Stanley Restaurant ★ 4.6
Stanley two-level Cantonese banquet hall at Howard Smith Wharves. Head chef Louis Tikaram runs Peking duck carved tableside, abalone and Cantonese seafood.
History
Moreton Bay bug (Thenus orientalis), also called the Bay lobster or flathead lobster, has been caught by Queensland fishers since the colonial period. The species takes its English name from Moreton Bay, the body of water immediately east of Brisbane that runs north-south behind North and South Stradbroke islands. Local Indigenous Quandamooka people fished bugs long before European arrival. Commercial trawl fishing established in the 1950s made the bug ubiquitous on Brisbane menus, particularly through the seafood-restaurant boom of the 1970s and 1980s. Today bugs appear on every serious Brisbane fine-dining menu, almost always halved and grilled with garlic butter or split and chilled in a seafood platter.
Common allergens: Crustacean
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 fresh Moreton Bay bugs, around 200g each
- 80g unsalted butter, softened
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
- Lemon wedges, to serve
Method
- Place bugs belly-side up on a chopping board. With a heavy sharp knife, halve each bug lengthways through the head and tail.
- Combine softened butter with garlic, lemon zest, parsley, sea salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Heat a chargrill or barbecue to medium-high. Spread garlic butter generously over the cut side of each bug half.
- Place flesh-side down on the grill for 2 minutes. Flip to shell-side down, top with more garlic butter, and grill another 4 minutes until tail meat is opaque.
- Squeeze lemon juice over and serve with extra wedges and crusty bread.
Tip from the editors. Buy live or fresh-frozen bugs from Brisbane fish markets. Tail meat overcooks fast; pull off the grill the moment it turns opaque white.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat moreton bay bug
Moreton Bay Bug in Brisbane
Blackbird Bar & Grill ★ 4.4
Blackbird occupies the riverside level of the Riverside Centre on Eagle Street, Brisbane CBD. Dry-aged steaks, Queensland seafood, Story Bridge views.
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