Kwan Brothers

Fortitude Valley's late-night kebab culture is in its death throes. These days even the post-gig crowds expect something more sophisticated, and the Valley is obliging with an ever wider smorgasbord of eating options.

The newest kid on the block is Kwan Brothers. Owner Damian Griffiths has been busy empire-building on this Valley corner for the past few years, starting with Limes Hotel and moving down the street to open Alfred & Constance before expanding around the corner with pizzeria Alfredo's and now, next door in an old noodle factory, Kwan Brothers.

Casual, late night, kooky and kitsch, with a pan-Asian street food menu, Kwan ticks all the hipster boxes, but by virtue of its all-day dining menu, attracts an eclectic all-ages crowd.

The carefully casual interior has been designed by Alexander Lotersztain, also responsible for Griffiths' other properties. Elements of its former life have been retained – the concrete floor, mirrored by a specially made concrete bar, and the rough brick walls hung with Asian ephemera. There's a floor-to-ceiling red-lit streetside window, a cluster of mirror balls throwing fractured light around the room, a DJ station and an open kitchen from which delicious scents, including wood smoke, wafts.

The food is designed around market favourites, drawn from the cultures of Thailand, Korea, Japan and China – sometimes a mash-up of all in a single dish. Small plates of Asian street eats are surprisingly generous for the price and perfect with a Tiger or Singha beer.

Two portions of pork bao come as soft, taco-shaped steamed buns, stuffed with tender pork, moistened by a red dragon sauce, with a fresh acid crunch of pickled daikon, coriander and peanuts.

The current menu favourite, fried chicken, is here too; the nuggets encased in a light, lightly spiced batter and served with a tangy dipping sauce.

That wood-smoke smell emanating from the kitchen comes from the lamb ribs – bite-size portions of smoky, tender meat on the bone served with a piquant sauce that cuts through the rich meat.

There are lighter options too: an excellent crisp tofu redolent of lemongrass with a little chilli bite, ground beef wrapped in grilled betel leaf, and chicken skewers.

The charcoal grill is put to duty with some of the larger share plates too: beef short rib in five-spice mix, a grass-fed rib fillet with Korean pear dressing and kimchi, and fish cooked in banana leaf.

Tongue-in-cheek homage is paid to the old-school Chinese restaurant with fried rice served in half a pineapple, as well as an interpretation of deep-fried ice-cream: ice-cream sandwiches made from deep fried bao bun with toasted sesame, pandan, palm sugar and ginger ice-cream.

What's sure to strike a chord with the public at Kwan's is the clever mix of fun and food; it's uber-casual but quality – the latter a word you wouldn't have heard in the Valley a decade ago.