Feasts, festivities and good fortune – where to celebrate Lunar New Year in Brisbane
Wednesday January 29 marks our official entrance into The Year of the Snake. Apparently the Snake symbolises wisdom and transformation, offering opportunities for personal growth and change. We know we’ll be changing into our party clothes as we partake in the many Lunar New Year’s festivities that Brisbane has to offer. From dazzling lion dancer displays to feasts aplenty, we’ve rounded up some of the best places around Brisbane to celebrate.
Stanley, Brisbane City: Howard Smith Wharves’ neo-Chinese restaurant Stanley will be welcoming in the Year of the Snake with Lunar New Year celebrations from Wednesday January 29 to Sunday February 2. Head chef Louis Tikaram will be preparing an exclusive menu of Cantonese dishes in addition to Stanley’s beloved a la carte and banquet menus including mixed seafood and black-truffle dumplings, five-spice roast duck with blood plum sauce, and spanner crab egg fried rice with caviar. Traditional lion dancers will also keep guests entertained at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm every night. Click over to Stanley’s website to make a booking.
Brisbane Phoenix, Brisbane City: Celebrate Lunar New Year in style at Brisbane Phoenix. Available for two weeks only, starting Tuesday January 28, you can indulge in an unforgettable dining experience with the specially curated 2025 Year of the Snake menu. Starring premium dishes like YuSheng salmon sashimi with flying-fish caviar, flaming lobster, slow-cooked pork hock with truffle oil and black moss-dried scallop and oyster you’ll be as happy as a reptile sunning itself on some rocks. Pair your luxurious meal with a limited-edition Hennessy Year of the Snake VSOP bottle to share with your party. Fire up the group chat and book a table via Brisbane Phoenix’s website.
Donna Chang, Brisbane City: The plush surrounds of Donna Chang will also play host to some high-energy revelry for the Lunar New Year, with the inner-city eatery offering a special lunch banquet from Tuesday January 28 to Saturday February 1. It is also hosting grand Lunar New Year Banquets on Friday January 31 and Saturday February 1, with two two-hour sittings each evening. For $138 per person ($69 for kids) you can feast on the Golden Serpent banquet which includes delectable morsels like Yu Sheng with King salmon, marinated wakame and smoked roe, Singapore chilli-style spanner crab with mantou, roast Chinese duck with Davidson plum sauce and Mandarin cheesecake with osmanthus jelly. Toast to new beginnings and good fortune with a beverage list spanning Penfolds Estate specials to tasty cocktails and enjoy entertainment, prizes and dazzling dragon dancers. Secure your spot via Donna Chang’s website.
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Super Bowl, Fortitude Valley: Popular Fortitude Valley eatery Super Bowl is double dipping for its Lunar New Year festivities, offering two different kinds of banquets. Groups of ten can sit down for a traditional Chinese New Year banquet, featuring dishes like fish maw and seafood soup, banana king prawn with Pekinese sauce, Shangdong crispy skin chicken and special traditional Chinese New Year fried rice. Groups of six can opt for the Western Chinese New Year banquet, which includes Chinese-style shredded duck salad, salt and pepper squid, honey soy black-pepper beef and with broccoli and almonds, and fortune cookies. Lion dance performers will also be taking place between February 9–11. Head to the Super Bowl website for menu details and reservations.
Fat Noodle, Brisbane City: The Star Brisbane’s purveyors of sizzling South-East Asian street food-inspired dishes, Fat Noodle is celebrating The Year of the Snake with an exquisite six-course banquet for two available from January 12 to February 12. For $168, you and a loved one can linger over dishes dreamt up by celebrity chef Luke Nguyen like wok-tossed lemongrass beef salad, chargrill turmeric spatchcock with papaya salad, Vietnamese braised pork belly and mango trifle, all paired with the perfect glass of wine. Reserve your table here and make your Lunar New Year one to remember. Plus throughout the holiday period keep an eye out around the Queen’s Wharf precinct roving lion dance performances and wishing trees where you can hang your hopes for the year ahead.
Supernormal, Brisbane City: Celebrated river-side nosh spot Supernormal is adding a little Lunar New Year flair alongside its standard produce-driven lively Asian-influenced menu. Available for a week starting Wednesday January 29, you can dine on whole roast suckling pig and Queensland mud crab with black peppercorn and egg noodles to take your snaky celebrations to the Supernormal stratosphere. Head to the Supernormal website to book now.
Of course, special mention must be made of the BrisAsia Festival 2025 – which has packed ten days with more than 25 unmissable events celebrating the Lunar New Year, Asian culture and cuisine. Head here to check out some of our most-anticipated activties, from a street festival in Fish Lane, family fun at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and fireworks displays at the Sunnybank Lunar New Year Rooftop Party.