King Arthur Café has quickly become a favourite brunch spot for Brisbane diners and now our favourite neighbourhood café is open for Friday night dinners!
The popular New Farm café is hosting weekly Friday dinners, featuring an inventive menu of small plates ideal for sharing and an all-Australian line-up of wine and beer.
King Arthur has maintained a farm-to-table ethos since opening in 2015 and has lead the charge among this conscious food movement in Brisbane.
"The idea of sourcing directly from farmers that we know has been engrained in our business model since the start," says King Arthur owner Mairi MacKinnon.
King Arthur is MacKinnon's second café after opening the highly successful Merriweather with her business partner Josh Russell. She sold the South Brisbane café earlier this year, allowing more time to grow King Arthur and focus on its ideals and direction.
MacKinnon has spent the better part of this year planning, researching and fine-tuning what the dinner offering at King Arthur would look like and it shows. The menu is restrained; featuring a selection of share plates grouped as 'Meats', 'Veggies' and a couple of larger options.
We adventurously opted for the kangaroo tartare, cured egg with house brik pastry (see above) and we weren't disappointed, a beautifully balanced small plate to start our dining journey.
The charcuterie featuring serrano, coppa, lardo, corned beef, duck pate, pickles and brik pastry was generously proportioned and ideal for sharing. The flaky brik pastry though was delightfully light but also impossible to spread the pate on and we requested a side of bread so we could tuck in with gusto.
The surprise of the night was the grilled broccoli with miso custard and enoki mushrooms, which was incredibly delicious. The miso custard was a granula type accompaniment paired beautifully with the broccoli and crispy mushrooms.
Once you start ordering a few shared plates, the upstairs romantic tables for two become impossible to hold your bounty and so we shifted to the larger communal table to spread out our feast.
The petite wine list omits the regions so you'll need a little wine knowledge or ask for assistance, but I spotted a Mac Forbes Spring Riesling from Healesville that I've sampled on a previous trip to the Yarra Valley and it proved to be a delicious drop. The thoughtful beer and wine list takes a natural-leaning focus, meaning organic or biodynamic fruit, minimal intervention in the making process, and low-to-no sulphite additions.
The dessert menu has just one item, which should have indicated that it was not to be missed! But miss it we did. It just provides a reason to return to King Arthur Friday Nights for the strawberry cheesecake!
Come Fridays, the cafe's doors will stay open all day, transitioning into bar mode after the usual breakfast and lunch agenda wraps up 2:30pm. Drinks and snacks will run from 2:30pm, with dinner from 5pm.
King Arthur Café – 164c Arthur St, Fortitude Valley
Opening Hours:
Tues-Thurs 7am-3pm,
Friday 7am-late,
Sat-Mon 7am-2pm
