Thinking that we'd be able to eat fairly quickly, I decided to meet my fellow Pixies fan at the Plough Inn. I arrived at about 7.30pm, and there was a decent crowd outside, but I wouldn't say it was crazily busy. I grabbed a G&T at the bar and sat along the side of the pub (in between plenty of overseas tourists) with a magnificent view of a few guys setting up for the markets the next day.
Luckily I didn't have to sit there too long before we ordered dinner. The dinner menu covers salads and steaks, as well as a few other main courses such as grilled barramundi ($24), oven baked king pork cutlet ($26) and a pumpkin & feta stuffed field mushroom ($22).
I was fairly keen on devouring a steak before the concert, but baulked a bit at the prices. I'd been expecting to be able to grab some kind of steak in the $15-$20 range, so I was surprised to find the cheapest cut of beef was a Barcoo grain fed 400g T-bone at $28. Other options include a Tey's 250g eye fillet ($34), Tasmanian premium 300g rib fillet ($32) and a Rangers Valley 400g grain fed rump ($30). All steaks are served with corn on the cob, a choice of steakhouse fries or roast baby potatoes and mushroom, Diane, pepper, garlic cream sauce.
I ordered a Beef City 350g grain fed sirloin, cooked medium rare. We ordered our steaks just before 7.45pm, thinking there would be plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely steak and few cool beverages before the Pixies hit the stage just after 9pm. How wrong we turned out to be. While there was plenty of time to enjoy leisurely beverages, the steaks were another story. After chasing them up twice, the steaks were eventually ready just after 8.30pm. I thought it was a bit unusual that it took the kitchen over 45 minutes to serve two sirloin steaks with a cob of corn, chips and a small green salad.
My steak was probably a little over-cooked, but not far off medium rare. The chips were fine and the corn was ok. Unfortunately we had to gobble down our meals, so I didn't even get to touch the green salad.
For a pub at Southbank, our meals were fine. Whether or not they were good value is another issue. There are now so many pubs around Brisbane that serve steaks (and other meals) for over $30. I don't mind paying over $30 for a steak at a pub, but I expect the resulting piece of beef to be something memorable. Although both our steaks were fine, I wouldn't put them in the memorable category.
While we waited a long time for our steaks, the drinks service in the meantime was friendly and snappy, which meant that by the time the steaks finally arrived, we were both well and truly in the mood to enjoy the Pixies.
The concert itself was fantastic - I'd been waiting a long, long time to see the Pixies live, and they didn't disappoint.
food bling ratings
Food - Ok
Service - Poor
Value for Money - Ok
Ambience - Plenty of outdoor seats, but not much of a view
Vegetarian - Limited selection
Wine - Ok
The Plough Inn
Stanley Street Plaza
South Bank Parklands
South Brisbane 4101
P - 07 3844 7777
W - http://www.ploughinn.com.au/
