Death and Taxes Brisbane — Restaurant in Brisbane City

The bar itself is gorgeous. High end and clean, which is where a lot of bars can fall short leaving behind sticky tables and floors. The selection of alcohol and cocktails is super impressive but the service really lets this place down. We arrived at 7pm on Saturday night before an 8pm dinner reservation and were asked if we didn’t mind sitting outside while waiting for a table. We agreed and quickly regretted our decision as it quickly became cold. Multiple customers asked for the heater to be turned on and were told “the gas ran out!” Which is a disappointing response for such a high end bar. We kept expecting someone to take our order. After about 20 minutes, three couples had already left out of frustration, we were escorted inside. We’d noticed that the service was slow so we attempted to order a drink from the waiter who just walked away! We eventually got to ordering but time started to tick away and we were quickly approach 8pm when our drinks arrived. We had about 10 minutes before we had to leave for dinner so we were able to enjoy our cocktails - just. Once we’d finished, we immediately called over the waiter and asked for the bill “as we have a dinner reservation starting right now”. He agreed and disappeared. Then reappeared asking what he could get us as if we had just sat down. Once again, we wanted the bill and now we were running late. The waiter walked away and began having a conversation with a couple at the bar so we flagged down a second waiter and told him this was now the third time we were asking to pay our bill. We then had to hop in an Uber because we were running more than 15 minutes late for dinner. We walked in at 7 and didn’t leave until nearly 8:20 after only one drink. If it wasn’t for the service, this place would get 5 stars for quality and bells...

Rude staff, unbelievably slow service. Once seated, I didn’t realise you need to be served at the table, so I went to the bar and I felt like a child being told off when a couple of staff members at once surrounded me and said I can’t order at the bar. A staff member literally followed me back to the table. When I was ready to order, I locked eyes with a staff member and was about to ask if I could get a beer and they just turned and walked away, ignoring me. I was there as part of a group and two times a couple of people stood to talk to each other and were told they have to sit down by staff. We got up to pay and I was one of the last people to pay, one had gone to the toilet and the other was behind me, the waiter asked in rude manner whether anyone else was going to pay because there were several drinks unpaid for, I said there were but that but I’d wait for the person behind me and the one in the toilet to return (idk if they thought we weren’t going to pay?), then we were promptly told we couldn’t stand at the bar where we were paying while waiting for our friend to return so we were ushered into the corner beside. They also made us wait long periods throughout the night before serving us and bringing drinks out, as well as completely forgetting to bring some drinks at all. Honestly, out of context these things don’t seem so terrible, but when there were so many in one night and we had several staff interact rudely with us? Bit of a dud experience. Every interaction could’ve been handled better by the staff and it would have been totally fine if they had been bothered to put on a fake smile and a friendly tone. I rarely think to leave a review, but was lowkey shocked at how I was spoken to...

In our drinking gregarious-ness, we decided to order something off menu. "Screw it" we said, and turned to the server/waitress and we asked for a "medium rare" cocktail. Confused, but accepting, she took it away. She discussed the order with a bartender named Isaac, and he was determined to take up the challenge.

Issac seized the medium rare opportunity and with his reputation on the line, the steaks were high! The bar was busy, but he was determined to serve all the patrons along with us to his utmost best standard. He whipped up a cocktail, had a tiny taste off camera, and then added a smidge more to it. Tabasco, vodka, apple juice, tomato, vinegar, Shiraz, chilli sauce, and an olive for garnish. BAM the medium rare cocktail became reality.

Proudly, the server/waitress brought it to us, and Isaac with a grin from ear to ear came out to discuss the magicians tricks. Astounded that they even tried, the cooked beef drink was placed in front of us, and it was even a tad bit pink in the middle! I tried it, my mate tried it, my other mate tried it, and it was just spot on medium rare. It was so savoury, I just let it stay in my mouth, tasting it a bit longer before swallowing. Perfect it was.

If I can order a medium rare drink at D&T and get one, why can't I order a medium rare steak and get it actually medium rare elsewhere? This place is better than any steakhouse around after all, the steakhouse will always overcook it.

This was previously in my top 5 bars in Brisbane, but now it is a clear first place in my book.

Well done Isaac, enjoy the tip. We will definitely be back with your next challenge. Perhaps have a think about how to make a scrambled egg or a salmon bagel...