Casual Dining - The Chelsea Bistro

http://www.thechelsea.com.au/

I love being surprised.  I've been eating my way around Brisbane for as long as I can remember, well, I can remember a time when I didn't eat out, but I don't like to talk about it.  I'm often surprised by some of the restaurants I visit, but equally, I'm often surprised about restaurants I haven't visited.  I like to think that I pretty much know my way around Brisbane's restaurants, especially in the regular haunts that I frequent.  I was recently invited to check out the new menu at The Chelsea Bistro in Paddington's The Barracks, which I've written quite a bit about (see posts here).  The only problem was that I'd never heard of The Chelsea Bistro, even though I thought I knew every restaurant in that particular little hub.

Never one to shy away from checking out a new Bistro, albeit one that's been around for quite some time, I jumped at the chance to see what the Chelsea had to offer.  The easy part was getting to the Barracks, which is just on the CBD's border with Paddington and a very short drive from my apartment.  We could have walked, and probably would have on a weekend, but we were out on a 'school night' and had little time after work for a leisurely stroll to dinner.  After parking in the bowels of the complex, we made our way up the escalators with no real idea of where we would find the Chelsea.  Luckily, the Barracks  makes it pretty easy with signposts pointing out the location of all the dining spots nearby.  Interestingly, it was pointing me towards the Hogs Breath Cafe, past Libertine and Peasant.

Libertine bar and restaurant - Vietnamese fusion

http://www.libertine.net.au/

Sometimes you go to a restaurant and by the end of the meal you're just not sure about it.  You know the feeling, it's got a great reputation, it's in a great spot, everyone you are with is having a good time and enjoying the food, but it's just not doing it for you.  I experienced this feeling last year when going to Libertine for the first time.  It was with a group of workmates and was a chance to get together outside of work and have a nice meal, but by the end of the night I was a bit disappointed.

Fast forward a year and I decided I would give Libertine another go.  There had been some changes since my last visit and I was keen to see what the impact had been.  The biggest change was to the style of Libertine, which had always been a French Vietnamese fusion restaurant and has now moved to more generic EurAsian fusion style of cooking.  This is most likely from the influence of Kim Machin, formerly of Urbane and Spring, in his capacity as consultant to the well known restaurant.

As I have already mentioned, Libertine is in a great spot and is located at the Barracks in Petrie Terrace which is the old Police Barracks that was redeveloped into a cinema and dining hub in 2008.  There are a heap of great restaurants and cafes there with one of my favourite Spanish Restaurants, Peasant, being located in the same building.  It's pretty close to the CBD, so you can walk there fairly quickly or, if you choose, drive and and park in the complex.  The night that SC and I decided to visit Libertine was an unusually cold and rainy night, so driving was the obvious option. 

Peasant - tapas at the barracks

http://www.peasant.com.au/

I love the development of the Barracks precinct, but it's an area I have almost totally ignored.  I used to eat there a little bit, long before it was developed and the Hog's Breath steak restaurant was the only restaurant in the area.  Back then the barracks were a dilapidated eyesore and I always asked why such a prime spot was in such disrepair.

Fast forward to 2008 and the development is completed with the Barracks being redeveloped to a eating hub and the cinemas and shops open for business.  SC and I have walked to the Barracks many times over the last few years, more just to walk around Brisbane and surrounds to see whats changing, but never together to eat.

The perfect opportunity came to me during the week after winning a couple of movie tickets to see a film at the barracks.  For the record, the movie was 'Step up to the Plate' a film about Michel Bras handing over his 3 Michelin Star restaurant to his son Sebastien (all in French, of course).  I had been eyeing off the tapas restaurant Peasant for ages and this was too good an opportunity to pass up, so SC and I arranged to meet at the Barracks after work and try it out before the movie.