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BarVie

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

You'd expect a bar attached to the uber-classy Vino's restaurant in the heart of Brisbane's Eagle Street Pier restaurant district to be a fairly stuffy affair, but the presence of a plasma screen perched high above the bar screening the kitsch Bond classic Live and Let Die is the first sign that BarVie doesn't take itself too seriously.

You're just as likely to see a gaggle of pretty young things giggle excitedly over cocktails at the bar, or older gents relax over a reflective scotch on the many lounge settings, as you are to see couples lost in each other with a bottle of wine from the BarVie wine list (a collection they boast is one of the finest in the country). The relaxed, lamp-lit atmosphere serves to divert attention away from the stained timber bar itself and onto the magnificent Brisbane River panorama it outlooks, a view capped off by the sparkling lights of the Story Bridge in the distance.

The cocktail list is impressive, with staples like cosmopolitans and margaritas joined by their trademark Seven Deadly Sins collection (a must for the adventurous palette) and some other stellar, original creations - the vodka, pineapple and basil fusion of the Princess Leila (named after one of the bar tenders) is particularly inventive. An array of whiskeys is also on offer, with a nip of the 30-year-old Glenfiddich sure to tempt many regardless of its price tag.

Service mightn't set the world on fire, but the wait is certainly worth it, particularly if you sample a woodfired pizza while you whet your whistle. Something about laying back on a couch, sipping a mojito and eating a pizza topped with tequila marinated prawns while watching the river roll past makes any wait worthwhile.
Kris Swales, February 2008