The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar

THE MILK FACTORY KITCHEN AND BAR HAS CLOSED.

The Milk Factory Kitchen and Bar is Brisbane’s own smuggler’s inn – an old world sea-farer's bar of mythical dark repute and fabulous cocktails, food and music by the river.

Sequestered in South Brisbane’s majestic old heritage-listed Coronation Hotel, The Milk Factory evokes the romance of voyages on the high seas with vintage maritime relics and stunning wall murals and through its ‘floating menu’ which takes diners around the world, one journey at a time. With its ever-changing global cuisine, diners can set sail with the good ship Milk Factory and dock and dine in a different port without leaving Brisbane.

Chef and part-owner Asher has come up with all sorts of travel-inspired morsels that come with a tongue-in-cheek side of theatricality and are unlike any other bar food to be found in Brisbane – from the Hawaii to Japan/Northern Asia leg of the voyage come High Sea Sandwiches (the maritime version of the sliders for which Asher’s other joint venture with Mal Gill, Shady Palms is renowned) like crumbed market ‘fillet o fish’ with pickled tartare, lettuce and wasabi pea fairy bread.

Also from this menu come the must try duck and water chestnut gyoza, which are ironbark and green tea smoked at the table in a black vinegar reduction; Asher’s version of the Chiko Roll (aka the Kurilpa roll) Sweet’n’sour pork and sticky rice tempura rolls toasted nori topped with fermented chilli kewpie and served Japanese garden style on river rocks, or the Pho Banh Mi ‘Dipwich’ – mini beef brisket, bean sprout, Thai basil and Szechuan baguette with a pho ’plunge pool’ for dipping on the side.

The drinks list is bound in recycled bits of cardboard boxes and features beers from Oz and across the seas, classic cocktails with a fresh fruity twist (guaranteed to keep scurvy at bay) and a smattering of wines and champagne.

Amongst the cocktails fit for a thirsty sea-farer are the Boston Fruit Company – a heady blend of Don Julio Blanco, Calvados, fresh apple, passionfruit syrup, citrus and sugar – and the Caribbean Passing – Ron Zacapa 33 (rum), Havana Club 7, Punt e Mes (Italian vermouth), Maraschino and Absinthe Rinse.

Not just a hub for top notch bar food and drinks, by night The Milk Factory Kitchen and Bar is also a hotspot for live music, from the likes of booking agency Bluebeard Music. Punters can expect to hear anything from mellow acoustic acts to hip jazz outfits like The Storm Chasers. 

Tip: When you enter via the corner door to the front bar, take a moment to view the artwork to the left (the work of Asher’s friend school friend Sam Hill) and the extraordinary rendered wall that literally jumps out at punters who enter the front room. It is the work of an artisan/plasterer (the only magician in Australia who knows how to take limestone and turn it black) who completed it in 2x36 hour shifts and is finished with ground pearl shell which gives it its ethereal pearlescence.

Nice to know: The Milk Factory takes its name from the Paul's Parmalat factory which for some 50 years has occupied the site across the road.

Need to know - Dog owners can bring their-well behaved pups into the courtyard to join them for drinks.

The menu may have changed since our visit.