Covent Garden - Gin Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Brisbane City

We went there on Saturday night - it's Monday now and I'm still feeling sick after the horrendous meal that was served up. The food is so bad I don't know where to begin! Party of 8 for my sister's birthday and only one person found some of the food edible. It was basically food from Coles deli - which we all know is highly processed, usually infected with something and just not safe for human consumption, yet that's what this restaurant feels is ok to serve. The Mezze platter - 2/3 was badly fermented and vinegary vegetables that all tasted the same, there was a little Coles deli sun-dried tomatoes, tough/stringy artichokes, olives & dry fetta with some stale sliced bread, It should be called the Fermented Platter.The trio of dips had only 1 dip - 1 tablespoon of hummus (Chris' or Black Swan brand from Coles), the other 2 - NOT dips - were - 1 tbsp of pesto, 1 tbsp of beetroot jam. And they added some white rice crackers (they didn't even bother to choose the more special brown rice ones!). The chips came with Praise mayonnaise (not aioli) and Masterfoods tomato sauce. The pumpkin "gnocchi" was translucent glue-like clumps (basically corn starch and water) that you could chew of swallow - they just stuck in your mouth. The salmon (which was very bland, slightly smelly - possibly Aldi), chicken (under-seasoned and possibly no chicken there really) and coleslaw (drizzled with Praise mayonnaise) were somewhat edible offerings. And the waiter got two orders wrong because he was too concerned with his persona and looks than he was with listening to the order. We tried it because we were hungry but overall - 7 of us agreed that it was the worst meal we've ever had!!! Don't go here if you value quality food and value your health. It's actually quite offensive for a restaurant to serve up packaged food from a supermarket as if it were made on site. To not even make your own hummus....they should be utterly ashamed. I really think any good reviews about this restaurant are...

As a regular visitor of West End's Lock n Load, we were curious to see the new revamped version of it, now known as Covent Garden. A gin focused bar, serving up some delish cocktails & European inspired share style dishes.

The venue itself is now a stunning space with a botanical theme throughout,as well as a lush alfresco area outside.

On the food front, it's all about sharing plates, and there's quite a few delectable options. We decided to go with the Manchego croquette, 1 piece at 4.50, and Brisket slider at 6 bucks, to start.

Followed by the plates of: Cauliflower, smoked puree, with wild rice, raspberry, mixed spice at 20 bucks, Smoked mullet, of fregola pasta, bottarga, breadcrumbs at 26 bucks, and Fried squid with ink aioli fennel salt 16 bucks.

Service was excellent from the girl who served us.

While the food is so tasty, from the starters to the plates, one can't help but feel like it's a little too pricey for what you get.

The fried squid for instance, was delicious, but the bowl is just so small. There was hardly any squid, just mainly fried batter, and at 16 bucks, it's too pricey for what you get.

The smoked mullet is amazing, as is the Cauliflower. The latter is divine and maybe priced just right, but the former at 26 bucks, is slightly pushing it.

Similarly for the espresso Martini we had, at 18 bucks, is a little steep. We guess that's where the fancy overhaul of the venue comes in.

Prices are a little steep in our opinion, especially for some of the food. Seriously that fried squid is not worth the 16 dollars - not for the size or even quantity of squid.

All in all, this place is great though. Awesome vibes especially on Sundays, with the live music.

Service from the staff serving food was great, while the one of the bar tenders was a little abrupt and could be nicer. Would definitely still come...

At the end of June 2020, when the COVID hysteria was much relaxed and people could attend venues with fewer limitations than now, my good friend and I, two well groomed and chilled boys, went to West End and wished to catch up with each other’s life over few drinks without pushing the accelerator. This was our idea after we left a beautiful Vietnamese restaurant nearby. Once we entered the Covent Garden we asked for permission to seat: asked politely, respectfully and in plain academic English. We were told quite loosely and borderline disrespectfully to wait outside as the place was at full capacity. Without further questioning we moved out and waited until, about 20min later, we saw TWO separate groups from 2 distinct tables leaving. As it was very cold for Brisbane we then gently moved in and pointed one or 2 tables where to seat, once again asking for permission for it. After an unexplainable pause ignoring us, the same bar tenders told us that it was not possible to come in and drink at their venue. I asked why and they refused to let us in. It didn’t matter to them any reason, this guy - the only person we spoke with - was firm and blurry about his decision. Please note, we had not yet had alcohol where we had been as I like my jasmine tea with my laksa... however, not only we were refused entry, on the first instance we were told to wait outside to be seated... WHY? this is totally wrong, unacceptable and disgraceful. If the person didn’t want us at their premises he could have told us right from the beginning, avoiding to waste our time in a very cold night outside of the venue. Wrong manners and wrong decision. I have told all of my friends from UQ/QUT and all the Rugby/Touch footy club in town: discrimination does not belong...