Wilson's on the River

This was my first invitation of the year! Off to Wilson's on the River, brand spanking new seafood restaurant. They just opened up a few weeks ago along Coronation Drive in Milton. So new in fact that they still hadn't got a website up and going or parking approved. Parking in Milton is a massive pain in the ass due to its 2P regulations. Apparently they will get onsite parking pretty soon!

I went with my friend E., from work! She drives a massive truck car and she lovessssss seafood!

This place!

The interior is absolutely lovely! It's in an old converted Queenslander that's been split in multiple buildings now and they've been super busy sprucing the downstairs for dining and upstairs for a champagne bar. It's the bright white Queenslander near all the office buildings in Milton along the river, it's been quite a few other restaurants in the past so I don't doubt it has a very familiar appearance for everyone Brisbane based.

Lovely!

We sat beside the window and spent a lot of time perusing over the menu before the head chef came out to introduce himself and have a bit of a chat to us. Then the general manager came up to talk to us about the history of the place which I recounted in a nutshell earlier.

Mama Pham would enjoy this place

The first entree that we recieved and arguably the best in my eyes were the Harvey Bay scallops with apple and onion puree, black pepper caramel shards and a truffled cauliflower timbale. The scallops were perfectly grilled, large, sweet and creamy. The apple and onion puree was also perfectly balanced and a tart contrast to the super creamy texture of the timbale, think the creamiest scrambled eggs you've ever had. The only issue I had with these was the huge size of the caramel shards, I found the flavour overwhelming as there was so much of it in one mouthful. I think a bit of a finer crumble would have been preferable.

My fav, defs get it!

This was a super close tie to being my favourite, it was a butter poached Moreton Bay bug, mango salsa, fermented black beans and a chive and sage butter sauce. The super soft, succulent, meaty sweetness of the Moreton Bay bug had me seriously wondering why I don't eat more of the stuff! We were both scraping the plate with this one, everything was delicious from the sweetness of the mango to the salty hit of the funky fermented black beans to the buttery herbaceous sauce pooled under the supple pasta.

I now love Moreton Bay Bugs

This was the Thai coconut milk broth mussels with kaffir lime. I didn't really like this one as I found that the Thai broth lacked the fragrant aromatics that Thai cuisine is characteristically known for. It was a very mild broth and it took me a few sips before I decided whether or not I liked this. E., loved it and said it was her favourite since it combined her two favourite things, Thai and seafood! I've got to say I'm really traditional and love bread with my mussels to soak up the sauce. The chef told me that this was one of their most popular dishes as it was something new and interesting but very mildly spiced so perfect for most people!

Spicier for me thanks!

This was my least favourite dish, I really disliked everything about it, the name of the dish as well as the execution. It was called a Tasmanian salmon ceviche, cured with sea salt and white wine vinegar, dressed with a Glasshouse Mountain honey and pineapple dressing. The slices of fish were very ragged, each slice a different shape and size to the one beside it. There were even some holes in the slices and I felt like this was a terrible way to treat such delicious fish. There wasn't a particularly strong sour flavour from the vinegar and when I've had ceviche in the past, it's been gorgeous hunks of fish cured in some type of citrus juice and a jumble of crunchy and refreshing things like onions, chili, tomato or coriander! It's normally a super fresh and light dish, which I find this dish isn't.

I'm sorry for you salmon ):

This was the Fremantle octopus served grilled over a bed of baby zucchini, red cabbage and radicchio and topped with a green chili jam. I really liked the green chili jam, I love the punchy sweetness of it and I found the octopus well cooked, quite tender but not as tender as the one I had from the new defunct Char Char Yiros that still remains my gold standard. If you get octopus so tender you think its chicken aside from the suckers, you're doing a great job. E., said that she really enjoyed this dish despite not liking octopus.

 A beckoning curl says come on by~

The chef dropped by and asked if we were getting full yet. We said no and so bring on the reef and beef! We got half a Moreton Bay bug grilled with garlic butter dripping off the side, a thick Diamantina Angus tenderloin cooked to a perfect medium, salt and pepper calamari, prawns on top of a cracker of a crunchy potato pieces and sauteed spinach. Remember what I said earlier about Moreton Bay bugs? I double down on that and say this is the best one I've ever had, it was the length of my forearm and I wear a size 9 1/2 woman's shoe! It was so, so, so juicy, pure white succulent meat that I dragged through the garlic butter pooled under the rest of the food! The steak was perfectly cooked as I said and so tender, it cut through like butter! The prawns were also perfectly cooked, juicy and bursty. I think I need to stop saying things were perfectly cooked, because it all was!

Omg yassssss

We got the black truffle risotto with soft boiled egg, three jumbo grilled prawns and a scattering of toasted black rice aka inedible shards of rice that were everywhere. I don't like risotto and this one wasn't an exception, it was cooked to risotto prime standards with a chalky hint in the centre of each rice grain, well separated grains of rice, a buttery pool lightened with a hint of citrus and a strong truffle aroma and flavour. That doesn't mean I like it though, risotto just isn't my thing! That being said if that sounds up your alley, I'm sure you would love this dish.

Shotgun gooey egg

It was time for another main but I made a quick break for the upstairs champagne bar to check out the fixtures and view!

Hella fancy nice

I can imagine leisurely sipping champagne or for me, fancy mocktails as I turn my nose up at the city workers below me!

Brissie river, why you so brown

There's also an upstairs dining area!

Gorgeous otherwise though

Our last main was the angel hair pasta with spanner crab, cherry tomato, broccolini with crunchy garlic and a lemon, olive oil and fresh basil sauce. I thought it was delicious! I loved the large pieces of fluffy white crab meat scattered throughout the pasta. I thought that the pasta itself was more like a noodle but it was still tasty. I loved the freshness of the lemon, crunchy garlic, basil and olive oil sauce! While E., disliked it, I would solidly order this again due to how much I enjoyed this dish.

Omg so good!

There were a few desserts but E., and I were seriously gunning for the passionfruit and mango semifreddo and the hazelnut creme brulee. We were absolutely ecstatic when our waitress told us that's what we would have. The biscuit was a touch on the thick side but packed full of macademia pieces and white chooclate, it was still a bit soft so it was easy to bite through. I was stuffed but I pocketed them for the road since E., was too full to eat them. The creme brulee had a wonderful crunchy sugar top that I smashed through with a spoon. The creme brulee had large chunks of hazelnut pieces and a super smooth frangelico and hazelnut flavoured cream. This has got to be the best creme brulee I've had in a long time!

Omg sooooo good!

On the other hand I wasn't as impressed with this dish. The semifreddo had a good flavour to it and was complemented well by the sourness of the passion fruit, the golden toastiness of the coconut and I felt that the mango was too sweet. I prefer my fruit sour and sweet! I prefer the contrast from that a lot more.

Not bad though

Wilson's on the River
Service: 5, solid 10 actually but they know I'm a food blogger so yeah.
Atmosphere: 10, lovely place and a great place for a fancy dinner.
Food: 9.5, everything was well cooked, super flavoursome, great quality and I'd go here with Mama Pham. If you think I'm picky with food, you KNOW Mama Pham is worse!