo one. My advice is to order a jug of sangria, bring a large group of friends and head in Sun-Thurs night for their Sunset special. They are currently offering Sunday to Thursday between 5pm and 7pm - 1 jug of sangria, 2 tapas and 2 raciones for $55. This was exactly what we ordered which at lunch time stood up to approx $90 so this is a really economical deal.
Dish I'd Order again: Sangria and Mussels
Review
Ole Restaurant
Shop B12, Little Stanley St
SOUTH BRISBANE QLD 4101
how much is their jug of sangria normally?
ReplyDeleteHi Sushi. I can't remember for certain but I think a jug was $32 and a glass was $8.
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