Anise

It's never been the same since it changed hands in around 2012. The service used to be excellent but our service staff's knowledge of wine was lacking (where it used to be consistently excellent). The food is generally great with most of our courses being amazing but with the service element, I would not rush back (we have been many times before). Brisbane has so many options nowadays and Anise could be amazing.....

Went there for dinner last night and will never go again. The waiters were off their faces drunk. We had the degustation menu and decided to match the wines. The food started out quite well, the fish and gnocci very nice.. the porkbelly dry and looked like it'd been microwaved. The service was literally a farce, and they had to send a waiter home because he got progressively drunker, and I mean swaying drunk as he was serving, slurring words everything. As we paid for bottles of wine, i saw him serve in dirty glasses ( i think on purpose) and when it was pointed out, he put the wine aside and i saw him drink it later. I also saw him take a bottle of ours with at least a glass in it left and spirit it away somewhere, probably so he could drink it. We intially had eight but one person left before the meals started and they still charged us for eight. Ridiculous, overpriced and a ripoff....

I had booked two seats for my friend's birthday at Anise. When I arrived we were informed that the seats were not available, why? Because this "cosy 21 seat European Bistro" did not check for reservations and just assumed that everyone who was there had reserved. They offered us a glass of cheap sparkling and said we could seat on a sofa. When we asked why they couldn't find out who hadn't reserved, they said it wasn't possible. They offered us no further assistance and then lied to us saying that people liked to have their dinner on the couch. On a Monday night and also having told them about the occasion, this was absolute rubbish service. I had heard from others that the service here was terrible, this has just been confirmed. This is definitely not a once off and it goes to show why Anise has not and will not make it on any reputable list of restaurant rankings in Brisbane.

My husband and I had a great dinner at Anise for my birthday. All the food was delicious and the creme brulee was the best I'd ever had. The waiters were perfect - friendly and helpful without being annoying. We were so pleased to find a high quality restaurant that wasn't the least bit pretentious.

I went ther with a friend last Sunday night adn we took a degustation menu ($130pp including wine), mainly because the creme brulee was coming with strawberries and dark chocolate. I confess that I do not really like seating at a counter, but what really annoyed me is that the waitress was unable to stick to the wine menu and even tried to give me Pinot Noir with Lamb. And then the creme brulee just arrived with a dodgy grey ice cream... "there were no strawberries left" they said (strawberries are everywhere in the markets at the moment...) after we complained. These people are not honest and their reputation is obviously overrated. They look friendly but stab you in the back. Definitely not worth the expense.