The café/fine dining restaurant on the ground floor of the Pullman Brisbane King George Square is named after neither the popular Dutch golden age painting by Carel Fabritius nor the Donna Tartt novel about its theft. It's instead a riff on 'Goldfish', the name of a former bar that stood in this place in the 1980s as part of the Crest International Hotel. Its councillor clientele, according to legend, would commute from City Hall across the road for clandestine beers via a secret tunnel, now blocked off. (Check the Goldfinch logo for the hidden goldfish.)
These days the venue is a large airy space with globe pendant lights, hanging foliage and plenty of window frontage for stickybeaking on the passing parade. We mean that literally: Time Out's visit comes with the spectacle of a snowman, gingerbread person and two stiltwalking Christmas trees gambolling down Ann Street, bound for a carol-singing event taking place in King George Square. So far, so festive.
Mediterranean seaside bistro dining is the nominal inspiration here, straddling Italian, Greek and North African influences. A tender leg of octopus reposes on a dune of lemony hummus along with a fennel and apple salad, beans and burnt orange slices. A salad of battered calamari features rocket, pear, walnut and sweet balsamic reduction.
A succulent Humpty-doo barramundi fillet resting on roast potatoes is jostled by cherry tomatoes, olives, shaved carrots and pickled onion. The plate of tender, rare and flavoursome cubes of Moroccan lamb backstrap, with an arrangement of hummus, feta, roast carrot, leeks and raisins with a red wine jus, is a winner.
Pizza is the comfort food offering here, and the more afforadable option. Find more Moroccan flavours in a chicken, mushroom and chilli pizza. There's also a quattro formaggi and a dukkah spiced pumpkin version alongside the expected Margherita, Siciliana and Capricciosa. Desserts span Eton mess, dark chocolate fondant, apple and rhubarb mille-feuille, and a burnt orange tart. The wine list draws upon the Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Clare Valley, and Murray Darling, with several French, Italian and Kiwi drops as well, including a 2020 Maison Saint Aix rosé from Provence that would go down a treat on a summer's evening.
As a hotel restaurant you can't fault Goldfinch's central location, and it does a brisk business by day as a café. If you are in it more for the drinks may we recommend the Sixteen Antlers Rooftop Bar on Level 16, which comes with a view of the City Hall clock that the beer-loving councillors of yesteryear could only have dreamt of.
Time Out dined as a guest of Goldfinch.