Ortiga

This place is amazing as long as you like meat. The dishes are all works of art and with the open kitchen downstairs u can see the chefs at work. A bit on the pricey side but definitely worth it. My fave restaurant in Bris.

«I’m off to Brisbane tomorrow».
«Go to Ortiga» my friends says.
No «Oh, enjoy the sunshine» or «have a nice time» but a simple directive to head to this little Spanish spot in the Valley.
Coming from one of my most well fed friends, I decided I had no choice but to pay a visit lest he blacklist me from all future dinner dates.
I’m a fan of tapas style dining, and wanted a non-​fussy night so opted for the upstairs bar area. Given that it was a Sunday night, I think the lack of businesses also meant it lacked a little atmosphere. Regardless, my dining companion and I went head first in to the sherry list and started the evening with oysters, olives and Serrano that was sliced impossibly thin and melted on the tongue. Next, skewered octopus — slow braised and served with a spicy pil-​pil sauce were deliciously tender.
The gem hearts served with anchovies and valdeon dressing was the «healthy» part of the meal. Sure, it was coated in the most ridiculously tasty cheese based dressing but hey, it’s lettuce. That stuff is good for me, right?
The pork and Jamón mini burgers were juicy and tasty — «the essence of pig» my table mate claimed. The croquettes, with their oozing centre and perfectly crunchy batter on the outside was texturally mind blowing and matched with an Amontillado to cut through the richness, was a great way to round out the meal.
A terrific night, though next time if visiting on a quiet Sunday, I’ll pop downstairs for dinner so I can have a view of that lovely kitchen.

As we were led toward the back of Ortiga, my friend remarked, «I didn’t even know they HAD a downstairs area!» Of course, that’s where the fancy dining happens — upstairs is the casual section, all dimly-​lit and sexy-​like. Downstairs, the white tablecloths are on the tables, your coats are taken by the wait staff, and you’re treated like royalty.
Our evening at Ortiga was magical. Dining downstairs next to the open kitchen area is awesome. The staff are all brilliant and charming, and our waitress Ashleigh was a standout. Her Spanish sounded legit and she sassed us just enough to make us fall in love with her (she read the table well!).
My only regret is that we got a bit too excited and ordered a bit too much. Listen to the wait staff’s plate count recommendation, and factor in dessert as one of the plates if you have a sweet tooth. While we may have eaten too much, still everything we ate was delicious. My favourite plate was definitely the slow cooked duck egg with mushrooms, and the shoulder of lamb was out of this world. I’m drooling a little just recounting it all as I write this review.
The wine list is a little overwhelming, but definitely ask the waiter’s opinion if you’re stuck. We met halfway («we’d like a Spanish red with a bit of guts within this price range, options please?») and the result was delicious. We were also delighted with the pre-​dinner aperitifs — nobody in Brisbane kicks a negroni around like Ortiga.
All things considered, it was an absolutely brilliant night and I’m glad I finally crossed this one off the to-​do list. Ortiga, you completely won me over.

We loved this place. It’s not cheap but $ 200 got us the meal of the year. The highlights were the oysters, ajo blanco and lambs tongue. Service was excellent. We will definitely be back again to try out the tapas menu in the bar.

Ortiga isn’t the place for the faint of heart or the light of wallet. The superb food doesn’t come cheap, and the drinks aren’t far behind. The meat-​heavy menu showcases a fantastic range of Spanish-​style food and the downstairs restaurant area is elegantly decorated and nicely lit. There’s also a heap of seating at street level with a good view out to Brunswick Street and outdoor seating is available out the front. Save up for a special occasion and splash out a little — it’s well worth the stretch.

Am I going too far to state that the meals served up at Ortiga are the most flavoursome and exciting of all the Spanish eateries in Brisbane? I think not.
The ability for a restaurant to be refined yet make guests feel incredibly relaxed is rare. Being seating at a white starched linen table and faced with a menu written entirely in Spanish, except for the odd word such as ‘lamb brains’ and ‘veal sweetbreads’, most would feel incredibly out of their depth. But not here. The waitstaff are so attentive that you feel that if you asked them to book you a flight to Spain, they would actually do it. They know the menu back to front, and explain literally every single item you have a question about (which is generally everything single item on the menu). With a group of 5, they suggested 5 share plates and one more substantial main.
Throughout the meal, each time a guest would leave the table, our waitress would roll up the vacant guest’s napkin, rather than have it untidily splayed across the table in the uncouth fashion in which it was left. It is this attention to detail which made the whole dining experience such as success. And as for the food — well it speaks for itself. Every ingredient on the plate is utilised to enhance the flavour of the overall dish. So every mouthful literally explodes with flavour, and rather leaving you wanting more, it actually leaves you incredibly satisfied.
Overall, the evening was an entirely adventurous, unique and sumptuous experience — one that I recommend to anyone who has excitable tastebuds.

Ortiga is one of those restaurants that if you believed half of Australia, you’d be very sure couldn’t ACTUALLY exist in Brisbane. It’s all the things you expect in a fine dining type restaurant. The service is impeccable and knowledgeable… the downstairs seating area makes you feel incredibly special and the food is drool worthy.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an enormous fan of open kitchens — all they seem to do as far as I can tell is increase the likelihood of contaminating the food preparation environment and ensure you go home smelling like a kitchen.
Somehow however, at Ortiga it works. It might be because the chef and his team are more like artists than anything and their attention to detail is worth putting on display. Or perhaps it’s because the aromas that come out of that kitchen are more than enough to make you want to see what’s going on.
At any rate, Ortiga is everything it’s cracked up to be. So THERE, Sydney and Melbourne.

I took my man friend to Ortiga for his birthday on the recommendation of Neville, a mutual friend whose work takes him all over the world and who declared Ortiga the best fine dining experience he’s ever had. I can categorically say that Neville was 100% on the money — Ortiga is absolutely fabulous.
The ground floor bar is casual and is a great place to meet beforehand and grab a sneaky gin and tonic (Hendrick’s by the bucket load — good for them!). But it’s when you venture downstairs into the basement restaurant that the magic begins. Ortiga is an experience, in the truest sense of the word. Dining here provided me with the best service I have had in Brisbane — the wait staff are on another level of brilliance. They are so knowledgable about the menu and the wines, that I would have trusted them to make personal banking decisions and chosen my new car had they so requested. They are friendly without being overbearing, and I loved the intricate details they provided us with about the dishes we ordered.
Ortiga essentially offers glorified tapas — you order a number of dishes at the start of the night and the courses come out in whatever order the chef sees fit. Each time a dish is delivered to the table, your waiter provides you with the background of how it was cooked or how the meat was cured or what colour socks the chef is wearing. It’s so fabulous. One exceptionally memorable dish was the platter of jamónes — a selection that had been cured over varying years. It was fascinating to compare and contrast the flavours according to how long the meat had been cured, and of course each serving was absolutely delicious. The oysters were also incredible — I had ‘al natural’ and also sherry and shallots. Both were divine.
We had a fabulous crisp Spanish white to accompany our meal which the waiter helped us to pick and we loved the way they cleared the crumbs off the tablecloth after every course with a metal card — so simple and yet I’d never seen that attention to detail before.
Ortiga is in my top five fine dining experiences EVER — this is an absolute must for all foodies.