Naga Thai was just what the city needed when it opened in 2020 as an extended pop-up at Eagle Street Pier. But the new version is even better.
Leave people wanting more, they say. In entertainment. In conversations. In relationships, even.
Andrew and Jaimee Baturo did it with a restaurant, although not by choice.
Naga Thai was one of the extended pop-ups that occupied Eagle Street Pier from around the end of the original COVID lockdowns in September 2020 until the redevelopment of that site.
It was a hit. There was a cracking menu from chef Suwisa Phoonsang, much of it based on family recipes she learnt growing up in Bangkok. And there was the Anna Spiro design, which added a fabulous splash of colour to the brutalist-inflected interior of the old Pony, which closed at the turn of 2020.
Naga just worked, and became a prime example of the kind of well-timed, entrepreneurial pivot that could emerge from the malaise of the pandemic.
The concept was so popular that when landlords Dexus pressed go on the redevelopment, Andrew Baturo was disappointed they couldn’t squeeze one more summer out of the place. He reluctantly put Naga on ice.
After three years, you might’ve thought it might stay that way, but it turns out the Baturos were simply waiting for the right opportunity. Because the new Naga feels like the right restaurant in the right place at the right time.
Opening earlier this month in the premises previously occupied by Aquataine, overlooking the Riverside Green at South Bank, Naga brings a welcome splash of colour to the precinct. Its luscious Thai food is a nice foil for the nearby Italian of Otto and Popolo (the latter also co-owned by Baturo as part of DAP & Co, with Denis Sheahan and Paul Piticco).
“I’m a little more patient now that I’m older,” Andrew Baturo says. “There are only certain areas where I thought this could work, this being one of them.
“What I liked about the old Pony site was that it was on the river. Brisbane in the summer on the river is like being in Bangkok.
“And Naga is the name of the mythical serpent in Thai culture, and they’re associated with the water. So Naga is synonymous with the river and having another spot on the river was really important.”
The new Naga leans into its riverside spot by being more of an open-air affair, regular Baturo designers Hogg & Lamb using the colourful Anna Spiro elements of the original as a guiding principle for the entire venue. It’s all pale timber, splashes of neon and hanging lanterns, with the distinctive yellow, blue and purple of the branding reflected in a bookcase-lined dining alcove on one side of the venue, and a handsome bar front on the other.
The food menu picks up exactly where Phoonsang left off at Eagle Street (she’s been in charge of the kitchen at Tillerman during the intervening years).
For starters, there’s massaman beef milk buns, Cone Bay barramundi toast, and vegetarian flower dim sims served with caramelised chilli vinegar.
Larger plates include a chilli pork belly stir fry with snake beans and red curry paste, a jasmine tea-smoked duck red curry, a lamb shank curry, and a Black Angus beef pad see ew with baby corn, sweet soy and white peppercorn.
“The menu will evolve,” Baturo says. “But starting where we left off was the right decision. The number of people who’ve come down and said they’ve missed particular dishes has really stood out to us.
“We’ve been so busy, doing 850 to 900 covers a week, and having that familiarity with those dishes has really worked in our favour in producing those numbers in the first weeks.”
Drinks continue to have a strong focus on signature cocktails. They’re backed by a tight but well pitched wine list where only a few bottles of champagne land above the $100 mark.
“Naga at Eagle Street really managed to capture people’s hearts in a relatively short period of time,” Baturo says. “It came at a time when people needed that colour. It helped show there was light at the end of the tunnel, that life goes on, and so do businesses and so do restaurants.”
Open Mon 5pm-8.30pm; Tue-Thu 12pm-3pm, 5pm-8.30pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-3pm, 5pm-late; Sun 12pm-3pm, 5pm-8.30pm.
R2 Sidon Street, River Quay South Bank
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
