Portside Wharf: Restaurants, Cinema, Parking and Ferry

Portside Wharf is a riverside dining and shopping centre at Hamilton, on the Brisbane River at 39 Hercules Street. It has about 30 businesses, including restaurants, a bakery, a gelato shop, a Dendy cinema and an IGA supermarket, with underground parking beneath it.

It is a calm place for a meal or a movie, and Brisbane City Council suggests arriving by CityCat.

Restaurants and cafes at Portside Wharf

The centre’s store guide lists a mix of cuisines. You will find Sono Japanese Restaurant (modern Japanese food, a teppanyaki bar and water views), Choo Choo Sushi, Marble Korean Steakhouse, Aamaya Indian, Gusto Da Gianni, Little Siagon Eatery, Burrito Bar and Byblos, which does shareable banquet menus. For something light, there are Rise Bakery, Rose Gelateria Hamilton and Bubbleboy for takeaway smoothies.

Each business sets its own hours, so check a restaurant’s own page if you are going for dinner, because the centre itself lists 10 am to 6 pm.

Dendy Cinemas Portside

Dendy Cinemas Portside is in the centre, which makes a meal-and-a-movie night easy. Check the cinema’s own pages for session times and tickets.

The Ballpark, also at Portside, has baseball batting cages, pool tables, digital darts and sports screens.

Shops and services

Beyond food, the store guide lists an IGA supermarket, Jetts Fitness, Studio Pilates, a dental clinic, hair and nail salons, Anthology Jewellers, Bou’s For Men barber shop and Deer Sir Gift Shop. The Love Me Again Market, a sustainable clothing and accessories market with over 20 stalls and live music, runs on the second Saturday of each month from 8 am to noon. It suits a quick errand run as much as a day out.

A bit of history

Portside Wharf began as a riverside development built around a cruise terminal, which opened on 29 August 2006. Brisbane’s main cruise terminal is now at Pinkenba, so today the centre is about eating, shopping and the cinema rather than ships. The precinct mixes homes, shops and offices, with a public plaza.

Nearby at Northshore Hamilton

Portside Wharf sits next to the Northshore Hamilton precinct. Council’s guide describes Bluey’s World, a 4,000 square metre play space, as a mostly flat 15-minute walk from Portside, and Eat Street Northshore as about 5 minutes on foot from Bluey’s World. Read our Bluey’s World review before taking kids. Hercules Street Park has a playground nearby.

Portside Wharf with kids

Council’s guide points families to Hercules Street Park, which has a playground (it is not at Portside itself), and to Bluey’s World, a 4,000 square metre play space at Northshore Pavilion. It also lists H Cafe & Bar, which serves babycinos, and Bubbleboy sells takeaway smoothies at the centre.

Planning your visit

• Cost: free to walk around; meals, shopping and cinema tickets are extra.
• Hours: 10 am to 6 pm daily for the centre; businesses vary.
• Best for: a riverside meal, a movie night, or combining a CityCat ride with lunch.
• Dogs: not stated on the centre’s website, so ask the venue before bringing one.

Getting there and parking

Portside Wharf is about 7 km by road from the Brisbane CBD, around 15 minutes by car without traffic. There is an attached basement car park run by Secure Parking; rates and hours are on the Secure Parking website and not listed by the centre.

By ferry, the all-stops CityCat runs daily between the University of Queensland at St Lucia and Northshore Hamilton, and Brisbane City Council suggests catching it from Eagle Street or Howard Smith Wharves. The centre says it is serviced by bus and ferry, so use the Translink journey planner for your stop and walking route.

Arriving by CityCat

Riding the CityCat is part of the fun for many visitors. Council says the CityCat has wheelchair and pram access, onboard toilets and open decks, so it works for families.

If you drive, plan to park in the basement and walk up into the centre. Because the car park is run by an outside operator, rates can differ from the centre’s own pages, so check before you go.

Nearby

• Eat Street Northshore – the weekend night market on the same riverfront.
• Howard Smith Wharves – another riverside restaurant precinct in the city.
• Bulimba – cafes and ferry-side dining across the river.
• New Farm Park – jacarandas and a playground on the river.
• Fortitude Valley – Brisbane’s main dining and nightlife suburb.
• More in restaurants and Brisbane.

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• Hamilton (Brisbane)
• Breakfast Creek Hotel (Albion)
• Story Bridge Hotel (Kangaroo Point)

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