QA Hotel — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Vibe QA Hotel is a bright, airy and cheerful place, where people come to have a good time. There are multiple dining areas with different configurations so you’ll be spoiled for choice. We sat in the middle of the venue, which I believe is called the “Laneway”, probably on account of its long, thin shape. The large solid round table and high bar stools were comfy, although there’s nowhere to hang coats and jackets. The main dining area, called the “Botanical” also looked inviting with modern, stylish décor, lots of greenery, wooden furniture, and chic, low hanging lamps. Despite it being a Sunday night, there was a good crowd and the place was buzzing with energy and activity. But it is a bit of a loud venue, due to the combination of wooden tables, steel and plastic chairs and stone floors. A few large TV sets on the wall also added to the cacophony, but if you don’t mind a bit of noise, the ambience is casual, laid back and relaxed. You can take your time, and no-one will hurry you out the door as soon as your meal is finished.

Food Being just my wife and I, we stuck to a fairly simple ordering protocol of two drinks, an entrée of herb and garlic bread ($8), and two mains; the brisket sandwich off the specials menu ($21), and the Moroccan lamb shanks ($21). The garlic and herb bread was a generous serve, with three pieces of chunky toasted bread soaked in garlic and herb butter. I could say that it was the perfect way to start the meal, but unfortunately, all the dishes came out at once. My wife’s Moroccan lamb shanks were melt-in-your mouth tender and accompanied by creamy mash, a dollop of lime flavoured yoghurt and sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves. The toasted brisket sandwich on white bread had a delicious filling of meat, mushrooms and gravy and was served with a portion of crispy chips. We both enjoyed our meals.

Service When we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly maître d’, who confirmed our booking and let us sit wherever we wanted. The drill is that you order at the food counter, which is in a little nook tucked away behind the bar. You’ll get a number to plonk on your table in the usual way, so there’s no app ordering yet. The lady who handled our order was professional and efficient, and the food was delivered to the table quickly.

Toilets Toilets are a little tricky to find, at the back, with no signage from within the venue. There are ample male, female and disabled toilets, well provisioned with soap and hand towels, although by around 7.30pm they were starting to look a little worse for wear and a mid evening clean up wouldn’t have gone astray. I also noticed one toilet seat broken.

Parking You’ll find the QA on the corner of James and Arthur Streets in New Farm. There is a car park behind the hotel but we didn’t bother using it, as I think it requires payment. Instead we drove down Arthur Street, where there is unrestricted free parking on weekends and in the evenings. We easily found a spot, just across the road from the hotel.

Cost We paid $63 for a schooner of Great Northern lager, a cold drink, garlic bread and two mains. Given the high quality of the food, efficient service and pleasant venue, that was a fair price to pay. But two years ago, this would have cost 50, which just goes to show the extent to which the Morrison govt has completely destroyed the purchasing power of our little Aussie peso by their reckless spending and loose monetary policy.

Summary We had a pleasant evening and everything ran smoothly, from booking to ordering and paying, with no hiccups along the way. The venue is fun and lively, if a bit noisy. Food is high quality and served in decent portions. Service is super efficient and fast and prices are reasonable. Add to that, ample, clean toilets and easy street parking nearby, and you have all the ingredients for an enjoyable, stress-free night out with...

I have never seen a company fail so hard to take ANY responsibility!

On the 27th of September my film crew and I location scouted the Farrier Bar at the QA hotel. We were told by the then events manager- Stephen- that all he needs is us to pay the invoice and send the script and we will be all good for the 8th of December. How terrific!

We paid $500 on the 9th October, confirming our booking. We were never contacted until the 4th of December from a new events manager- Shania saying:

“Hi there, just to inform you, Stephen is no longer with the company. My name is Shania, I had worked with Stephen over the last three years in various departments and will now be your main point of contact going forward. I'm working on finalising a few details on our side and will be in touch regarding your hire of the farrier room this Sunday 08/12”

I was not contacted the next day so I called Shania and was told she wasn’t in yet, so she’ll call me later. Never was contacted again.

The 8th of December comes and I have 20 crew and 6 actors ready at 8:30am to film at the farrier bar. Josh who was there told us our booking hadn’t been finalised and we needed to supply risk assessments. We have these already, for insurance, but we were never asked for them?

We were unable to film that day. Four months of pre production- gone. I had to send away people who had come from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and everywhere in-between. Josh couldn’t do much as it wasn’t approved by their lawyers.

I went to the QA Hotel the next day to speak to Shania. She was most unhelpful. I can see why I saw an ad on seek for QA Hotel events manager the next day 😂 She got my details down for our $500 refund, she confirmed it and basically said idk when we can reschedule 🤷

She took no accountability and blamed it all on Stephen. Can someone from this company say sorry and take some responsibility!

I did not receive a refund for a while, I thought maybe it was my bank. I then get a call on the 18th of December from Shania asking my details again! I can’t even get a simple refund!! It eventually came through 🙄

I then contacted Fortudo the hospitality group that the QA are under and was told they would call me back. They slimily tried to pass me back off to the QA Hotel. Josh called me, this time he wasn’t the sweet man on the day of filming. He was rude and instantly told me it was my fault- that we did not provide the correct documents. How was I supposed to know?? I am going crazy here!

I have worked in hospitality for nine years and have never seen such terrible management.

I do not recommend booking any...

Last night after work we went the QA for a quick bite to eat. Historically, as a (now) non-drinker a pub isn’t my go to, but I was too tired to think of anywhere else.

We parked in the carpark accessed via the side street and entered through the SAGE hotel lifts, through the main doors and it seemed like the whole of Brisbane was there… undeterred by the grand final vibe we easily found a seat in the restaurant area and ordered via the app.

Note: V doesn’t mean vegetarian for the chicken pasta dish but we move on…

Drinks are only available from the bar (not the app) which is good considering the vibe. The bar staff were lovely, no lines and delivered the drinks quickly.

We ordered the food via the app and before we could get a quarter way through the drink our pasta, pizza and veggie burger arrived.

The prawn, chorizo and chilli pasta was OUTSTANDING, not your normal pub food, who ever created this delicious dish deserves a medal 🥇. Would have loved to see no tails on the prawns in red pasta sauce (I’m not a eat food with my hands guy or skilled enough to use a knife to pry out the last bit of a delicious prawn) but overall, the meal of the month. Bravo

The veggie burger was a burger, great bun, the patty didn’t set the world on fire or bring offence.

Delicious mushroom (fungi) pizza was also delicious.

I think you can clearly see the winner in...