Christmas at Treasury Hotel

My brother, mother and I have made a tradition of lunching out for Christmas.

It's lovely to get dressed up, feel festive and especially not have to purchase, prepare or clean up anything.

Also, it's very hard to feel festive in Brisbane summer.

Last year while researching, we stumbled across the sumptuous menu of the Treasury Hotel, but missed out on tickets. This year we got in early.

What initially drew us to this luncheon was the absolute variety of food available. Of course a plethora of seafood, but for not-so-seafoody brother there was a wealth of options for him too. Traditional Christmas roasts, Middle Eastern, Asian, Aussie BBQ, as well as bubbles, wine and beer.

C and I got ready and wandered down to the Treasury. In typical Brisbane Christmas style, it rained, then it was hot then it was muggy. We thoroughly enjoyed stepping into the air-conditioning and we lead to our beautiful table for the with a window view looking out over the park.

On our table was breads, butter, olives, dips, Christmas crackers and decorations.

On entry we weren't quite sure where the food actually was. We sat and nibbled on the antipasto, ordered a beer and a bubbles for myself. Just after our drinks arrived we went for an explore and made our way to the huge courtyard buffet selections.

King Crab and Lobster

Middle eastern and Mediterranean options

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Pizza Oven

Traditional Roasts

Mussels, Scallops, Prawns, Bugs, King Crab, Lobster

Aussie BBQ

For my first course, I started with ceviche scallops, fresh king prawns, pacific oysters, salmon and prawn nigiri and crocodile ceviche. The oysters and scallops were excellent, and the nigiri was outstanding quality. The prawns were okay, but I've eaten enough prawns in my time to be very particular with prawns and the crocodile I didn't really care for at all.

Round two was Char sui pork belly, Peking duck, eye fillet, bourbon glazed pork ribs and wood fired pizza.
Both the duck and the pork belly were to die for, the pork was really delicious, but the eye fillet was just incredible. So tender and soft as butter.

I really couldn't believe how well it had been cooked. And the pizza- what an awesome addition to any plate.

My next course involved beautiful baked ham, Yorkshire pudding, Buirre noisette sage gnocchi, Waldorf salad, Hollandaise gratenated oysters with cavier, king crab claw and lobster claw.

How good is baked ham? I'll tell you- it's the best! And Yorkshire puds should be an everyday food. The oysters graten were simply divine. If anything the only disappointments were the lobster and crab.They were lacking any real flavout and had a watery texture.

By this stage the fullness was starting to set in. So lets looks at what C got in to...

A giant plate of meat and potatos

Damper, pizza, char sui pork, baked ham, pasta salad and beetroot salad.

C was really happy with the selections, and as previously stated, this was really important to mum and I. His favourite, as mine, was the perfectly cooked fillet.

Dessert was to follow

Fruit selection

I decided on the passionfruit slice, a creme caramel, a blueberry mousse cake, and a massive piece of pecan pie.

We left feeling very full and very happy with ourselves.

To date, I believe I can speak on behalf of the group, and say that this was our favourite Chritmas luncheon. It's not cheap at $285 a head. But it is such a wondeful Christmassy experience that really does feel festive. Mum especially really loves it and had already decided well be back at the Tereasury next year for Christmas lunch.

Treasury Hotel and Casino
William Street Brisbane City