K & K — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Im not one to give reviews.. especially bad ones! I love praising people and giving credit where credit is due! But today I went here to K&K for lunch to catch up with afew friends who specifically chose this place. To say I was disappointed and disgusted is an understatement! Would not recommend! One of the young waitresses was super rude from the moment we got there. We had a new born and 2 toddlers with us so we asked for our coffees to be put into a take away cup incase the kids knocked the glass cups over at the table and to keep the coffee warmer I guess! She flat out said no regardless of the reasoning. I Thought that was pretty weird :/ I didn't realise it was a crime to give a paper disposable cup instead using one of your glass cups that you're going to have to wash up anyway? Strange :/ The other waitress with the short hair and glasses was super abrupt the whole time she served us. It was really uncomfortable and the whole atmosphere was terrible. I felt like we were stepping on egg shells and thanking them for their service constantly incase it made a difference to the way they were treating us. This same waitress then yelled at my friends son to sit down or she would make him sit on the floor. It was completely out of order as he wasn't doing anything wrong! They were just very impatient and rude towards us the whole time we were there. We then asked if we could order a beef pie which was on their menu.. 'no we don't have any left..and when we do bake them nobody wants them'. Okay.. so i asked 'can we order a croissant but add cheese onto it? Which she responded 'If It's not on the menu then we don't do it'. Okay.. so I asked 'do you have anything for kids'? Their response 'if you don't see it on the menu then we don't have it, if it's not in the glass cabinet...we don't have it'!

Anyway... they then came and cleaned our table for us while rolling their eyes, storming around the place and just being really abrupt. It was HORRIBLE! and completely unprofessional. If you don't like your job.. QUIT! I've never experienced this type of treatment at a restaurant before.. I will...

For A in our trip around the world in Brisbane we chose Austria, and so we found ourselves at K&K.

The restaurant is located at the Sinnamon Park local shops, which offer convenient parking. Seating is well spaced and airy, mostly being on a covered deck that offers a late 80's - early 90's feel.

The menu is extensive, which I can only imagine would make it challenging to manage stock and maintain quality.

I had goulasch (beef shin braised in paprika sauce with a dumpling), and my lunch partners had a Vienna schnitzel with kipfler potato salad.

To drink I had an Austrian beer, which was very enjoyable, and my dining partner had a Vienna coffee, which she also enjoyed.

I'm advised that the schnitzel was "fine" and so was the goulasch. The dumpling seemed to have been made some time earlier, but was not bad. In hindsight I should have expected that...

For desert we had an apple strudel and a cherry crumble tart. Both were fine, but I wish the strudel was a bit richer in spice. The presentation was a little cafeteria like.

I suspect that cutting the menu down by half or to a third of its size would enable the chef to offer some amazing Austrian fare. While not out of this world, the $80 bill seemed a shade more than what was justified by the quality.

After getting ourselves into the mood with some Austrian yodeling folk music on our way there, the local radio background music seemed like a bit of a letdown, TBH. Visually the dining space could be lifted with some Austrian cues to extend the Austrian theme in the point of sale area.

The floor staff were all polite and genuinely sought to ensure we were well tended to. The lady from the kitchen who managed my payment got a bit flustered about something that didn't need to be a problem, and was uncomfortably gruff with the waiter that started my payment process, but remained polite with me. Please respect your staff. It's free, and reflects well on you.

If you're up for some Austrian food and you're in the area, consider...

Most recent visit 20 November 2022

K&K has been a place that I visited irregularly over the past 10 years one to two times a year. Only because I'm not living just around the corner. But whenever I am close by, it is a given to go there for a feed.

Chef Wolfgang is a very good cook and guests get a very good traditional selection of Austrian/German dishes. Besides, K&K offers a wide variety of Aussie style dishes for those who are less keen to explore international cuisine but wanted to join their friends or loved ones for a brekky or lunch.

As a German born and grown I can say that the Austrian/German dishes are authentic and of high quality. I've never been disappointed. If I needed a home sickness fix, Chef Wolfgang has the remedy.

Staff has always been very accommodating and professional. Chef Wolfgang has very high standards and high expectations of his staff which, from my perspective, have always been fulfilled.

Note to Wolfgang: Take it easy on your staff. Generally they have the best intentions to do a good job.

Why a review after 10 years? Well, I havent been much into this whole review thing but in particular since Covid I found that it has become more important to acknowledge great service and call out those who take advantage of their (regular) customers.

Last time I went to K&K was pre Covid and I am very pleased that K&K has increased their already high standards. There are some new flavour dishes up on the blackboard and the signature dishes are as good as always.

While pricing is on the upper mark in relation to the portion size, it's still ok. It is a boutique establishment that exceeds their own standards and you won't find many establishments that deliver this authenticity.

Also please be mindful that K&K is a boutique bakery offering German/Austrian style bread, cookies, cakes, jam filled doughnuts and Bretzels.

You haven't lived your life, if you haven't visited K&K 😉

Keep it up.

Servus Chef, guad...