There are sports pubs where the food exists to keep you going between quarters. Goldie’s Tavern in South Brisbane has made me care considerably more about what’s coming out of the kitchen.
The neighbourhood-style pub has taken over the former Pig ’N’ Whistle site on Melbourne Street, with big screens, pool tables, an outdoor beer garden and plenty of room for the sort of long lunch that can become a long afternoon without anyone making a fuss about it.
The menu has all the expected pub territory covered, then takes a few detours. There are wings, nachos, a chicken parmy and burgers alongside Philly cheesesteak wontons, South Melbourne dim sims, lasagne bites and sticky plum pork ribs. It’s the sort of menu that makes ordering decisions progressively less sensible as you read it.
We started with the South Melbourne dim sims, and I’m prepared to go out on a limb here: they may be the best dimmies I’ve had in a pub. Possibly anywhere.
I approach the pub dim sim with some caution because I’ve encountered enough bain-marie sadness to know what can happen to one. These arrived with a properly crisp, golden exterior and a generous meat filling, with crunchy chilli oil, soy and a creamy sauce for dipping. There was not a trace of the dreaded steamed-for-several-hours texture.
They’re also huge. One is roughly the size of my fist, which is a refreshing departure from the tiny party-favour dimmie that sometimes turns up as a side dish and leaves you wondering whether lunch is still coming.
Then came the lasagne bites, a concept I will support on principle. Deep-fried lasagne is the kind of food engineering I can get behind. These had actual layers inside the crisp coating, with meat sauce and an exceptionally creamy béchamel that oozed out when you broke one open.
I knew we had ordered too much food by this point. I also knew I would be thinking about those lasagne bites again.
The Philly cheesesteak wontons followed, with bourbon BBQ sauce and crispy onions. Beef, cheese, smoky sweetness and crunch wrapped inside a golden wonton is a combination with very little room for complaint. There’s something particularly fun about the way the familiar cheesesteak filling works in a format more commonly associated with Chinese takeaway.
The fried chicken wings came with a sweet and sour glaze, sesame, pickles and baby coriander. They were delicious, although we had reached the stage of the meal where every new plate required a small logistical discussion. The wings came home with us, which I consider a perfectly legitimate extension of the dining experience.
We saved the sticky plum pork ribs for last and, by then, we were absolutely stuffed. We ordered them to share because we have some sense of self-preservation and aren’t complete maniacs.
The portion was generous and the value was excellent. The ribs were coated in a thick, glossy plum marinade that had just the right combination of sweetness and stickiness, and eating them required the sort of surrender that makes napkins essential equipment. There is no dignified technique for a rib this saucy. You end up looking like a trash-panda goblin with sauce on your fingers, and you simply have to make peace with it.
The menu is clearly designed for sport-watching, where food needs to survive being shared across a table while everyone is distracted by what’s happening on the screen. It works just as well when the only competition taking place is between you and your dining companion over the last lasagne bite.
Goldie’s has the big screens and the game-day energy to make sense as a sports destination, with live matches shown throughout the venue and enough space for groups to settle in for an afternoon session. When the big games are on, it gets loud. Properly loud.
I discovered this on my second visit, which happened to fall on a preliminary AFL final. The pub was packed. We could barely hear each other talk. I had absolutely no idea what was happening on the field and even less interest in finding out.
I had, however, deliberately returned to Goldie’s on a major football night because I wanted the South Melbourne dim sims and lasagne bites again.
I hate sport. I went back to a PACKED sports pub during an AFL preliminary final for the food. That might be the most useful review I can give you.
The verdict
Goldie’s Tavern has the kind of menu that can turn a casual pub visit into a very serious eating session. The food is generous, playful and considerably more interesting than it needs to be for a place built around live sport.
Go for the game if that’s your thing. Go for the dimmies if, like me, you couldn’t tell a full forward from a full stop.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
