Vietnamese French Chic at Libertine, Brisbane

On Caxton Street, lies a leafy, airy restaurant perfect for the warm Brisbane weather. You can take a seat inside the Vietnamese French chic dining room or take at the courtyard outside.

It's my last lunch in Brisbane before I fly home in the afternoon and I'm meeting blogging buddy Nikki for lunch here today as it's one of her favourite restaurants. Libertine seems to be popular with business groups and ladies that lunch. Service is friendly and deferential and we are offered a round half moon booth to sit in under the window.

We decide to share some snacky dishes. We start with the coconut crab sandwich - really more a slider bun filled with crab meat, spiced coconut mayo, chilli, coriander and Asian slaw in a sweet brioche bun that works surprisingly well.

Next we try the Vietnamese fried chicken that seems more Japanese than Vietnamese. It's buttermilk marinated chicken thigh pieces with a touch of thyme and a yuzu mayonnaise. Still, it's piping hot, crunchy and moreish.

The bug toast are cute little rounds of deep fried toasted topped with marinated and fried Moreton Bay Big meat flavoured with ginger, garlic, sesame oil & coriander.

One of my favourite items is the barbecue roasted duck slices with spiced cherry glaze, cucumber, eschallot, micro herbs & fried spring onion on an Asian grilled pancake. It's all sorts of saucy and tasty and generously filled.

The DIY green papaya salad is fresh although does tend to be very, very sweet and perhaps needs more of a balance with fish sauce.

There's always room for dessert. There was no debating it, we were always going to finish with the banana beignets. The banana is subtle in these light cinnamon sugar rolled balls and they come with roasted coconut ice cream, mandarin syrup and chocolate soil.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you try and have as many meals out and see as many people as you can when you travel as possible?

This meal was independently paid for.

Libertine

The Barracks Shopping Centre 5/61 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Monday 5–9pm
Tuesday to Wednesday 12–2:30pm, 5–9pm
Thursday to Sunday 12–2:30pm, 5–10pm
libertine.net.au
Phone: (07) 3367 3353