Fresh User Reviews for BYO in Brisbane

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Had an amazing meal here today, with impeccable food, and warm and friendly service. Food was delivered in a timely manner and was faultless in presentation and taste. We had a wonderful meal and are happy to recommend this beautiful little restaurant to any and everyone!

May 24, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  9     

One of Strathpine's best kept secrets. The food is fantastic and a great experience for the kids! The green tea ice-cream is a must have!

May 19, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  10     

I had a professional group dinner here and was impressed by the service and by just how amazing the food was. I would certainly be happy to recommend this venue if someone was to ask me if I knew of any good venues for a group outing.

May 14, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

We have dined here many times over the last few years. We are from Wagga Wagga and when we come to Brisbane we book in for a delicious meal. Never been disappointed.

May 02, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  5     

Overall a positive experience here. I made a booking for a large(ish) group for brunch on a public holiday. The staff members who I spoke when making the booking were friendly and helpful. It was very busy on the day of our booking but the two staff members taking care of our table were service orientated, and though busy they took our orders at just about the same time as we were ready to place them.

The time between placing our order and receiving our meals was a little long, but I didn't really notice the delay because we were a group with lots to talk about. Our meals were tasty, though on the small side. The food was fresh and I should mention at this point that the coffee was very, very good. A little expensive but a nice place to brunch.

Apr 26, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

I have eaten here for a long time now and if your a lover of fine Indian food like me then this is most certainly the place to get it I cannot speak highly enough of taste and freshness of the food I think if you try this place you'll agree with me. Awesome food!

Apr 24, 2012

4.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  7     

Based on other customers rave reviews here, I booked a table for 2 for a "first date" with a new lady friend.

I'm sorry now that I did not do more research and visit the restaurant first.
Their website and waterfront location had me imagining a classy, sophisticated evening to enjoy a dining experience with my new lady friend.

As soon as we approached the restaurant we felt overdressed. They were very few people there, but still they were understaffed as it took a full 5 minutes before we were greeted at the counter. A cheeky but polite young girl, clearly with no waitressing skills, actually entertained us with her fumbling and bumbling through taking our meal and drinks order, making jokes about forgetting to provide us with glasses to pour our drinks into and responding to some requests with "No" before running off laughing to comply with our request.

Everything was cheap and felt it from the decor to the throw away chopsticks.
The food was probably served a bit too quickly and the courses too close together, however, to their credit the freshness of the food was reasonable, although the flavours a bit subdued, obviously catering to the average Aussie palate. The meal sizes were quite large and we struggled to get through half of it.

As a "good value for money" suburban restaurant it rates very well and I would certainly go back again if that's what I wanted at the time. However, if you are looking for any level of class, authenticity, quality of food or sophistication, look elsewhere. On a scale of "best Thai" restaurants available in Brisbane, I would rate the overall experience a 6 out of 10 and according to my Thai girlfriend, clearly not the "best Thai Restaurant outside Thailand by a long shot.

Apr 18, 2012

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  3      Value  1     

I'm not usually one leave negative comments but this evening I had take away form Raja restaurant and I must say that it is the worst meal I have ever eaten. Our entre the Raja's mix platter was like eating deep fried 4 day old food. And our meals the Lamb Bhuna Ghost and the chicken Korma were revolting, with no flavour at all, I think they had just reheated yesterday's sauces in the microwave. I should have realised when the place was completely empty. I would not recommend this to my worst enemy.

Apr 17, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

The perfect place to have your dinner. Great belly dancer and friendly staffs. Highly recommended for all.

Apr 07, 2012

3.8 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  3     

Awful place. Very slow service and there is no one person who comes and serves you. There was nobody who came back to ask for further requirement of naans etc. The place is choc-a-bloc, there are tables everywhere and therefore very noisy. The food is alright, same old Aussie-Indian type of food, not authentic.

Apr 01, 2012

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

I went to the Orchid on what was advertised in the brisbane eating guide what a disappointment that was we went on saturday nite 24/3/2012, 7.30. Food was bland, service poor, restaurant cold, no happy faces, very very bad, I wonder why so many people choose to eat there, just a disgrace to thai food in general.

I personally would never eat there again and how did they get all those awards, what shame on you Thai Orchid ...oooh and don't go outside the restaurant for u might trip over all the cockroaches running around the pavement.

Mar 24, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

One curry ordered contained only 3 pieces of meat and the rest uncooked potato. Lovely sauce no meat however. Service was horrible.

Mar 24, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

Book early! This place is amazing. You won't get any fresher, tastier or more authentic. We love this place. So cheap I hope it stays this way, it's always packed and you really have to book a week in advance if you want to eat on a fri or sat night. Staff are bubbly, relaxed and friendly. Try the fetta with honey, it's melt in your mouth.

Mar 24, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

Well worth the price. Delicious and authentic. We could not fault the service, staff were efficient, pleasant and knowledgeable. We booked a table for two on a friday night and it was not as busy as we expected but there is still the requirement that on fri and sat nights you have to purchase a minimum of one main per person. We really only wanted the tapas plate and a dessert but there was no way we could fit in dessert after the mains! The meat tapas plate was absolutely beautiful. Corkage a bit pricey.

Mar 23, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  9     

Love the place! the food is always fresh and very tasty. The menu is interesting (and entertaining). For a little local it's excellent. Downside: the service can be a bit slow because it's busy or there are a lot of take-away orders, if you're not in a hurry it isn't a problem or... go early.

Mar 15, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Don't let the small-looking serves fool you, the food is flavoursome and authentic, not dumbed down to western tastes, and very filling. We had the Chicken Madras (mild yet full of flavour) the Kadahi Lamb (quite spicy-hot but not unpleasantly so) and neither was swimming in oil like you get at some restaurants. If you like a good curry that makes your sinuses run but doesn't burn the lining of your stomach, then this is pretty close to perfect.

The accompanying extras such as pappadums, aloo paratha bread and cucumber raita were fresh and complimented the curries perfectly. We also had the Kashmiri Pulao (saffron rice with nuts and sultanas) which was pretty standard but added colour to the meal.

Mar 11, 2012

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

Visiting for lunch the other day we noted dine-in prices on the lunch menu for the specials are now $9.50 eat-in. We ordered one of the 'standards' - 'Spicy Calamari' which was not as tasty as previously experienced, nor as plentiful. However, it was still served with choice of a small bowl of steamed or (egg) fried rice.

From the 'Vietnamese Specials' the Pork Spare Ribs with Spring Rolls and Vermicelli sounded appealing (and at $10.50 was at the top end of the lunch menu price scale) but in reality presented as a bowl of cold (undressed) vermicelli noodles, topped with water-logged carrot and cucumber - the 'spare ribs' comprising of some very small slivers of cold pork scattered with peanuts and the spring rolls (2) cut in quarters, and again cold.

The accompanying bowl of basically sugar, water and some chopped chilli lacked fish sauce and any real flavour profile and just added to the overall 'sogginess'. Overall, a real struggle to enjoy anything about this dish.

We previously reviewed in 2011 - Have continued to visit this venue over the years and in 2008 things went downhill somewhat but recalled West End Garden offers a $8.50 lunch special menu (they do offer other lunchtime choices on this menu but they are at their normal a-la-carte prices so read carefully).

On the way to the (superb) Valentino Retrospective at MOMA we were after something quick and tasty so decided to drop in last week. Ordered the 'Spicy Calamari' and the 'Mongolian Beef' from the fairly standard (read safe) choices. Both came with steamed or fried rice and we expected the rice to be on the same plate so were surprised when we received a more than decent sized separate plate of fried rice.

The spicy calamari disappeared in record time, the coating was crisp, the calamari tender with a thin spicy sauce spooned over.

Mongolian Beef was more pedestrian but also generous in size and vegies nice and crisp. Service was swift with iced water quickly provided. For $17 we left very full and certainly feeling we'd received great value for money. Noting the large amount of other lunch-time diners we are not the only ones to think this. Try here when next catching a movie at the nearby Southbank Cinemas during the week.

In 2007 I reviewed as follows: Have dined here on numerous occasions over the years. Pretty consistent food. Can get packed on Friday and Saturday nights especially with larger groups. Young staff well meaning but service can be somewhat haphazard. Picks are the Vietnamese dishes: Vietnamese Combination Spring Rolls, Sugarcane Prawns, Kung Pao Prawns, Garden Shin Beef, Salt and Pepper Squid, Spicy Fried Rice, Creamy Prawns.

Mar 04, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

Okay food, but terribly rude service and overpriced food has put me off.

Feb 24, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Best ramen I had so far in Brisbane. Very nice home made noodle and tasty and good variety of soup base. Will go back again definitely.

Feb 23, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  10     

I took a friend here last night, I wasn't expecting much since it was so cheap but was pleasantly surprised. The service was average, the indian girl had no idea what she was doing, couldn't understand us and someone else came back 5 minutes later to take our order.

The food was suprisingly great. The venue is quite nice as well, I really liked the chairs. Overall very good food and great value, I will definitely be going back.

Feb 19, 2012