Bacchus - South Brisbane

I had been looking forward to going to Bacchus for ages, it was one of the few top tripadvisor reviewed restaurants in Brisbane I hadn't been to. It started badly, we were left for 20 minutes before anyone asked us for drinks then it took 10 more minutes for mine and my wife drinks and 10 minutes after that for my (adult) children's cocktails to arrive. I have said it before, give me a glass of wine and the waiting becomes irrelevant up to a point, but sitting there without a drink magnifies the waiting time.I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and that they were unexpectedly short staffed this night as it was hard to believe that the service could be so bad at such a highly regarded restaurant, however when you don't get any explanation you have to assume it is just the norm.The food was awesome, but given we paid over $700 for four of us I expected a much better all round experience, I can think of at least10 -15 restaurants in Brisbane that I would be going to before heading back here.

We stayed the night at the Ridges Hotel with breakfast at the hotel restaurant included in the nightly rate. We were delighted when we realised the hotel restaurant was the award winning Bacchus Restaurant. Our buffet breakfast was delicious with lots of choice and barista made coffee.

We booked here for my husbands birthday, it had been getting good reviews and when we last ate here we had a good experience so we decided to try again. There had been some changes to the restaurant since last time as a result of a really nice outside bar area for the hotel. The décor inside was the same, it had a luxurious feel, low lighting and modern. We chose a wine from the list but after about 10 minutes the sommelier came back to say he hadn't been able to get it because someone had his keys- a little disappointing but the wine he recommended was good. we both ordered a starter - I had the Foie Gras with smoked potatoe and balsamic vegetables - I wasn't blown away by this course - the foie gras was excellent but I wasn't overly sure about the smoked potatoe and I didn't feel the vegetables added anything to the dish other than to look good - they were quite bland. My husband had the 64 degree egg, his dish also looked pretty and he loved it. Mains were octobpus with cauliflower puree, the octopus was perfect, tasted great, the puree was equally as good. Second main was the waguu tip at $60 was pricey and although a good piece of meat didn't really blow me away. I decided not to have a dessert but we had one which was the banana dish, again this was a tasty dessert. As I said in the title the meal was good, I was a little disappointed myself because I felt my last meal here was better, but it certainly wasn't a bad meal - perhaps just not so great choices by me.

Bacchus would have to be one of the best restaurants we have been to.The menu is different but the tastes are superb. The yellow finger limes on the poached oysters are not as ' zingy' as the pink ones but the oysters from Coffin Bay were salty and fleshy.The King fish was excellent flavoured by accessories. The banana dessert and the chocolate flan were light and delicious.The staff were all attentive but our waiter Costa is attentive, knowledgeable, and precise.Highly recommended.

Finally made it to dinner at Bacchus and was a bit under-whelmed with the decor. It wasn't what expected to see. I thought it was quiet dull but that's just my opinion. I'm a non seafood eater and found limited entrees available to me. I order the lamb for dinner which was delicious. Staff were very attentive. Prices I thought were quite high but the position of the restaurant and quality of food you can understand why. I will be back to try the high tea and lunch.