Eagle Street Pier

Eagle Street Pier is a retail and restaurant precinct located on Eagle Street and lining the Brisbane River. Most restaurants allow diners to have fantastic views of the river from Garden's Point through to the Story Bridge. Some of the premier dining establishments are located here, including Cha Cha Char, Pier Nine, Il Centro, and Vino's.


Not only are there the fine dining restaurants, there are a number of other retailers who offer either cafe style dining, like the Coffee Club, or fast food outlets like McDonalds. Basically, you have almost anything you could ask for covered. Parking is available on-site, and the precinct is easily accessible by both ferry and bus services. On top of the dining, Eagle Street Pier also hosts weekend craft markets, and has areas for entertainment such as musicians.


Eagle Street Pier is a must for tourists to Brisbane. At least one meal should be had within the precinct, as there are such great restaurants there. There is no denying that the views are spectacular, and you will spend as much time enjoying the scenery as you will your meals. Once your done you can hop on a City Cat or Ferry or jump on the Kookaburra Queens for a trip up or down the river.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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Jade Buddha

Jade Buddha is a bar and casual dining restaurant located at Eagle Street Pier. Open from 11:30am until late each day, it offers restaurant food with a pan-Asian flair, along with casual drinking in the Jade Lounge. Their menu offers a range of options. Outside views encompass the Brisbane River, whilst inside, the design and decoration features sculpture and decoration befitting Feng shui principles. There is even a large golden Buddha to greet you. Formerly City Rowers, the venue had a significant overhaul in 2005. They have a varied array of activities on each week, including Speed Dating, Buddha Night and themed menus.

Above Jade Buddha is the Shadow Lounge, which offers a unique, intimate, club-like venue with open views over the river. The main focus is cocktails and champagne, with a wide array of exotic concoctions available. The seating is definitely casual, and if you're lucky you can get into one of the deep sofa chairs which are just great to melt into. The venue is also available for corporate and private functions. Go to their web site if you want to see it in all its glory.

As part of one of the premier dining areas of Brisbane, Jade Buddha is perhaps better visited at lunch time rather than dinner, particularly on Friday or Saturdays. That's when the party crowd is out and about, so your more likely to experience surly bouncers and drunken party-goers. Depending on what scene your into, this can either be really cool, or a bit disappointing. As I'm getting older, I'm more accustomed to a relaxed drink rather than po-go slam dancing like I used to when I was young. The Shadow Lounge upstairs is particularly good for that relaxed drink!

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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Riparian Plaza

Riparian Plaza is a skyscraper development which was completed in late 2005. When we first came to Brisbane, there weren't that many buildings which you would have considered skyscrapers, and this was the first to hit the 200 metre mark in Brisbane. We watched it slowly grow from a hole in the ground next to the Brisbane River up to its impressive height, topped off with a communications spire visible from most of the surrounding suburbs of Brisbane. Located at 71 Eagle Street, the main entrance faces the street and has a row of imported palm trees providing some greenery in an otherwise stark concrete landscape. I do, however, find the view from the bottom quite aesthetically satisfying!

Riparian was built by Multiplex from a design by Harry Seidler. There are some interesting aspects to the building in that it is mixed residential and commercial, the car park goes up to the 11th level, and the recreation centre and swimming pool are way up on the 39th floor. Imagine the view whilst you were swimming laps! There are also restaurants around the base, including Kingsley's Steak and Crabhouse who although quite pricey, serve excellent food.

The construction did experience some significant delays. It was due for completion in 2004, but this stretched on. It used to really annoy me, as they blocked the main walkway along the river during construction. There was a sign there I remember which I think said the river walk would be open in September 2004, but it wasn't to be taking a good year more. Thankfully, when it did get close to completion they did reopen it, and now we once again can stroll effectively all the way along the river on the City side. This shot was taken from the walkway towards the Botanic Gardens.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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Kookaburra River Queens

The Kookaburra River Queens are two large paddle steamers which do tourist cruises up and down the Brisbane River. The two paddle wheelers are appropriately known as Kookaburra River Queens I and II, and have been around for around 20 years. Their history dates back to the Expo 88, the World Exposition which was held in Brisbane that year.

As you can see, both of the paddle wheelers are quite majestic. They were built out of Queensland timbers, and were apparently named after the kookaburra. This is an Australian bird who is never seen to drink water, which as the owners outline, is something most boat owners wouldn't want to do. When I see them, I can't help but hum a few bars of Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree.

I've been on the River Queens a few times during my time here in Brisbane. The basic route is to go up under the Story Bridge and turn around before hitting New Farm, and then cruise back up to the South Bank area. The departure point is Eagle Street Pier. They cater for weddings, general public cruises and private cruises, and generally have a buffet as the main meal service.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

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