Milton & Park Road Dining: Brisbane’s European‑Style Food & Shopping Hub
After being one of the first suburbs to undergo urban revitalisation, Milton and specifically Park Road was born as Brisbane's little corner of Europe. Here you will find a flurry of restaurants, cafe's, bars and shops as well as Brisbane's very own iconic Eiffel Tower.
Caffeine and brunch anyone?
Try one of Brisbane's best coffees in a vine covered garage when you stop into Bunker. If you're wanting to avoid the caffeine buzz, get the sugar buzz with one of their many hot chocolates – flavours include peanut butter, chilli, rose and lemon myrtle to name a few. Walk literally five steps down the road to find Caffeine Robber serving Fonzie Abbot coffee, classic breakfasts and international dishes for lunch.
Whisk and Ladle sources local produce where possible and makes all their own jams, chutneys, relishes and syrups, so it's not surprising their breakfast fare is a little awesome – we're drooling over the New-Yorker Waffle Sandwich with buttermilk waffles, maple-glazed bacon and gruyere cheese. You better not be full yet, as you can't eat in Milton without stopping into Tognini's Cafe & Deli for a coffee and bite to eat while you peruse the Deli counter for a few take home treats.
To market, to market
If you happen to be wandering by on Sunday morning, stop into the Milton Markets for your morning coffee, market stalls treats and possibly to play with the many Milton doggos. Find them open from 7am-1pm on Cribb Street selling farmers market goodies including meat, seafood, eggs, honey and much more.
Local bistros
As Brisbane's first licensed fromagerie, Fromage the Cow is your one stop shop for everything cheesy in Milton. From epic cheese toasties to having a whole cheese baked into a cob, the menu may change seasonally but choosing anything with cheese is a pretty safe bet. While down at Soul Bistro, sharing is caring with a number of tapas style dishes making it easy to try a bit of everything.
Whether it's a late lunch with cocktails or dinner with friends, Cribb Street Social serves breakfast, dessert and everything in between. Combine this with the large alfresco area and you’re set for the entire day. No rewards here for guessing what Embers Steakhouse prides itself on, because it's definitely locally sourced grass-fed beef dishes – medium rare pour for vour!
Doing it Yankee style
We all like ribs and burgers as much as the next person, especially when they're American-style and too big to eat. Start by grabbing a mammoth burger from Burger Institute with skin on fries and a turkish delight shake. May we suggest the signature burgers? They're anything but normal as the signature beef comes with a hash brown and the signature chook with a Parmesan crisp and bacon – it will change your life. Move along to Ribs and Rumps for pork, beef or lamb ribs with a necessary side of creamy mash – it's a carnivore's dream.
Take it international
Find the flavours of the world in this tiny corner of Brisbane. Take your taste buds through Asia starting at Rikyu Japanese for authentic Japanese bites including sushi, nigiri, sashimi and Bento boxes or feast on Thai classics like tom yum soup and Mussaman beef curry at Temple Thai and Heart Thai Food. From the family that once owned West End’s iconic Trang Restaurant comes Mrs Luu’s. The Railway Tce eatery focuses on key authentic Vietnamese dishes – the ever-popular banh mi (a French baguette filled with Vietnamese salad), goi con (healthy rice-paper rolls) and bun (vermicelli salads).
Italian cuisine never ceases to please a crowd so feast on all the pizza and pasta that Milton has to offer. La Dolce Vita (under the Eiffel Tower) has been open since 1989, so they definitely know a thing or two about good Italian food. La Stazione is the new kid on the block but is amazing locals with twists on delicious Italian dishes including mushroom risotto served from a wheel of pecorino cheese. But, if you're planning to feed a large group or family, then head to Arrivederci Pizzeria, where you can order a pizza up to 3m long – ridicolo!
Something sweet
While your savoury stomach may be full, there's always room for dessert so treat yourself to one of Milton's sweet options. Stop by Kenchington Patisserie and Fine Tea for sweet snacks like French macarons or fruit tarts or head along to Gelateria Cremona for traditional Italian gelato. Keeping with the Italian vibe, La Dolce Vita also do a decadent Nutella Italian hot chocolate and it's definitely as good as it sounds.
Fancy a tipple?
Drink your way through Milton at a number of bars and breweries. Start at The Scratch where they showcase a number of local and independent brews with a BYO food policy before searching for cheap beers and South-East Asian cocktails in the hidden Tuk Tuk Bar off Park Road. You will then find a slice of Cuban Havana on Castlemaine St at The Malecon, where sipping on something fruity and delicious is a given.
Finally, crawl through the brewpubs. Aether Brewing on Railway Tce offers home-brewed craft beers and delicious bites surrounded by the beer barrels or head to Newstead Brewing for a larger space. If we're talking beers, there's really only one place you need to be. Try a true Milton mango from the source at the XXXX Alehouse or opt for the brewery tour – there's nothing quite like it.
