Escobar Kitchen & Bar

ESCOBAR KITCHEN & BAR HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

New Farm’s Escobar Kitchen and Bar is one of those idyllic laidback neighbourhood places that, if you lived close by, you’d be in danger of never going anywhere else again.

Occupying part of an old Queenslander cottage that has been home to Spanish and French restaurants, this homey gastro bar with a retro twist has it all: a quaint courtyard with wrought-iron and repurposed patio furniture, house-spiced rum, fruit-infused gin, scuffed timber floorboards, 1930s working phone, craft beer (with barrels to rest it on), real music, retro table games and a menu that borrows from the 1960s Women’s Weekly recipes and gives them a dose of 21st century chutzpah.

Manager and part owner Lee is the quintessential bar guy –  knows his beer and wine, spices his own rum, makes a mean Blue Hawaiian, is up for a chat about anything from gin to table games and in his down time makes his own tonic syrup using real quinine (no chance of catching malaria here). With his generous use of fresh fruit as infusions, in iced water and in cocktails he’s also determined that no patron shall succumb to scurvy. Indeed one of the features of Escobar’s bar are the must-try weekly infused gin or rum concoctions on tap.

Food is seriously good stuff (designed to snack or share) based on what hostesses with the mostest were serving cocktail and dinner guests when JFK was President: Devilled Eggs, Crumbed Brie and Pineapple Sticks, Vol-au-vents (baked fresh to order), Nana’s Nuts and Bolts and Prawn Cocktails and gourmet jaffles on the light side. Large dishes (also designed to share) include blasts from the past like Apricot Chicken (in this case Moroccan spiced), Steak Diane and Tasty Fish Pie and desserts of Bread’n’Butter Pudding and Black Forest Gateau.

The nostalgia continues with the table games – must play is the 1980s Junior Trivial Pursuit with questions about Neighbours’ Scott and Charlene.

Nice to know: There’s a free off-street parking lot behind Escobar (entrance via James St). Being a short walk from the Brisbane Powerhouse and open late, Escobar is also ideal for pre or post show sustenance.