Inadvertently taking its name from convict and 1827 deportee Thomas Dowse, this funky little sub-street level bar has an apt gritty rawness about it.
Situated under the base of the airy open-sided Iceworks bar, it makes for a cosy retreat, with its graffiti art walls, wood-framed windows and warm brown Havana ottomans giving life to the concrete floor and wall vibe.
Like the bar, the menu is compact and interesting – for beer lovers a selection of boutique and mainstream draught and bottle beers, including Little Creatures and Teo on tap.
The wine list comprises a tiny range of quality offerings from the south and NZ while the well-priced cocktail list manages to cross continents and two centuries. And a tasty bar menu including gourmet pizzas, fish’n’chips, skewers and arancini completes the picture.
On Wednesday nights from 8pm music fans can experience the unique wonderment of ‘The Round’, a Nashville-inspired showcase of local and international touring songwriters, emerging and established. Drop in for the rare opportunity to engage with the artist and hear their music and their story in an intimate lounge setting.
For those who like not just a song but a side of history with their Mojito, Thomas Dowse was sent to Australia at the age of 18 for stealing clothes, having been sentenced to death before his deportation. After serving his sentence in NSW he moved to Queensland as a jack-of-all-trades and, thanks to his prolific documentation of life as a convict and diaries recording early settlement life, he ended up as both Brisbane correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and a columnist at the Courier Mail (then the Brisbane Courier), and as such was dubbed the ‘Samuel Pepys of Brisbane’. Having lived the bulk of his free life in Milton, Dowse St takes its name from him.
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