Wednesday 7 April 2010

The Plough Inn

I can't remember the last time I actually ate at The Plough Inn. Come to think of it, I might have never eaten there at all. At least that was until recently - I was going to see the Pixies at the Convention Centre and Southbank just happened to be a convenient spot to grab a pre-Pixies dinner and drink.

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/


Plough Inn on Urbanspoon

9 comments:

Pinball - roadography.com said...

That meal looks really over priced. I had a two dollar steak at The Fox Hotel which looked about as good as this, and I thought I was getting ripped off.

I used to enjoy the Plough Inn, four or five years ago. Now days they are too expensive, and in my opinion the quality of the food has gone downhill. Either that or I'm just getting fussier; I'm finding that the food at a lot of pubs around Brisbane is getting worse, especially when it comes to Chicken Parmigiana.

Jason said...

Yeh I agree with the review. Good place for a beer and maybe a bowl of chips but better places to eat.

And my god - I have seen the Pixies twice and they are up there with the best concerts I have been two. Can't believe we got another chance nearly 20 yrs after they split...

Gastronomy Gal said...

argh! I cannot stand this sort of thing happening. 45 minutes is not acceptable for two steaks and some chips. Also- $30 is a reasonable amount to pay for a meal! Especially at a pub. It should be good. I think restaurants/pubs should have to undergo a test determining whether they are allowed to charge over $25for a main meal!!

I'm glad you enjoyed the pixies though!

Ally said...

That sucks! There are so many fantastic places in South Bank too...and I get the whole expensive pub steak thing. At least Plough was cheaper than Hog's Breath (seriously!)

cerealfordinner said...

That is a pretty sad looking steak. Just over the weekend we headed to Harlin where we had a steak then checked out the farm it came from. Pretty fantastic!

That's Ron said...

wow a lil pricy indeed! n I totally agree with pinball

greenbeenfood said...

after living in bris now for 7 yrs i am often heard saying i don't understand bris pubs & their big steak, coleslaw, potato and biiigg price...+ most times the food is ordinary. more on the plate is better...i don't believe that! i sometimes day dream about a lovely local pub that serves a sunday roast w clean skin wines by the glass and the price for both is under $20....syd & melb have this why don't we?

Anonymous said...

Seriously you people need to get a life!!!

Have you been to the butcher lately and seen the cost of meat??

PLUS you have someone preparing the meal for you, some one cooking it for you and someone doing the dishes!!

Its not just the cost of the meat you pay for when dining out.
STOP YOUR COMPLAINING PEOPLE!!!

food bling, Brisbane said...

Anonymous - thanks for the comment.

I think there is a fairly common thread coming through the other comments on this post that $30 is not a default price for an average steak in Brisbane. I have no problem paying $30 for a steak anywhere, but for $30 I expect a good piece of beef that has been cooked how it was ordered. That is my view generally and isn't directed at the Plough Inn.