Popolo Italian Kitchen and Bar

The strip of restaurants at the new River Quay precinct at South Bank are the trendiest new places to have lunch. It's located just under the Goodwill Bridge with riverfront views.

What I love about Popolo is the relaxed ambience, outdoor seating and tapas style dining. Most of their dishes can be accommodated to the number of people at your table which makes sharing much easier. Cora (her review here) and I were seated at the very edge of the restaurant so we were literally a footstep off the pavement. It was so bright we had our sunnies on the entire meal. The view was fantastic, the Brisbane skyline and river was in front of us, the sun on our faces and a glass of wine in hand. Everything was promising of a good meal.

View from our seats

Sfogliata con funghi e capperi - bocconcini sheet filled with mushrooms, red reduction, fried capers 
 

I usually try to eat everything on my plate, especially when there are small portion sizes. But this entree was almost inedible and I gave up after 2 bites. The red reduction was very sticky and bitter and I think that's what ruined the dish. The mushrooms were minced up very finely and because it was mixed in with the reduction, I couldn't taste much of anything else. This was a very disappointing start to our meal and it didn't help that it took 45minutes to come out. Not acceptable for a cold starter. 

Popolo Margherita - tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil

This dish was another let down but edible at least. What I liked about it was the paper thin base and the addition of fresh basil on top. What ruined it was the tomato sauce. It was extremely sweet and tasted like watered down tomato paste. I get that they were trying to keep it simple but I felt a bit of herbs in the sauce would have helped, and less sugar definitely. I should also mention that it took another 40minutes to get this dish out. Our patience was running dry. The waiters also mucked up several orders and we kept getting other table's orders. This happened perhaps 3 or 4 times throughout the meal.

Lattonzolo e pesche - Kingaroy suckling pig, spiced peach compote, anchovy sauce

After another 40minute wait we finally got to our main.We ordered a half serving which got us one large slice each. I was so annoyed at the service and the food by the time this came out and didn't think anything could redeem my experience here. But this dish was amazing. The pork was melt in your mouth succulent. The peach compote gave it a nice sweetness, much like apple sauce would. But the hero was the anchovy sauce. It was so salty and flavorful. You could control the saltiness of each bite with how much sauce you added to it. I've never had pork with anchovy before but I think it went really well and hope to see this combination more often. 

Eccetera insalata - zucchini, ricotta salata, asparagus, mint, fresh peas

A very simple fresh salad. I liked that the ricotta coated the vegetables, as if it replaced a dressing of some sort. The potatoes were cooked perfectly and zucchini was juicy.

But in saying that, I don't know if I would be back here. I am skeptical about their pizzas (that sweet tomato sauce we be on most of their pizzas I presume) and the entree I had was inedible. I would love to bring someone out of town here to enjoy the views of Brisbane and have a glass of wine. My tip? Bring along a pair of sunnies, steer clear of the tomato based pizzas and set aside at least 3 hours for lunch service.  
 

Dish I'd order again: Kingaroy suckling pig

Review
Popolo Italian Kitchen
Sidon Street
SOUTH BANK QLD
http://www.popolodining.com