Luxe

[[we had a groupon]]
We started with the Montado Spanish bruschettas and the Spiced baby calamari, as we were limited to one dish per person. I really liked the bread throughout the night (and it came up in several dishes), and the Spanish bruschettas were good for that reason. The calamari came with basil and tomatoes, and the dish kind of reminded me of something in Chinese cuisine. The calamari was not overly chewy, and the basil complemented, but it didn’t stand out in any way. Next, we had the Southern Style Buffalo Wings, which wasn’t exactly in buffalo sauce, a bit on the oily side, and just wasn’t very flavorful for the most part. The skin was nice and crispy, but the flavor didn’t quite hit the spot.
One of the better plates of the night was the Sauteed Tiger Prawns, which came with the crusty bread that I liked. They were in a chili, garlic, white wine, and olive oil sauce, but again, I couldn’t quite taste the spices — something I’m typically pretty good at. The prawns, however, did taste fresh — no fishiness, with a nice crunch, so I was actually a bit impressed. Since their service was terribly slow that night — their trick to not serving as much for the AYCE — we didn’t get to try everything we wanted, so we ended with the Thai Chicken Spring Rolls and the Salt Cod Brandade. The spring rolls were average — the skin a bit too hard, and the filling a bit dry. The ratio was just a bit off, so the spring rolls came off a little dry, but the lime aoli balanced it out. Again, there wasn’t any flavor to the spring rolls itself, but the aoli did add that punch of flavor. Possibly the best dish of the night (tying with the prawns), was the brandade, which is pretty much a salt cod and olive oil dip eaten with bread. I could taste the cod, which wasn’t fishy, and I think it was mixed in with mashed potatoes, which I liked. Again, it came with bread…
Overall, this place is very average. Each plate on the tapas menu averages 17AUD, which can add up quite quickly, and the service was pretty terrible…(the waitresses seemed a bit cold and barely ever tended to the table). I liked the fact that it was an open air restaurant, but so are all the other restaurants along James Street! In other words, I probably wouldn’t return…

Luxe is one of those places that you’ve been to a few times and found perfectly adequate, but somehow is never your first choice of venues. There’s nothing wrong with Luxe by any means, but it just never quite inspires me to love it. Maybe it’s just that it has some fierce competition in its close vicinity and I guess that’s the nature of James street. For example, if I wanted a drink I’d be more likely to choose Cru, if I wanted dinner I’d pick Harvey’s next door, and if I wanted coffee I’d choose Jamie’s.
However, what does help Luxe stand out is their lovely wooden bench seating out the front and the fact that they’re right next door to the cinemas. So if you want a snack or some tapas and a drink outside of regular meal hours if you’ve just seen or are about to see a movie, Luxe is a very convenient option.
The décor is very nice, and the service is usually pretty reliable. Luxe’s strength is really the fact that it’s an all-​rounder. Although it doesn’t excel at a particular meal (ie breakfast, lunch, or dinner) or drink (coffee or cocktails), they do all of these to an adequate standard and in a pleasant environment. And when the other restaurants are between menus, Luxe always has tapas and mezze platters available so they’re a good option at an irregular meal time.
Nothing wrong with being an all-​rounder!

Finding shelter on a rainy Brisbane morning, we ducked into Luxe for a hearty and warming breakfast. Unfortunately, our waiter wasn’t exactly the heartiest or warmest we’ve come across. We had to flag him down to order our coffees and then again to eventually order some food. And it was not a busy morning.
My long black was decent, though the crema disappeared almost immediately, however my counterpart’s latte was very weak with a small amount of foam.
Coffee aside, the food was fairly tasty, and there was definitely enough there to get you through the day. The ‘Eggs on Toast’ were perfectly cooked — wonderfully runny and came with roasted tomatoes (I added avocado and spinach) with Turkish bread, which unfortunately was a tad too crispy to easily cut into.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner as well, and seems to have an interesting looking menu, so perhaps skip breakfast and rendezvous for a later meal instead.

When you’re a little restaurant tucked in the James St food precinct, how do you stand out from all the other excellent fine cuisines on offer?
Lux Bar and Restaurant won me over by their innovative French menu which was on offer during the French Film Festival playing at Palace Centro Cinema next door. I appreciated the efforts of the chef to create a matching food and wine menu to make for an immersive experience for aspiring Francophiles.
When they’re not experimenting with food for film festivals, they serve up a changing variety of modern Australian/​European cuisine. Their lighter lunch options such as the chicken/​avocado baguette or chicken and apple salad is perfect during Brisbane summertime while some people may prefer the larger meal options of steak, seafood and pasta.
The staff at Lux are naturally friendly and polite, the wine list is decent and the restaurant design is perfect for small groups or a romantic dinner for two.