Top 5 Healthy Restaurant Meals in Brisbane

So you’re going out to a restaurant? Lucky you! Food with friends or family is one of the true joys in life. So what do healthy restaurant meals in Brisbane look like? Do they actually exist? I’m here to reassure you it is possible to eat healthy while enjoying yourself out with family and friends in most places you might visit across the city, or in any city for that matter. What I’ll be sharing is not only my recommendations for healthy dishes in our local Brisbane restaurants. You’ll also learn how to actually select the healthiest option at any restaurant by applying some of the basic principles of the Mediterranean Diet. I hope it helps you in your meal choices wherever you’re dining.

5 approaches to healthy restaurant meals in Brisbane (that won’t leave you with food envy).

Before we get into specifics, I’d like to start with the basics of what might make up a healthy restaurant meal. Most of the time, we find the best meals are aligned with the major Mediterranean diet principles of:

• Low in red meat
• Moderate in fish and poultry
• High in plant-based foods
• Low in sugar and saturated fats

In saying that, nothing is off the menu when following a Mediterranean Diet. So if you don’t go out to dinner very often, you may prefer to indulge a little on those special occasions, and eat whatever you like. After all, it’s about balance. I always like to emphasise that it’s important not to be too hard on yourself.

However, if you have some serious health goals, or you really want to tone down the excess, you may be worried that your dinner on the weekend is going to ruin all that hard work you’ve put in during the week. If that’s you, here’s 5 of my favourite Brisbane restaurant meals as well as some extra tips on how to stick to a healthy eating plan while you’re at a restaurant. By applying the Mediterranean Diet principles to your food choices, I’m sure you’ll have fun and stay healthy.

1. Seafood: Olokliro Psari at Nostimo’s

Photo: Own

The Mediterranean Diet recommends fish and seafood three times per week. You can’t go past it for freshness and flavour, giving us that hit of protein and Omega-3 fats. So it is no surprise that our amazing Greek restaurants are always abundant with yummy seafood dishes. If you’re sharing with a friend, a whole fish (Psari) is a great idea.

As a lover of Greek cuisine, it is very difficult to pick my favourite Greek restaurant but for a stunning whole fish, our family love the Olokliro Psari at Nostimo’s Restaurant in South Brisbane.

This is a whole grilled barramundi with cherry tomatoes, flavoured with lemon, rosemary, and capers. A healthy way to add flavour. Or if you’re not sharing, you can’t go past chargrilled octopus, fresh calamari or prawn saganaki.  Try Opa Bar and Mezze on Eagles Street too, which boasts an abundance of seafood cooked and served the Mediterranean way.

Of course, you don’t have to eat Mediterranean to enjoy seafood across our city. Lucky for us, we’re in Queensland – we’ve got seafood for daaaayyyys! Wherever you are, choose fresh over fried seafood, and look for grilled options and those flavoured with herbs and spices or lemon rather than butter or creamy sauces. An honourable mention for a gorgeous dining experience, is Tillerman Seafood Restaurant on the Brisbane river. They offer a delectable fresh seafood platter to share.

2. Grilled lean meat: Thai Basil Stir Fry at PawPaw Asian Kitchen.

When choosing protein dishes, avoid creamy sauces, fatty cuts like pork belly and thick cuts of steak, and lean into grilled chicken, seafood, or vegetarian options like tofu. Grilled barramundi or chicken are pretty safe choices that are available on many menus in some form.

To spice up this concept a little, why not go for Thai or Vietnamese? We are lucky to have some amazing South-Asian restaurants across the city where quick Wok-cooked food is always on the menu. Avoid creamy curries, and choose a lean protein that’s flavoured with herbs, ginger, garlic or chilli rather than heavy sauces.

Photo: Cooker King on Unsplash

I often go for a Thai Basil stir fry. It is a really flavoursome dish infused with pungent basil and fresh vegetables. The version offered at our local PawPaw Asian Kitchen in Woolloongabba is delicious, but a variation on this meal is available on most Thai menus. Choose plain steamed rice over coconut rice to accompany, or skip it all together.

3. Healthy bowl: Chicken Burrito Bowl at Comuna Cantina

Whether it’s a poke bowl, a grain salad, or a burrito bowl, constructing a healthy meal has never been so easy. Many of us enjoy Mexican food, and a bowl is a great choice if you’re dining here. My favourite Mexican meal has to be a burrito bowl. All the better if you’re able to get it with brown rice which is low GI.

Over the last few years, Brisbane has moved closer to enjoying a traditional Mexican dining experience, rather than the cheese-filled options with lashings of sour cream of old. Traditional Mexican eating is filled with colour and is based on fresh accompaniments. Think avocado, lemon, coriander, tomatoes, and protein-packed black beans.

I love the grilled chicken Burrito Bowl at the Comuna Cantina, a South American restaurant in Brisbane City, with a focus on high quality, locally sourced ingredients. Their menu offers a huge selection of salads and bowls for the health conscious – including the Green Goddess Salad which is also delicious.

4.Sashimi: Boom Boom Room Sashimi Plate

Photo: cottonbro studio on Pexels.

Japanese cuisine is widely known as one of the freshest and healthiest ways of eating in the world. It’s low in sugar, uses fresh ingredients, and like the Mediterranean Diet, leans into the gut-friendly fermented foods that are so good for us.

As with many traditional cuisines that have been heavily Westernised, there is often an emphasis on heavy, oily, and fried options. So be aware of those Med Diet principles and choose appropriately. Eat less of your Tonkotsu curries, Chicken Karaage, Dumplings, Gyoza, Ramen, or Tempura dishes.

Opt for brown rice in your sushi where it’s available, and stay away from extra mayo or other sauces. When dining in a Japanese restaurant, you can’t go wrong by ordering Edamame, Miso, pickled cabbage or seaweed, and fresh seafood dishes such as Sashimi. You could also order a Yakitori grill with lean protein such as chicken, tofu, or fish.

A popular Japanese restaurant in Brisbane is the Boom Boom Room on Elizabeth Street in Brisbane City which offers authentic plates in a fun environment. Their Boom Boom Room sashimi plate is delicious and can be shared, or why not sample the octopus, black garlic, and desert lime kosho Yakitori skewers – yum!

5. Plants first: Field Mushroom Salad with Chicken at The Norman Hotel

No matter where you’re dining, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you to keep your meal healthy is to make sure it has plenty of vegetables. Sometimes, this can be tricky – often restaurant meals are very protein-focused with only a token few vegetables. In these situations, I try to think outside the square. You could instead order a side of vegetables, with an entree size piece of protein to make a main meal.

Or alternatively, order from the salad menu and add protein to it. There are some amazing salads offered in so many restaurants across Brisbane! By choosing salad or veg first, not only do you have more chances to pack in a variety of nutrients, but you won’t feel as bloated as you might have if you’d chosen a heavier meal. For instance, even The Norman Hotel in Woolloongabba – “Brisbane’s worst vegetarian restaurant” offers a range of lighter meals which focus on plants – such as the Field Mushroom Salad, which you can add chicken to if you’re not vegetarian.

A few more tips for dining out…

1. These are just guidelines – not rules. Try not to focus too much on creating the ‘perfect’ meal. It’s less about being too pedantic with your meal choices, and more about following guidelines that help you steer towards healthier choices where they’re available.
2. Focus on the occasion. Enjoy the present moment and the people in it. Dinner occasions are definitely those to cherish and where we can it’s great to emphasise the fun and social aspects of dining out.
3. Remember to drink water. So many times we remember to drink the wine at the table, and forget the water. Staying hydrated helps you feel satiated after your meal, helps your food digest well and also means you drink less alcohol.

So I hope that gives you some inspirational ideas for eating out! Of course, these options are handy to our clinic in Woolloongabba. But let me know, what and where are your favourite healthy restaurant meals in Brisbane? I’m sure we’d all love to add another delectable healthy dish to our bucket list.

DISCLAIMER:
The content in this article is not intended as medical advice. It is of a general nature and is not tailored to your individual circumstances. A 1:1 consultation is always the best approach for specific dietary advice. Please also note, the featured restaurant meals are a great general guideline, but have not been scientifically analysed for nutritional or dietary value. Please contact our clinic to discuss your unique situation.