Calida Steak & Wine South Bank Brisbane — Restaurant in Brisbane City

The Empanadas were very tasty, with great sauces.

The Picanha was nicely cooked and presented, but a bit chewy and not very juicy (not the best rump cap I have tasted - I would guess a lower quality supplier. This should be a nice juicy flavourful steak, especially if cooked the Argentinian way), and lacked seasoning (the smoky salt was nice but some cracked pepper would have been nice - I expected better for a $45 steak (without sides).

The barramundi dish was very tasty, though very rich. The thick cut chips were nice, though much too large a serve (presumably to justify the very substantial $14 price tag), so more than half were not eaten. Disappointingly, they did not have my first or second choice of red wine.

Overall, the atmosphere, service and food was good, but the prices are getting close to fine dining places like Moo Moo (the skin-on chips at Moo Moo are $12 vs $14 here, an eye fillet here is $53 and $55 at Moo Moo), and the quality of the food is quite different (well, the entire experience at Moo Moo is quite different). Moo Moo has a MUCH more substantial wine list at similar prices.

So, from a value point of view the prices are simply too high for what is offered - if Calida wants to charge Moo Moo prices, they need to lift their game substantially. If the prices were 20% lower for what was offered, then Calida would probably hit the mark.

And please don't insult me with the generic response to less-than-perfect Google reviews that have been posted ("we will pass this on to the relevant teams") - it is just tacky - if you want to respond to reviews then do it properly, not a generic cut-and-paste.

Update on 10/11/24 : I just received an unsolicited email from Calida asking me when I will be back, and inviting me to look at the new menus.

Well I did look at the menus, which was disappointing.

As per my review, I wasn't happy with Calida pricing (compared to other fine dining steak restaurants like Moo Moos) for the distinctly lower quality meat & experience (again, compared to Moo Moos) we experienced. The management reply to my review indicated that the food & wine menus would be changing to address this. I looked at the menus and there seems to have been a few minor changes, and I couldn't find a change for the better, some prices like queso empanadas went up by 15%, steaks appeared to be the same or higher (I think I paid $45 for a picanha and it is now $53), thick cut fries the same and the wine list has become rather eye-watering with the cheapest red wine (from a pretty short list) now $70 for a relatively low level wine (a Langmeil shiraz costing under $20 in a bottle shop), and a Corona costing $12 would be one of the highest prices I have ever seen for a Corona.

So, unfortunately the Calida "value" proposition seems to have got worse after my first visit, so it seems unlikely that we will be back. I would rather spend my money at a real steak restaurant like Moo Moos where we can get better food and a much better dining "experience" for similar (or...

Okay, let's start with the positives. The reception was lovely and the young ladybwho walked us to the table was bubbly and knowledgeable. The food was really good. We had the hot queso with bread which was delish- needed another slice of bread though. It came 3x small pieces - alot of left over cheese, for a entre you would share it makes sense for an even number of bread slices. The bread looked different than photos I had seen, our slices were about the size of two small fingers- looked so odd and ungenerous on the large plate. Calamari was nice, thin and not overly fried so it ate light which was great. Empanadas- Argentinian original were nice- not greasy. We then had the tomato salad with the flank steak. The salad was huge and had a kick of Chili which was an excellent surprise. The steak came with chimichurri and smoked salt- a sprinkle of the salt took steak to next level. Okay, the negatives.. the non alcoholic selection wasn't great, 2x types of faux wine, I recommed that you add a procesco or rose. Agnes has The BEST selection of non alcholic wines- so good I am happy to pay the $15 per glass. Unfortunately our waitress wasn't great, she didn't seem happy to be there and didn't know much about the menu, didnt ask if we needed anything or more drinks during service, and didnt even ask if we liked the food. When it was time to pay so we could leave- she never came back for our credit card so after 15minutes of waiting my husband went up to bar to the settle the bill, the young bar staff member told him just to wait at table amd waitress would "eventually get there". The BIGGEST issue is more than half restaurant is outside and there are ZERO heaters! It was freezing. I was staring at the copy customers at Mucho Mexicano and wishing I was there instead. The food got cold quick once placed on table because the outdoor temperature was so low. Guys, come on..invest in some space heaters, shivering customers isn't...

It used to be one of our favorite restaurants until we encountered the most ignorant manager I have ever met. Once we were seated, this manager, a bald guy around his thirties, brought the menu to my girlfriend, and with mine in hand, started talking to a customer at another table, leaving me waiting empty-handed until he finished his chat. That evening, we ordered two picanhas, which were both served cold. After kindly asking the waiter if it was possible to heat them up a bit, we saw this MANAGER come to our table and start accusing us quite aggressively, saying he saw the dishes come out of the kitchen with his own eyes, and that it was impossible for them to be cold. When I responded, "If they weren't cold, why would I ask to heat them up instead of eating them?" he got even more nervous and yelled that he had already wasted enough meat and wouldn't change our plates, only reheat them. Shocked by the surreal situation, I said, "Okay, that's what I wanted from the beginning." After 10 minutes, the waiter returned with two completely burnt picanhas. At that point, tired and nervous from all this, we ate the non-burnt part, 1/4 of the meat, and asked for the bill. As if the evening hadn't been ruined enough by this man's ignorance and lack of professionalism, I saw him arrive with the bill, and with a satisfied air, he pointed out that he had removed three Coca-Colas from the bill, making us pay full price for the meat we hadn't eaten. We will never set foot in this restaurant again, and I can't understand how such a person could be appointed...