After an exhausting climb up to the Mount Coo-Tha lookout (which I reviewed here), having dinner here at the Summit Restaurant & Bar was a real reward for our efforts. My husband and I were initially undecided on whether to dine here as we also wanted to check out the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium before it closed for the day. I’m sure glad we stayed for dinner! Good news was that we also managed to visit the planetarium after that so it all worked out (:
The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the restaurant was how perfectly laid out the chairs and tables were (the OCD part of me was satisfied). This place looks like it has seen many wedding celebrations, just the overall layout seems to allow for that. I also really liked the consistent hues of white and brown, coupled with the warm glow of the indoor lights, it made the interior feel really cosy and down-to-earth. And fairy lights! One can hardly go wrong with fairy lights, haha.
We chose to sit outdoors to get a panoramic view of the city. The warm evening glow of the sun, the cool wind in our hair, the beautiful view in front of us, it was a wonderful moment to just be present and soak it all in.
The menu prices here weren’t the friendliest but my husband said we should treat ourselves since we’ve been doing a pretty good job of saving money on our previous meals, so we went for the 3-course Sunset Dinner Menu, which included a pork belly entree, a pan roasted salmon main and a cheddar cheese platter.
We thoroughly enjoyed the food! The pork belly skin was perfectly crunchy and the meat was packed full of flavour, with the carrot and beetroot puree balancing out the savouriness with a bit of sweetness. The salmon was well-seasoned, its skin seared nice and crispy. The creamy pea puree sauce helped cut through the saltiness of the fish. This dish did fall short in terms of presentation but made up for it in taste. The cheddar cheese came in a huge block with truffle honey, poached pears and sourdough croutes, and my husband completely wiped them out. I don’t fancy strong-tasting cheese, unlike my husband, so he commented that we should’ve ordered the blue cheese instead since he was pretty much the only one eating it. Other than the cheese itself, I was loving everything else on that platter. No photo of this though, I forgot to take one before digging in!
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. Really glad we decided to have dinner here because the food was done well and tasted great, the ambience was romantic and calming, and the view from the mountain top just added a sense of wonder to the whole experience! Sadly, the menu items were rather pricey for the portions we were given in comparison to other restaurants serving similar cuisine. Also, it took us quite a while to get the staff’s attention for service on a few occasions. But that aside, what I really remember about this experience was the feeling of liberation and relaxation atop that mountain, with the wind in my hair and tasty food to munch on as I soaked in the beautiful view. Amazing!
Update: I just found out that the Summit Restaurant & Bar will be saying goodbye in a few weeks’ time after 36 years at the Mount Coo-Tha lookout, which is terrible news ): If you haven’t checked this place out yet, quickly get a reservation by 26th January 2020 and experience it for yourself before it closes for good! I didn’t know this at the time when we visited, and I’m thankful we got a chance to enjoy all that this restaurant had to give (: Here’s wishing them all the best in whatever the future may bring!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 