Review Portabella Restaurant - Albany Creek

A nice and tasty suburban restaurant experience. Enjoyed the menu whilst the ambiance was unexpected. Friendly staff and notable service. I observed a wide range of customer demographic types which is indicative of it's broad appeal.

Delicious. Our first time and loved it. Pork belly was lean and perfect. Chicken breast was tasty and moist. Vegetables are cooked to perfection. Lovely professional staff.

The food was magnificent. The service was fantastic (thanks Tom). The price was great value at only $45 for 3 delicious courses. I will certainly be back and sharing this gem with friends and family. Recommendations: 1st course - stuffed mushrooms, 2nd course - baramandi & 3rd course - pana cota. Amazing mocktails and cocktails too.

Very good service and food was great as well. Décor is a bit tired in this place, but other than than that pretty good.

Great place. The staff were friendly and efficient. Food was delicious, especially the platter.

Second time dining in here, food was just as good as the first time. Looking forward to dining here again in the future

What an amazing little suburban restaurant! Friendly, attentive service and delicious food. The set menus are great value as well!

I really enjoyed this place. Entrees were very good and we got the share platter for mains. Really good flavours, I could not fault the food I had. Someone else on our table had the pork and said it was a bit dry. The service was excellent, the staff were friendly and nice people.

Yum, yum, yum! Worth every cent! Great atmosphere and food. Yes we’ll be back and recommending this place.<br/><br/>Make the effort as it will serve you and your friends well.<br/><br/>

Great food, beers and service. Good honest simple food done well. We have been here lots of times for many different occasions and it's always enjoyable. Great for the locals!

Nice dining experience, food is tasty , prices are not too bad, depending on the occasion , service was perfect, would recommend for a nice dinner.

Excellent meal last night had the pork belly was delicious. Meals not over the  top price wise.  And service great will be  coming back again.

Delightful dinner on a Monday night with all main meals $25. Generous servings, great staff and a dessert tasting plate that is to write home about.

Excellent meal Dec 31 2016. Service was very good and very reasonable prices. We will definitely be going back and will be recommending it to others.

Wedding anniversary so thought a nice meal was in order. 4:00 pm Saturday rang to book a table- answering machine saying leave a number and we'll get back. Ok. Rang 15 minutes later- answering machine. Four calls over the next hour, same deal. No one interested in talking to me on a Saturday evening? Either they don't care or are arrogantly confident of a full restaurant. With that attitude, will they care about my food?Seems like a poor business model. Either way, we'll spend a couple of hundred bucks elsewhere. <br/>

Always have lovely food here. Nice simple menu. Staff are very efficient and attentive. Cocktails are delicious. Love the lunch time menu, reasonably priced.

Visited today to celebrate my wedding anniversary. Having visited many times before, I think that the standard has dropped. Our starter of bruschetta was bland. The cheese was not melted and the topping fell off the bread. The steaks were chewy and the fat was not rendered. The lamb shanks were tasteless. My crispy skin chicken has a tiny piece of crispy skin. It was served on the bone. Never had that before. We left without having dessert. Very disappointed as we believe in supporting local. Won't be going back there again.

Vegetarians and restricted diet patrons are encouraged by the menu at this upmarket restaurant to ask the staff for alternate choices, as even the stuffed mushrooms include bacon. The waitress doesn't invite any sort of discussion as she says “potato gnocchi, that’s it” with a non-negotiable attitude. That’s not an option if you are gluten intolerant.<br/>Last time we were here (yes, we are slow learners) I thought she must be having a bad night because her attitude is not pleasant, let alone friendly. She clearly does not like her work. Considering they have a full kitchen staff, and this is 2016, where even the menu acknowledges that people have all sorts of food intolerance and allergies, I would expect at the very least that someone knows how to bake some vegies and present them with a salad. No, in this fancy restaurant, my daughter had a bowl of burnt sweet potato chips for her dinner. <br/>If I wasn't already feeling disappointed enough with the sour service, limited menu options, lack of flexibility catering to food choices, then I ordered dessert only to discover a large black hair curled under my lemon curd tart. Sure, the waitress yelled at the kitchen staff and informed me that I didn’t have to pay for the offending dessert, however, with no actual apology, I left feeling very dissatisfied. When you pay top dollar you are entitled to more than a very ordinary experience. This was supposed to be a special celebration for my Mum’s birthday.<br/>It's ok. I got it. Next time go to Bombay Bliss across the car park where they aren't pretending to be a posh restaurant in a modern world.

Attended a birthday dinner here last night and found it to be below average. The dinner main menu is limited, with no salads and not much variety for customers. Additional to the mains they offer ‘small plates’ for share plate dining, but totally miss the mark. All items I tasted were bland and greasy and portion sizes were tiny for the price, this was reflected with the mains as well. They additionally charged $3/pp to cut & plate the birthday cake with a tiny dob of ice cream… considering how much was spent by our table of 9 over the evening, and that most restaurants would do this complimentary for such a small party, I found this to be money-grabbing. Overall, I found them to be overpriced for the subpar quality and wouldn’t return.

Don't be fooled by the unassuming shopping centre location, as Portabellas will transport you away from the hustle and bustle.<br/>The menu reads well with plenty of options and a choice of two set menus at different price points. For entree I had the Moroccan meat balls and gnocchi for main. The meatballs were overcooked and left me a little disappointed. The flavour had some good points with a well seasoned offering. The gnocchi was a marked improvement with pillowy soft texture and a eclectic mix of salads. My wife had the pork belly for main and he crackle was the centre piece to the dish and was cooked perfectly. Unfortunately the protein was stringy and dry. If the pork was confit it would have produced a much more tender piece of meat.<br/>Overall the service was friendly and attentive with lows and highs coming from the kitchen.<br/>Food 5/10 service 7/10 decor 7/10

Love that such a great restaurant is located out in the suburbs. While the prices are equivalent to what you'll find in restaurants in the city, the quality is also the same, so it's worth it. We've been here more times than I can recall and the food and service is always fantastic. Would certainly recommend!

Let down by the Fish. This started out being a really good meal. A pleasant but expensive restaurant with fast friendly service, and the entrees were excellent especially the savoury crepe. The wine list only had 2 chardonnays, we didn't much like the one we ordered but decided to run with it - but it was pretty rough. For mains, my wife and daughter had Barra which was completely bland and rather fishy. Even the saffron rice had no flavour. My son wouldn't eat his steak, I thought it was cooked well but a bit tough and not a great flavour - not the best bit of meat to start with, so difficult for the chef to do much with it. On the other hand my duck was good and I thought my daughters gnocchi was delicious.<br/>So I think probably good chefs let down on this occasion by poor quality control on ingredients.

Amazing but.... I agree that dining at Portabella is pretty amazing -- the quality of the food is excellent, the place itself looks wonderful, & the staff are very attentive. But. I grew up in the area & remember when Portabella (in it's earlier form both under that name & under others) was a really good place to eat where main meals didn't cost >$30. Caving in to nostalgia, I know, but it would be nice if there was some throwback to when it was that 'really nice, affordable restaurant down the road'.

A must visit!. The food was exceptional, great selection of starters. For mains - I had the Barramundi - the accompaniments were delicious and the fish was cooked to perfection. My friend had the pork belly - with the worlds largest piece of crackling...hands down the best pork belly I've ever tried, melted in the mouth. When our meals were brought out I immediately wished I had of ordered the pork belly just for the crackling, so the waitress brought me some crackling on the side. Great service, our waiter looked after us all evening and made sure our water was always topped up. Not the cheapest restaurant - but well worth the money!!

Very expensive and not worth it!!!. Poor choice, average quality and strange beer menu. Top top it off it's far to expensive for a local restaurant!!!

Definitely will visit again. The food was really good and this place will be the our anniversary dinner for next year. <br/>But would like to visit again with my special people soon.

I usually don't write reviews but my experience at Portabella was exceptional. The food was second to none, it has been quite some time since I enjoyed a meal this much from a Brisbane restaurant. Not only did the food and service exceed my expectations, the price point was very reasonable. <br/><br/>This has now become my favorite restaurant and easily rates 11/10.

Attentive and friendly service. The pork belly was amazing. It was a very nice touch that the waiter brought my wife a free dessert because it was her birthday. We'll be recommending Portabella to our friends and we'll be back.

Loved it. We celebrated our anniversary there tonight. Fantastic. Great service, great wine, fantastic food ( we shared a tapas platter and I had the pork belly.... Yu-um!). Also, the young Irish lass who works there was a standout - whatever she is being paid - it's not enough! Well done portobello, we'll be back!

Portabella totally impressed us. We dined at Portabella tonight to celebrate my wife's birthday and really enjoyed this place. The great vibe started with the friendly way our booking was taken over the phone earlier in the day, and what we observed on arriving was a restaurant full of happy patrons and staff. <br/><br/>The service here was fantastic, we were greeted, seated and wanted for nothing the whole night. A great menu and a wine list with some eclectic choices not usually found in the suburbs. The quality and presentation of our food was excellent, the four of us shared some tapas plates as an entree and main courses arrived in perfect time.<br/><br/>I brought a birthday cake and a packet of candles awith us and what a wonderful surprise when it was brought out to the table, candles all inserted and lit. A really nice touch by the kitchen staff.<br/><br/>If you're looking for a somewhere great to dine out in the northern suburbs with a fantastic atmosphere, excellent food and superb service, give Portabella a try. Highly recommended.

Second visit just as good as the first!. Went to this restaurant for the second time last night, all mains on Monday's are $25.00 so it is a great price. I had steak both times and it was cooked to perfection. The crème brulee is amazing, probably the best I have had! Good size portions and great service, will definitely be coming back again.

We have been going to Portabella for many years... You never used to be disappointed - delicious meals, wonderful service, reasonable prices. Unfortunately they are really dropping their standards lately. The meals have got smaller, with lesser quality ingredients; there's an obvious lack of accompaniments with mains. The service has dropped considerably, which is such a shame as it was always something they took pride of. They also never answer their phones, if you try to call to book or see if they're open, it is very difficult to get in contact with them - often you have to leave a message and hope they'll get back to you. Portabella used to be our go-to place for family occasions, but unfortunately now I think twice about going here.

Never disappointed - love this place!. A great little restaurant with excellent service and beautiful food.

Great food, excellent beer. What more could you ask for?!

Great food , great Service

WOW. I had my 50th Birthday at Portabella and had a FANTASTIC TIME!!!<br/>If you haven't tried it DO IT!!!<br/>Food- FANTASTIC<br/>Staff-FANTASTIC<br/>Venue-FANTASTIC

Need to improve!. Having eaten at Portabella several times in the past, I was also disappointed in the food the last time we dined there. As we are locals and always want somewhere local to eat without travelling further into the city, I do hope they improve. Will give them another try however, as I can't understand how two meals were so unacceptable.

Not as good as it used be. Have eaten here several times. used to be excellent value and service and very good food despite weird setting of being at a cross-roads in the middle of a shopping area. More recently though staff have become rushed and food servings much smaller as if they are trying to cut back - beer selection changed from 'normal' to 'craft style' - probably 80% of people who go out for a meal want to drink something they recognise so not having plenty of run of the mill beers available is short sighted. Get a feeling of them trying to cram in too many people making it overcrowded when busy and too many customers for the staff to handle. Its ok but not a top choice for us anymore.

Always impressed every time we go, can't beat consistency! Great service, even better food and a stand out for northern suburbs of Brisbane. Keep up the great work guys!!

Fantastic for a suburban restaurant . In fact, fantastic for any restaurant. What can I say other than it delivers on all levels...food, service, atmosphere etc. xxxx star rating!!

Love it every time we go. Great food and service . Even nice to go there with a friend for a wine at the bar. They are so helpful if you ever voice a concern. It's a gem hidden at Albany Crk. Beats any pub hands down!

Why didn't I come here earlier? Have been living in the northern suburbs for 5 years and have heard great things about this place. As an avid foody haven't found much in the area worth reviewing but this lived up to expectations. Service was amazing, staff very well trained and attentive. Food came out in 10-15 minutes and was generous portion size. Mooloolaba prawns large serving for tapas, calamari cooked perfectly and steak also Cooked to perfection. Will be returning, no wonder it's so busy.

Telephoned Portabella Albany creek from my car on the way to make booking. It was 5.45pm at night got answering machine left message as asked,no reply in 15 min trip. Arrived at restaurant with my dad who is in his 70's. asked for a table (restaurant is three quarters empty). Finally shown table seated and drinks ordered. Chatting and looking at menus when waitress comes back to us and tells us we have to move as table is reserved. No reserved sign on table when were seated. Shown to another table in the foyer with portable a/c which was more than hot as the weather this evening was very humid and warm. Chose to leave. I know we had no reservation however very poor customer service. Will never go to restaurant again and will advise family and friends to stay clear. Very poor form for a suburban restaurant.

New Favourite Restaurant. After visiting Portabella's for the first time few months ago we have not been able to stop going back!<br/>The food is consistently great, the entrees are brought out promptly and are extremely fresh, the service is impeccable and there is always a new interesting brews of beer for my fiance to enjoy. <br/>There is nothing on the menu that isn't delicious! I would definitely recommend attending.

I thoroughly enjoyed dining at Portabella. The food I ordered was amazing and the staff were excellent. Will definitely be back soon!

AMAZING!. I have dined here on two occasions and have been impressed both times. Exciting, original, meal choices and very friendly and efficient staff. Prices for mains are around $33-36. We'll be back

Great buzz. Went to Portabella with a group of 8 last Saturday. There was a great atmosphere and despite being pretty full the service was excellent. Mixed starter plates were the way to go with something for everyone. The croquettes were awesome. Liked the artisan beers available. I had a Sunshine Coast porter which had some interesting chocolate overtones. The mains were all well presented with the pork belly being the pick. Desserts were large and shared between people. The meringue with strawberries was great. We will be back!

Small serving. Went there for dinner and had the NZ Lamb rump. I thought, for the price, the serving was small. Others had the Pork Belly and the chicken which seemed decent serves. This is not a cheap restaurant and overall acceptable.

This place has gone downhill a bit! On arrival noticed the chef's sitting in the car park smoking. Dirty and ripped menu's. Entree bread was a mix of frozen/cold/warm.

Amazing. Fantastic. Perfect. The croquettes are so so good. I loved everything.

Delicious Food and Drinks. We celebrated my birthday at Portabella last night, 5/4, and weren't disappointed. The food was amazing and the Passionfruit Martini with a hint of chilli was soooo good. Service was great and staff all knew their stuff. Would definitely go back. A+ restaurant in the suburbs. Loved it!

Decided to go because of all the good reviews. I was not let down. Great food and great service. I look forward to going back.

Incredible service and great food. Super efficient service, drinks withing minutes of arrival, entree withing 10 minutes of ordering and mains about 15 minutes after that.<br/><br/>We had the calamari fritti and the chorizo entree and both were fantastic.<br/><br/>We both had the pork belly for main and it was fantastic, very little fat, perfectly cooked and the jus and vegetables were great.

Great service, nice clean open seating and the food is exceptional. I recommend the soft shell crab and the pork belly.

Review. I've always enjoyed coming to Portabella, food is fresh and tastes excellent, service is always great.

A suburban gem. Dinner here on Valentine's Day was wonderful. All 3 courses were delicious & the staff were knowledgable & professional. Can't wait to return!

This is a good restaurant... However not suitable for vegetarians... There was only one option on the menu which is the blue cheese rocket salad... I ended up just having entree and going somewhere else for a main. there are some nice meals on the menu.

We had dinner here on a Monday evening tempted by the $22 mains special and good reviews.<br/><br/>As a group of 6 we had the three tapas for $28. These were delicious but we all agreed that the portions were small for the price. The goats cheese dish could have had an extra piece of sourdough and the haloumi should have had at least 3 pieces as $10 for 2 slices of cheese is a bit much.<br/><br/>We all had different mains which were enjoyed. The pork belly was definitely the largest dish and I can see why there are so many rave reviews.<br/><br/>We had a lovely dining experience but did agree that if dining on any other night we would have found the dinner to be pricey for a suburban restaurant.<br/><br/>An excellent suburban restaurant that we will visit again.

Pleasantly surprised to encounter superb food with excellent service at a reasonable price and relaxed but professional atmosphere in suburbia ... Highly recommended, menu is diverse and progressive - no need to go to the city! Can't wait for the Tapas Bar to open :)

Live the food, excellent service. <br/>We ate here as part of a large booking. The service timing was excellent, the food plentiful and delicious and the atmosphere wonderful.

All I can say is OMG! This place is the best restaurant in the northern suburbs! The wait staff are so professional, friendly and attentive. I have been here a few times now since the new owners/ management and staff have changed and it has definitely put Portabella on the map!! If you don't already know about this place you must live under a rock!! FYI- Tapas are to die for and the house made sour dough is just like heaven in your mouth!!! Love love love this place!! Well done guys :))

This place is amazing. Service is top notch, food is amazing. Love love love it

Five Stars. We went for our anniversary, thought we would give a local restaurant a go instead of heading into the city and we were so impressed. The food was impeccable, the service was friendly and the atmosphere bustling. Also, HUGE choices for a coeliac. I'm not used to being able to choose from so many gluten free options, well over 50% of the menu. We will be returning, it was certainly a memorable meal.

Chef: A+, Restaurant: B-. Portabella’s food quality is excellent, the service is prompt with a few shortfalls and the ambience is comfortable; however quite loud due to the tiled floor.<br/>It is quite obvious the Chef and his immediate staff are highly skilled as the food quality was set to a very high standard; as soon as the food was placed under the heat lamps it was served to you within 60 seconds. <br/>The staff were prompt and polite in their service; however it was mixed with comments from ‘Sir, Madam’ through to ‘No worries guys’, rather than ‘my pleasure Madam or Sir’. It was obvious they had been instructed to use key words when conversing with customers; however due to an apparent lower standard of training compared to the kitchen staff, and I’m referring to the restaurant team effort here, I never got the impression they young boys and girls serving us were comfortable in saying it as they would often slip into their age group language. In addition their dress standard varied from good to poor with waitresses having un-brushed hair to perhaps more underclothing warranted to cover fleshy bulges. <br/>I’m being a little picky here but the negatives did detract from an overall good night out. With further training and mentoring the waiter and waitresses could achieve the high standard of service set by the Chef and his immediate staff.<br/>Overall if you want excellent cuisine in a local area then this is the place; I just wish the manager would take a greater interest in ensuring the waiting-staff were at the same level of professionalism as the Chef.

Portabella = great. Have been to this place a couple of times now. The service staff are helpful and knowledgable, the food is fantastic, yeah its not cheap but this place is worth it. (Plus it keeps the riff raff of Albany Creek out ;) ) Great ambience, nice and warm in winter, good coffee..... yep its a winner. Even kid friendly! The only downfall is that you do need to make a reservation a lot of the time. But, if you have your life even vaguely organised than its hardly a problem is it. Besides, having to make a reservation is like making an appointment to see your Doctor - chances are if they're booked up for a while they're popular because they are at least half decent<br/><br/>Keep up the good work guys. See you next time!

Awesome food, awesome staff...great price...love it!

5 star dining in suburbia! Have lost count at the amount of times I've dined at Pottabella and I still have never walked away dissappointed. Food and service ate impeccable! I'm a big fan of the lunch set menu at the moment.

Loud but lovely. I've been going to Portabella since it opened and have always loved the food and the service - a current favourite is the stuffed mushrooms which are to die for. A recent trip for my birthday gifted us with a divine cheesecake which was fabulously light and fluffy and the perfect ending to a gorgeous meal. My only slight (and it is slight) drawback is how noisy it can get - it's a big open space with high celiings and because they're good they get group bookings; who are patently having a great time but end up raising the volume in the whole room........ So maybe don't go here if you're looking for a romantic candle-lit dinner but do go here if you love good food, appreciate good service and don't mind having louder conversations

Have dined here many times both with family or for special occasions. We always leave happy and satisfied. The food had been always good or great and the staff are consistently very friendly and helpful. This is a nice restaurant with a reputation it's built up over time and which it lives up to.

Very Impressed. I've been to Portabella on several occasions and have always had a fabulous meal, never disappointed. Recommended to friends and family who have also had very good experiences. I went to a restaurant last Saturday in Brisbane city, which I might add is supposed to be one of the best.... It didn't even come close to the quality of food or service that Portabella provides.

Finally got to dine there last night for birthday dinner. Wish we had gone there sooner. Fantastic place, great value food, awesome staff. Looked after us well. Will be back with friends.

Stuffed mushrooms! So good!

I have dined at Portabella several times now and they have never failed to impress. The food is fantastic and the serving staff is attentive. This is in my top five for restaurants on the northside of Brisbane.

Our favourite local. We love Portabella! We have been here more than a dozen times, and every time, the food has been divine. There is a little bit of everything on the menu, and I think we have pretty much had at least one of everything now.<br/><br/>The pork belly is amazing, the steaks are always perfectly cooked and tender, and the fish is always fresh. They have interesting and varied entrees and the menu changes enough to keep us entertained.<br/><br/>The staff are attentive and polite and we are rarely without a fully topped glass of water or offers of more wine when we are getting low.<br/><br/>We recommend this restaurant 100% - especially if you can get a booking on a Monday night when they have their $22 mains!

LOVE THIS PLACE. Portabella has come a long way over the past year. I am a local and it is one of my favourite places to eat. I must say that last year the dishes were basic with small servings of accompliments however, this has changed and now the servings are generous and good value for money. HIghly recommended.

We went to Portabella on sunday night and it was packed which is always a good sign. We were not let down as the food, wine and service were excellent. We could not find one thing to complain about for the whole evening. Well done Portabella.

Lovely dinner. Went to Portabella for a group dinner and it was a lovely experience. While I didn't have an entree, the ones that did were very happy with them and they looked delicious. I had the pork belly for the main and it was absolutely delicious. The other mains looked yummy too and I can't wait to come back again with hubby.

SLP. Having a function there in November and so far have been very disappointed with the lack of service and communication. Tried to ring on numerous occasions, wouldn't take my call or didn't call back. My phone messages were not passed on and simple requests were not even listened to. I am hoping the function goes well. In the future I will NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone! Portabella, Albany Creek=Pathetic service!

Last night was the third time I had been and again I left very satisfied. The Turkish meatballs for entree were well seasoned and plentyfull with a beautiful mint yogurt. The pork belly main was well presented and tender. The fat was rendered down perfectly leaving little fat on the plate. Creme brûlée for dessert with vanilla bean ice-cream finished the night with a smile on my face. Well done Portabella.

Chicken. Love the organic chicken breast main with sweet potato fondant... delish!

Total let down. Food was so generic. Should've gone to new farm deli and spent the same amount on ingredients and made something myself. Don't risk it!