Japanese izakaya and party place Goros opens in Fortitude Valley
Come for surprisingly delicious food from a crack Sydney chef, stay for the imaginative cocktails, dancing, karaoke and regular ping pong tournaments. Here’s what else is in store.
Goros, like Solotel CEO Elliot Solomon, has arrived in Brisbane all grown up.
“When Goros opened in Surry Hills 10 years ago, I was 25,” Solomon says. “Now, I’m 35, and that evolution from Sydney to Brisbane is reflective of me growing up, I guess.
“All the fundamentals are the same and the brand and experience and the wonderful escapism are the same, but it’s just a bit more considered and perhaps more focused on the food and the drinks and the quality of the service.”
Solotel unveils the Brisbane instalment of Goros this Friday on Warner Street in the Valley premises previously home to Little Valley. Goros occupies the space’s former street-side dining room and second-level bar area, but also has a third level for karaoke and function rooms.
Don’t know Goros? Over the past 10 years this izakaya-styled venue has become a staple for Surry Hills party goers, who pack in for its mix of drinks, dancing, games, karaoke and Japanese snacks.
Brisbane’s Goros has space for 500 people and boasts a similar vibe to the Sydney original but, like Solomon says, leads more with its dining room out the back of the venue, which is illuminated by bright pink lighting.
The food here, overseen by exec chef Hamish Ingham and head chef Sean Barogo is much better than you might expect at first glance.
Dishes include saltbush tempura, pork gyoza with a teriyaki and balsamic dressing, king prawns and scallops with yakisoba noodles and a Japanese barbecue sauce, a selection of hand rolls and sashimi, Oakey Wagyu with a tamarind miso glaze, and market-price Alaskan king crab served with chilli miso butter and fries.
It’s all tasty and hearty and fun, and clearly designed to get the party started.
“Our exec chef, Hamish Ingham, has been pretty prolific in terms of Asian cuisine in Sydney,” Solomon says. “He was head chef at Billy Kwong, and he had Redbird Chinese and all these fantastic places, so he really gets it.
“Also, we have Rekodo, our Japanese restaurant – that has helped step up the food. This is more of a bar-angled offering than a sit down restaurant but I think it really helped with that evolution of the food menu.”
For drinks, Goros – perhaps unsurprisingly – leads with its cocktails. There’s a creamy matcha pina colada topped with tapioca pearls, a sake spritz and classic sake bomb. There’s a bunch of beers on tap at the bar that’s the centrepiece of the venue, including Asahi, XXXX Gold and a rice lager brewed especially for Goros, and a punchy, keenly priced wine list.
But Goros is about the experience as much as it is the food and drink. There’s a spacious dancefloor where the Little Valley dining room used to be, and the venue hosts regular events such as ping pong tournaments, themed karaoke, Pokemon-themed drawing contests, sake bomb bingo and lip-sync battles.
It’s very much an a la carte venue designed to for you to make of what you will. To that end, the different areas with their walls adorned with colourful noren, lanterns, and vintage photos encourage exploration, from the dining room to the dance floor and upstairs to the karaoke rooms with their red couches.
“Like all venues, it takes time for people to understand the space and know why they’re there,” Solomon says. “But the fundamentals are there and you’re guaranteed a good time.
“Sydney is essentially a big box … but in Brisbane, the entranceway up [Warner Lane] really sets the tone for the evening. It’s a large venue, but it’s been broken up into so many different sections that it has a lot of intimacy, and you can kind of walk in, meander and discover.”
Open Tue-Wed 4pm-12am, Thu-Sat 4pm-3am
6 Warner Lane, Fortitude Valley, (02) 9327 6344
gorosbrisbane.com.au
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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.
