Tastes of Gold Coast

A quick post about Tastes of Gold Coast, which has just started (I meant to write this post weeks ago). If you live at the coast, or are lucky enough to be down there over the next couple of weeks, there are loads of food events taking place as part of the Tastes of Gold Coast festival.

The festival runs until 6 September 2009. Some of the events include:

Waterfront Food & Wine Festival featuring George Calombaris & Tobie Puttock, taking place today at Carrara

Savour Gold Coast dinner featuring Queensland produce, on 1 September 2009

The Italian Lunch at Mt Tamborine, on 25 August 2009

Toast to the Coast, the signature event, on 4 September 2009

Of course, there's plenty more information on the Tastes of Gold Coast website.

Tastes of Gold Coast
21 August to 6 September 2009
W - http://www.tastesofgoldcoast.com.au

Gordon Ramsay at Sanctuary Cove

If you've been waiting for something ridiculously extravagant to spend your stimulus payment on, have I got the perfect event for you. The always entertaining Gordon Ramsay is coming to Sanctuary Cove in June to host a few lunches and dinners.


Prices start at $300 for a three course lunch, which includes wine and a gift bag apparently valued at $150. If you really want to go crazy, for $750 you get a three course lunch or dinner, a signed Gordon Ramsay book, a spot at a private cocktail party attended by none other than Mr Ramsay himself and a gift bag. That would still leave you with $150 that you could generously send off to Foodbank.

It's not entirely clear from the Ticketek website, but it sounds like you also get to watch him cook up the meals before you eat. After being lucky enough to eat at his three Michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London a few years ago, I would love to go along, but it's too bit pricey for me. A special thanks to Stuart for the great photo of the chef in action.

Gordon Ramsay at Sanctuary Cove
12-14 June 2009
Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove
Manor Circle
Sanctuary Cove 4212
Tickets from Ticketek

d'lish cafe

After being sadly rejected by my previous favourite breakfast spot on Tedder Avenue, Main Beach Delicatessen, we wandered around until we found d'lish cafe. The main factor influencing my choice for breakfast was the amount of gluten free options on the menu.

The friendly waitress at d'lish confirmed they had gluten free toast - happy days! After having a look at their giant breakfast menu, we were sold and quickly shown to a table on the footpath. At d'lish you can order anything from a bowl of muesli to a breakfast burrito.

I was in one of my "simple is good" moods, and ordered the bacon and eggs with gluten free toast ($10.90). My poached eggs had a fantastic orange colour, were obviously fresh and had been perfectly cooked. They needed the slightest nudge to burst open across my plate. Coupled with some multi grain gluten free toast and good bacon, this was a great breakfast for the price (especially when you consider we were sitting on Tedder Avenue, known for its inflated prices). No complaints from me.

My wife ordered the sauteed mushrooms with wilted spinach, tomato and goat's cheese on Italian bread ($12.90). This was really delicious. It was a plate of chopped up field mushrooms, which had been sauteed with the spinach and plenty of high quality goat's cheese. The Italian bread was also excellent. A great vegetarian breakfast all round. It even looked good to me, but I was too busy munching away on my bacon.

Coffee at d'lish is Piazza del Oro. We both had flat whites ($3.50), which were well made.

Service was quick and friendly. d'lish served us two very good breakfasts at great prices. When you throw in the always fascinating parade of Tedder Avenue locals that stroll past, what more could you want for breakfast?

What does all this mean? A great range of breakfasts at low prices, with friendly, snappy service.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Relaxed Tedder Avenue cafe vibe
Value for Money - Great
Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Good

d'lish cafe
Corner of Tedder & Cronin Avenues
Main Beach 4217
P - 07 5561 1595

Peter's Fish Market

My favourite place to get fish & chips at the Gold Coast is Peter's Fish Market. I can't remember how I stumbled across it the first time, but for the last few years it's the only place at the GC where I buy seafood.

Peter's Fish Market is a pretty innocuous looking building, only just down the road from more salubrious places like Palazzo Versace, Marina Mirage and the Sheraton Mirage Resort. Once you step inside though, your senses will quickly be drawn towards all the terrific fresh seafood on display. You'll find oysters, bugs, crabs, prawns, octopus, whole fish and the list goes on.

The best part about Peter's Fish Market though is that you can pick a fillet of fish (there are usually about 15 or so to choose from) and get that fillet cooked exactly how you like, with a serve of crunchy chips, wedges or whatever takes your fancy. It's much more fun than the fish & chips "special" that we've all eaten at some stage or another. For me, usually it's a toss up between red emperor or coral trout, which are my two favourite fish. This time I went for a good thick fillet of coral trout, which was grilled perfectly. You'll pay for the fillet according to its weight, plus a small cooking charge. Believe me, its worth paying a few more dollars for some quality fish & chips.

Once you've got your prawns, oysters or fish & chips, there are tables outside and across the road. If you're there at a busy time though, seats will be at a premium.

Next time you're feeling peckish for some seafood at this end of the Gold Coast, drop in to Peter's Fish Market. You'll find it hard not to walk out with bags full of fresh seafood.

Peter's Fish Market
120 Seaworld Drive
Main Beach 4217
P - 07 5591 7747
E - shop@petersfish.com.au
W - http://www.petersfish.com.au/

Absynthe

I've been wanting to visit Absynthe for a while now. Gourmet Traveller have considered it to be the best restaurant in Queensland for the last two years, which meant my expectations were very high.

Before you read too much further, I'm warning that this is a very long post. I wouldn't be doing justice to the 7 course degustation menu if I didn't write about each of the amazing meals we tasted. I also apologise for the lack of photos. It was a bit of a celebration dinner, and I was more focused on enjoying the food than madly trying to take photos of wasabi ice cream before it melted in front of me.

We managed to sneak into the bottom of the Q1 tower just before a storm broke on us. It was a cool feeling sitting inside this really modern room, at the bottom of an enormous tower, listening to thunder cracking around outside, with occasional flashes of lightning. I guess it just added to the whole experience.

The room was surprisingly half-full for a Saturday night. Perhaps the presence of schoolies still at the coast put off more discerning diners - who knows?

On Friday and Saturday nights, it's a degustation menu only at Absynthe. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were only too happy to put together a vegetarian degustation menu for my wife. The menus were on the table as we sat down, and were headed "A Journey into Taste".

The first stop on the journey was "soft green olive, vanilla crouton". The theatrics of this amuse-bouche added to our enjoyment of it. We had two Asian-style large soup spoons, each with a tiny vanilla crouton sitting on them. Our waitress arrived at the table with a jar of green olives, and ladled out an olive onto each of the spoons. We then devoured the whole lot in one go. Although you couldn't really taste a lot of the crouton, apart from its crunchiness, the olive was divinely soft. It didn't have the usual harshness of green olives, rather tasted like you were eating the best extra virgin olive oil you can imagine. It was a great start to the night, leaving us anticipating what was to follow.

Next up was the imaginatively named "Bite Me Un, Deux, Trois!!!". The un, deux, trois were a golden egg, a beetroot soda and a cauliflower velouté & pesto. The presentation of this course was amazing. The golden egg was an egg shell, filled with an extremely rich, eggy mousse. Perched on top of the egg mousse was a small square of soy & maple jelly, which was in turn topped with a piece of gold leaf. Just to complete the presentation, the egg was sitting in the coolest metal snail shaped egg cup I have ever seen (it even had little snail feelers sticking out of it). I enjoyed this, but after I'd eaten the soy & maple jelly with the first mouthful of mousse, I found the rest of the mousse extremely rich. The beetroot soda was served in a tall shot glass, with a handle on the side and a straw sticking out the top. It tasted like an extremely concentrated glass of borscht, and was fantastic. The concentrated beetroot flavour completely wiped out the richness of the egg mousse. The final part of the trio was the delicate cauliflower velouté, served in a small tea cup. The velouté had a spherified blob of pesto floating in the middle of it. The taste when the pesto sphere burst in my mouth was one of the highlights of the night. I'm not normally one to hunt cauliflower down in restaurant menus, but this was fantastic. This course was served with a glass of 2007 JE Ngeringa rose (made from pinot noir), which was a fairly good match for the disparate flavours on the plate.

Our journey then took us to "North Queensland" for cured trout, chocolate cannelloni & wasabi ice cream. The cured trout was beautiful, and just melted in my mouth. A small blob of wasabi ice cream was sitting on the trout, giving the dish a Japanese feel. The cold zinginess of the ice cream worked well against the rich flavours of the trout. The chocolate cannelloni seemed to be some kind of fish roe wrapped in a cannelloni of white chocolate. I didn't enjoy the cannelloni as much as the trout, but at least it added another contrast of flavours. This course was served with a glass of 2008 Ravens Croft Verdelho from the Granite Belt. Although it's great to see Queensland wines being served at a calibre of restaurant like this, I found it a bit underwhelming with the rich seafood flavours on the plate.

At this stage of the night we had our only real blip on the service front. Our French waitress brought out one of the North Queensland plates for my wife, who quickly reminded the waitress that she was vegetarian (we'd made that clear when we booked). The waitress quickly took the dish away. She also wanted to take mine away too, which I thought was an excellent way to handle the situation. I insisted that mine was fine, and could stay on the table. Eventually I had to start eating it though, as the wasabi ice cream was melting quickly. I should have listened to the waitress.

Our waitress re-emerged with a beetroot salad for my wife. This was presented on a cool, round glass plate. The small chunks of beetroot were accompanied by goat's curd, cherry tomatoes, shallots or leeks and a scoop of wasabi ice cream. Although I didn't get to try any of the goat's curd, I was told it was amazingly good. I did eat plenty of the rest of the salad though, and it was lovely.

The next course was simply called "The Ocean", which was a fillet of pan-fried barramundi with a horseradish crust and pumpkin & citrus puree. Although the barramundi was perfectly cooked, and I really enjoyed the pumpkin & citrus puree, this was probably my least favourite dish of the night. Not that there was anything wrong with it, I just enjoyed the other courses more. I found the Iron Pot Bay sauvignon blanc/semillon (from Tasmania) to be a good partner for this course. It was a more delicate style of the blend, which worked well with the barramundi.

The vegetarian course was a Burgundy black truffle risotto. This was listed as an optional extra course on the menu for $15, unless you're vegetarian. Although it looked small, it was beautifully rich, the rice still had a good bite and there were plenty of truffle shavings.

From the ocean I then went to "The Farm". At Absynthe, the farm consists of confit rabbit loin, potato gratin, chanterelles and pencil leek. It was served with a glass of 2006 Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage "Les Jalets", which was the perfect match for this food. I absolutely loved both this dish and the wine. The rich, gamy, mushroomy flavours on the plate were complemented by the beautifully perfumed shiraz. I was scraping every last drop of this off my plate at the end.

The next vegetarian course was a modified version of my rabbit, with a type of mushroom cannelloni, served with the potato gratin and chanterelles. My wife found the cannelloni casing a bit too meaty tasting, but enjoyed the richness of the rest of the dish.

It was now time to leave the farm and move on to "Heavenly Sweets", as you do at this time of the night. Not one, but two courses of heavenly sweets here at Absynthe.

The first dessert course was candied apricot, basil syrup and lychee sorbet. There were 3 pieces of apricot, which had a lovely flavour. The flavour of the lychee sorbet was amazing, and the basil syrup lifted the whole dish. This was an excellent, lighter, fresh style of fruit dessert.

The candied apricot was followed by a "Banana Split". To be perfectly honest, I was really dreading this, as I'm not the biggest fan of banana at any time. I certainly would have never ordered this dessert off a menu. It turned out to be fantastic, and probably one of the best dishes of the night. The banana had been caramelised, and sat on a strip of thick strawberry jelly. However, the real star of this dish was the frozen chocolate cream, which was served out of a canister. The chocolate cream had been frozen in liquid nitrogen, which gave it the most unique texture. Although it looked almost crunchy, it just melted away the moment it hit my mouth. When it was topped with the creme anglaise that came in a little beaker, it was a brilliant dessert.

The banana split was served with a glass of 2007 Vietti Moscato d'Asti Cascinetta. I was a bit let down by this wine, which I think was probably the weakest match of the night. It was a really light style of moscato, and I found it was completely overwhelmed by the food on the plate.

We were then offered coffees, which we elected to skip. The couple next to us were enjoying coffee and petit fours, but I thought the banana split was a fantastic way to finish the night. Not to mention by this time we were both pretty full.

The 7 course degustation dinner at Absynthe is $98. In my opinion, that's amazing value. I know some people will disagree with me, but having 7 courses of food at this standard is something you don't come across very often. I hadn't asked the cost of the degustation menu when we booked, but I was expecting it to be much more.

You can elect to have the matched wines with your degustation dinner for an extra $77. For 5 glasses of wine that works out to just over $15 a glass. Otherwise you can select your wine from the huge wine list. You'll need a decent table of people though if you are ordering bottles of wine, as it will be difficult to find one or two bottles that will match the diversity of food arriving at your table. The wine list runs to 37 pages, covering everything from Badel Sljivovica (Croatian plum brandy) to an amazing 1966 Moet & Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Oenotheque (at $2,600 a bit out of my price range). Or, if you are really looking to wipe yourself out, there are 9 varieties of absinthe to try.

The room itself is a pretty modern, sleek design. It really gives you a sense of entering somewhere special, and adds to the anticipation of an amazing meal ahead. Also, tables have a good amount of space between them, which is a great thing if you are here for a special meal.

Other than the slight blip I mentioned earlier, service throughout the night was professional and efficient. As each course arrived, its contents were explained to us, and our waitresses were happy to answer any questions we had. There was a good space between each of the courses and at no stage of the night did we feel rushed. I did wish my glass of Crozes-Hermitage would never end though, so that was a bit disappointing when it did.

If you're looking for a restaurant to enjoy a special dinner, Absynthe is it. I'd have to say that overall, this is probably the best meal I've had anywhere during 2008. And considering the quality of the food, I think it's well priced too.

What does all this mean? A high class journey into a variety of flavours and quality ingredients, with excellent service and a huge wine list. Food doesn't come too much better than this.

food bling ratings
Food - Top shelf
Service - Great
Ambience - Classy, understated dining room with spacey, modern fittings
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Top shelf
Vegetarian - Great

Absythne
Shop 4, Q1 Resort & Spa
Surfers Paradise Boulevard
Surfers Paradise 4217
P - 07 5504 6466
E - becomeaddicted@absynthe.com.au
W - http://www.absynthe.com.au/

Main Beach Delicatessen

Until just recently, the Main Beach Delicatessen had been my favourite breakfast spot at the Gold Coast. But I went there for breakfast a couple of weeks ago, and the breakfast menu has really changed since my last trip. It was sad to see some of the delicious breakfast options have been taken off the menu and gluten free bread, although listed on the blackboard, was apparently no longer available.

Grudgingly we decided to give it a skip, despite memories of all the great breakfasts I've had there in the past. So if you head along to the Main Beach Delicatessen after reading my previous post, you might be a little disappointed.

There was a happy ending to the story though - I found a great place just around the corner called D'Lish Cafe, where we had an excellent breakfast (there's a post about D'Lish to come).

Main Beach Delicatessen
Shop 10, 14-16 Tedder Avenue
Main Beach 4217
P - 07 5564 0288

Pho Vietnam

On a hot summer's day, there's nothing more I love for lunch than some really good Vietnamese food. That's why on most trips to the Gold Coast I usually end up at Pho Vietnam for lunch.

I don't normally have time to post about food court eateries, but Pho Vietnam is so good, it's more than worthy of a mention. Although it serves plenty of very reasonably priced noodle dishes, their rice paper rolls are king if you ask me. For $6 you get 3 big rice paper rolls and there are plenty to choose from - prawn, prawn & pork, chicken, chicken & avocado, tofu, vegetable or avocado. Team up your favourite flavours with one of the dipping sauces and its happy days.

These are some of the best (not to mention cheapest) Vietnamese rice paper rolls I've ever come across at a food court. So next time you are wondering what to have for lunch at the coast, head along to Pho Vietnam for fresh, tasty rice paper rolls. And there's a great Asian grocery store (Ming Mei Asian Supermarket) just next to the food court, which is definitely worth a visit.

Pho Vietnam
Fig Tree Foodcourt
Australia Fair Shopping Centre
42 Marine Parade
Southport 4215
P - 07 5591 5746

Tastes of the Gold Coast

Well it feels like ages since I actually put up a proper food post. Loads of things have been happening in Brisbane in the meantime, like the Brisbane Festival, the Masterclass Weekend and plenty of wine events.

One that I haven't yet missed is the upcoming Tastes of the Gold Coast Festival. It's running from 22 August until 7 September 2008.

There are loads of events happening, which you can check out on the website. It's great to see that many of the events are focused around local produce and wines. A few of the events that caught my eye were:

French Food & Fashion - Friday 29 August 2008 at 12pm at Absynthe - Indulge in haute cuisine created by Michelin-rated French Chef Meyjitte Boughenout and be tempted by haute couture from a leading fashion house - $55.

A La Carte on the Beach - Sunday 24 August 2008 from 10am to 4pm at Queen Elizabeth Park, Coolangatta - A food and wine festival by Coolangatta beach featuring a vast array of cuisine from around the world.

Slow Food Bazaar - Sunday 31 August 2008 from 10am to 4pm at Karnak Restaurant, Mount Tamborine - Enjoy tasting platters of spit-roasted lamb and slow food's innovative cuisine. Buy local plants, fresh organic produce and sample some of Australia's finest dukkah, olives, jams, chutneys, avocados and other gourmet delights

Chocolate High Tea - Friday 22 August 2008 at 10am at Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa - Featuring a live demonstration by renowned chocolatier, Belgian Delights, this morning of sweet sensations is guaranteed to satisfy the most fastidious chocolate connoisseur - $70.

So if you need an excuse to head down the coast during the middle of winter, there are plenty to take your pick from during the festival.

Tastes of the Gold Coast
22 August to 7 September 2008
W - http://www.tastesofgoldcoast.com.au/
E - tourism@goldcoast.qld.gov.au

Red Hot Thai

Red Hot Thai at Kingscliff is one of those restaurants that always seems to be busy. Usually that's a good indication of the food quality, and its certainly the case here.

Although Red Hot Thai covers the usual Thai suspects, there are also a few dishes that you don't always come across on your standard Thai menu. Their starters include crab and chicken steamed dumplings ($8.50), deep fried spicy fish cakes served with sweet chilli or plum sauce ($8.50) and spring rolls ($8.50).

I ordered the satay gai to get the evening going - chicken marinated in Thai herbs, served with peanut sauce ($8.50). I really am a sucker for Thai chicken satays and these ones were great. Over the years I've come across a lot of chicken satays where the chicken was so overcooked that the resulting satays were chewy and tasteless. These, on the other hand, were tender, covered in herbs and had a lovely delicate flavour. They were delicious, served with both a mild peanut sauce and a tangy, clear Thai sauce. They were quickly demolished.

We also ordered a serve of the pak tod for entree - fresh vegetables in tempura batter, served with sweet tamarind and ginger sauce ($8.50). Again these were great - fresh cauliflower, broccoli, beans, mushrooms, capsicum, zucchini and shallots fried in a light, crunchy tempura batter. The tangy sauce was also a winner. Admittedly these were more Japanese than Thai, but they were fresh and tasty.

When it comes to mains, the menu covers curries, soup, salads, seafood, stir fries and noodles. Some of the salads sounded particularly tempting - like the yum nua (char grilled beef with fresh lemongrass, lime juice, coriander and chilli) and the larb gai (spicy minced chicken, Thai herbs, lime juice and ground roasted rice).

We were at the beach, so I went for the gang penang prawn curry ($22) as a main course. This was a creamy red coconut milk curry, which was served with broccoli, carrot, fresh kaffir lime leaves and roasted peanuts. It was a beautiful dish, in the fragrant, lighter style of Thai curries. There was a generous amount of prawns in the dish and the sauce was so good I ended up dunking loads of rice into the bowl to soak up all the delicious flavours.

We also had the vegetarian Red Hot Thai noodles as a main - wok fried egg noodles with tofu, chilli, shallot and basil ($15.50). Although there were plenty of fresh, crunchy vegetables in this dish, it was a bit bland, and could have done with a bit more of a flavour kick. There were a few red chilli bits through the noodles, but not enough to really give them a distinctive taste.

Red Hot Thai is both licenced and BYO. Corkage is $2.50 per person if you do take your own wine. Although we had to ask about 3 separate waiters for a wine cooler and some glasses at the start of the night, after that small hiccup the service was good. Red Hot Thai does get very busy during school holidays and on weekends, so it's always a good idea to book ahead.

What does all this mean? Well priced, tasty Thai food in a relaxed, friendly setting.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Relaxed indoor & outdoor seating
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Licenced & BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Red Hot Thai
80 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 5299

Pho Saigon

Finding ourselves at the Gold Coast for a couple of nights, I was amazed at how many restaurants there are in Broadbeach now. They pretty much cover every cuisine you can think of, and there are even a few BYO places.

Anyway I'd been lucky enough to have a big lunch at Harvey's, so I was really looking for something relatively light and healthy. We'd pretty much checked out most of the places on offer at Broadbeach, before stumbling upon Pho Saigon on Albert Avenue. It's right next door to the always popular Manolas Brothers Delicatessen (or MBD as its known around here).

Pho Saigon only had about 2 tables of diners when we arrived, but we didn't let that put us off, as we were determined to gobble down some tasty Vietnamese. The menu is pretty comprehensive, and also covers a few dishes from around Asia.

For entree, we ordered the Vietnamese hot & sour chicken soup ($5.50) and the vegetarian rice paper rolls ($10). The soup was tasty, but not exactly what I was expecting. There was plenty of tasty, tender chicken, together with a few vegetables and 5 or so chunks of pineapple. It was a good soup, but a bit too sweet for my liking. It really needed a bit more sourness and heat to counteract the sweetness of the pineapple.

The vegetarian rice paper rolls were very fresh, with good quality tofu and were served with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. There were four very good sized rolls, so this was a pretty filling start to the meal. We only just got through the four of them.

For mains, we went with a Vietnamese beef salad ($14.50) and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce ($7.90). There are plenty of mains to choose from, with the menu split up into categories of lemongrass & chilli, curry coconut milk & lemongrass, sizzling garlic butter hot plates, sizzling hot plates with satay sauce, ginger shallots with oyster sauce, beef noodle soup, egg/rice noodle soup, laksa, congee, vermicelli, rice dishes, stir fried noodle, salt & pepper, sweet & sour, vegetable and salad. None of the main courses are over $18, so they are all pretty good value.

Again, my main course was not what I was expecting. The beef salad was more like Thai salads I had eaten in the past. It consisted of strips of beef, with plenty of bean sprouts, some cucumber, red onion and a bit of chilli. The salad was served with a fish sauce dressing. It was ok, but left me disappointed - as with my entree, if the flavours had been tweaked a bit, it could have been much better.

Our other main was the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Unfortunately when it came to vegetarian options, the menu was very limited. There were only three dishes listed on the menu under the "Vegetable" section. We asked the waitress if there was anything else, but were told that the three dishes were it. As good as the Chinese broccoli was, it's a bit hard to eat an entire plate of it.

Service was ok on the night we were there. Our bottle of riesling sat on the table for the whole meal, with no coolers in sight. A bit more friendliness and attention to customers would greatly improve the service at Pho Saigon.

Pho Saigon is licenced, with a limited selection of wine. Alternatively it's also BYO wine, with a bottle shop not far away.

Overall, our meals at Pho Saigon were ok. The pricing of the meals though makes Pho Saigon very good value, especially considering you can bring your own wine. If you're staying at the Gold Coast and looking for some good Vietnamese food, I think you'll find The Rice Paddy in Surfers Paradise a definite a step up in flavour.

What does all this mean? Solid Vietnamese food at good prices, with BYO wine.

food bling ratings
Food - OK
Service - OK
Ambience - Casual, with seating inside and out
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Licenced (a limited list) and BYO wine
Vegetarian - Very limited options

Pho Saigon
Shop 17B, Aria
Albert Avenue
Broadbeach 4218
P - 07 5592 3393
F - 07 5592 3340

Cafe Sbiza

Cafe Sbiza is a busy cafe on Marine Parade, the main food street at Kingscliff.

Most of the seats are outside, and it's a relaxed, casual atmosphere for most of the week. Come the weekend however, and Cafe Sbiza gets packed for breakfast and lunch. So busy that if you don't make a booking for breakfast, you're going to have to wait a while.

We'd been at Kingscliff all week, and after having a coffee at Cafe Sbiza earlier, we took their advice and made a booking for Saturday breakfast.

When it comes to breakfast, Cafe Sbiza has a two page menu, that is loaded with all kinds of breakfast options - sweet, savoury, vegetarian or fruit - they've got it covered. It's one of the biggest and best breakfast menus I've come across.

After working our way through all the amazing sounding breakfasts (and the four specials on the blackboard) it was time to order. I went with the eggs benedict. I ordered it with their gluten free corn bread, which they were happy to substitute. This was two poached eggs, good thick slices of black forest ham, roasted cherry tomatoes, thick hollandaise sauce and tasty, crunchy corn bread. This was pretty much my perfect breakfast. The eggs were perfectly softly poached, the hollandaise sauce was thick and tasty, but didn't overpower the eggs, and the ham, roasted tomatoes and corn bread were terrific accompaniments.

The other breakfast we had was pancakes with yoghurt and fruit salad. This was a huge breakfast made up of two fluffy pancakes, a side dish of maple syrup, banana, rockmelon, honeydew melon, pineapple, watermelon, strawberries and natural yoghurt. The fruit was fresh and plentiful. This really was two breakfasts in one, but we weren't complaining.

The coffee was Merlo, and was very good. As with most of the places we ate at in Kingscliff, the service was friendly and attentive.

All up, this really was a fantastic breakfast. Both our meals were excellent. With the huge range of options on the breakfast menu, you could go every day for a week and eat something different every day. Next time you're in Kingscliff, you really have to pop in to Cafe Sbiza for breakfast.

What does all this mean? Excellent breakfasts, a huge menu and friendly service - the perfect breakfast cafe.

food bling ratings
Food - Top Shelf
Service - Great
Ambience - Outdoor cafe setting
Value for Money - Great
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Good selection

Cafe Sbiza
Shop 2, 86 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - (02) 6674 4140

Kingscliff Beach Club

The Kingscliff Beach Club is not, as you might expect, a surf club, but is in fact the Kingscliff bowls club. It's right on the ocean though, and has views of the beach out the window.

The club is enormous and the restaurant only forms one part of the buidling. If its big meals at good prices you are looking for, then the Kingscliff Beach Club hits the spot. The club is popular with both locals and families visiting Kingscliff on holidays.

The menu covers seafood, steaks, pasta, salads and roasts. In keeping with "club" style, some of the dishes are already prepared, while other items are cooked to order. There are also specials on certain nights of the week. If you head down here on a Monday night, for $10 you can have a roast, a rump steak, fish & chips or an Aussie steak with bacon and egg.

I ordered the roast pork, which was $15.90. As I was pretty hungry, I orderd the large serving. This turned out to be a big mistake. When our meals arrived, my plate of roast was enormous. I counted 9 big slices of pork on the plate, together with some roast potatoes, broccoli, beans, carrot and gravy. The pork itself was good. As much as I love roast pork though, I just couldn't get through it all. Unless you've just jogged to Cabarita and back, you're unlikely to get through a large serving of a roast at the club - order the small instead and save a few dollars. As for the accompanying vegetables, they were ok - the potatoes had been cooked a fair while earlier - but it was a solid roast.

We also had the pumpkin salad, which was again a huge serving. It was a delicious dish - plenty of big pieces of roast pumpkin, with cos lettuce, red onion, good tomatoes, snow pea sprouts and julienned raw beetroot. There seemed to be two dressings - one a balsamic and the other a garlic aoli. This was a good salad, made up of lovely fresh ingredients and much improved on vegetarian options we've had at the club in previous years.

Other than the view, the other great attraction of eating here is the great drink prices. Two glasses of their house red were only $4.80. Sure it wasn't Grange, but it was fine with our two meals.

If you are looking for a hearty roast or steak next time you're at Kingscliff, give the Beach Club a try. Its the perfect place for a quick holiday dinner with the family on those nights when you just can't bring yourself to whip something up in the kitchen.

What does all this mean? Hearty food, giant servings and cheap drinks right on the beach.

food bling ratings
Food - OK
Service - Its pretty much self service
Ambience - Modern style bowls club
Value for Money - Great
Wine - OK (but priced very well)
Vegetarian - OK

Kingscliff Beach Club
Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 1404

Kathmandu Kitchen

We have been holidaying at Kingscliff for a few years now, but have never eaten at Kathmandu Kitchen until a couple of weeks ago.

Kathmandu Kitchen is at the Northern end of the strip of shops on Marine Parade at Kingscliff. There are tables inside and out. It was a lovely summer evening on our visit, so we made the most of it and sat outside.

The menu is pretty compact and there are 4 entrees to choose from. We ordered a serve each of the Nepalese samosas ($7.20) and the sekuwa ($9.20). The other entrees are Tibetan spring rolls ($5.90 for 2) and momo - steamed Tibetan spiced beef mince dumplings with fresh tomato and coriander sauce ($8.50).

The sekuwa, a Newari special, was a great start to the night. The menu lists these as char grilled tender pieces of lamb, marinated in yoghurt, ginger, garlic and coriander. The lamb was tangy and rich, matched perfectly with some raita and a small salad. It was so good, I had to clean up the whole plate. It's always good to stumble across something as tasty as this to kick off a good meal.

The samosas were tasty and served with a sweet chilli sauce, which did actually have a bit of a kick to it. Although the samosas tasted good, they would have been even better if the pasty was a bit crunchier. Nevertheless, so far so good.

There are some tantalising options for mains here, including the duck curry (duck breast in star anise & lime with vegetables - $23.90), jhinga machha ra masala (fresh green prawns, lightly sauteed in a spicy coconut cream sauce - $22.90) and goruko masu (Kathmandu spiced beef - $17.50).

The menu also has a vegetarian section, covering mismasko tarkari (lightly wok fried vegetables, spiced and served with cashew nuts and a creamy curry sauce - $14.90), dhal ($10.90) and stir fried organic tofu and vegetables with ginger, garlic and herbs in a sweet chilli or soy sauce ($15.50).

If you are feeling particularly hungry, or really want to get the full Nepalese/Tibetan experience, you can order one of the three naan breads ($3 to $4.70), cucumber & yoghurt raita ($4.50), mango chutney ($3.60) or sambal ($2.20) to accompany your meal.

I had the kukhurako masu (chicken curry - $17.50) which was described on the menu as boneless chicken cooked in the traditional Tibetan style. This was a rich curry, with tender chicken pieces. Although I'd ordered it with medium heat, it was pretty mild on that front. It was a good dish, and I couldn't stop soaking up the sauce with rice - it was so tasty.

However good the chicken curry was, the saag ra chij ($15.90) was in a different league altogether. This was wok fried spinach with feta cheese, spiced with garlic and nutmeg in a creamy curry sauce. Its presentation was amazing - a bright green colour that can only come from fresh spinach. The sauce was perfect - fragrant, fresh and light, with hints of nutmeg and chilli. The best part of the dish though was that the sauce complemented, rather than overpowered, the spinach. Needless to say, this all disappeared off the plate. It was one of the best spinach based dishes I've tasted anywhere.

Kathmandu Kitchen is byo, and there is a bottle shop about 20 metres down Marine Parade at the pub, so you don't have to walk far in search of a few beers or a bottle of wine.

Service was friendly and attentive throughout the night. All up, we had a great meal, with the sakuwa and the saag ra chij as the standouts. As with all the good Kingscliff restaurants on Marine Parade though, it's a very good idea to book on a Friday or Saturday night, or you might have to settle for take away.

What does all this mean? Delicious, tasty Nepalese and Tibetan food with relaxed, friendly service.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Relaxed and casual - inside or out
Value for Money - Good
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Good

Kathmandu Kitchen
2/106 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 5746
W - http://www.kathmandukingscliff.com.au/

Tweed River Seafood

Tweed River Seafoods is the place to buy any kind of seafood if you're in the Kingscliff area.

It's actually just up the road at Chinderah, but it'll take you less than 5 minutes to drive from Kingscliff, and its well worth the trip.

Sure, it doesn't have a massive range, but what it does have is excellent. If its cold seafood you're after, then there is a range of fresh fish, prawns and crabs, together with Balmain bugs, squid, oysters and scallops. The seafood is helpfully marked, so you know if what you're buying is fresh or frozen.

Of course, you can also get cooked fish and chips here too. It's very popular with the locals, so pick your visits carefully or you might be in for a bit of a wait.

Tweed River Seafoods also sell a selection of their own home made seafood sauces, which are delicious. The tartare sauce in particular is completely addictive once you start dipping hot chips into it.

On my most recent visit, I picked up a Balmain bug, a dozen Sydney rock oysters and 300 grams of headless fresh king prawns for $26. The prices here are excellent.

So if you're after a feast of fresh seafood, or just some fish and chips for lunch, pop into Tweed River Seafoods next time you're at Kingscliff.

Tweed River Seafoods
78 Chinderah Bay Drive
Chinderah NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 1134

Main Beach Delicatessen

The Main Beach Delicatessen has been my favourite spot for breakfast at the Gold Coast for the last couple of years. I certainly haven't tried all the cafes on the coast, but after a few visits here, I just keep going back.

The Main Beach Delicatessen is on Tedder Avenue at Main Beach (surprise). One of the reasons I love to eat here is to sit in one of the window seats and watch the amazing parade of people walking along Tedder Avenue - it's always entertaining.

The deli has just had a major renovation, and the breakfast menu has changed. It's been shortened a little, but the prices seem to be even better than before. Even though its a compact menu, there is a good range of options.

I'd just eaten a fantastic eggs Benedict the morning before at Kingscliff, so decided to go for the bacon, eggs, tomato confit and veal sausages with gluten free toast, a bargain at $12. The poached eggs were perfectly cooked, with deliciously runny yolks. The bacon was also well cooked and I didn't really need the sausages, which made for a pretty filling breakfast.

We also had the roasted field mushrooms with goats cheese, rocket and lemon oil (again crazily priced at $10). We ordered this without the olive tapenade. This dish was presented fantastically, and its quality wouldn't have been out of place as an entree at any good restaurant. It exemplifies that you only need a few quality ingredients, put together with some imagination, to make a terrific dish. It was one of the best vegetarian breakfast dishes we've come across for a long time.

Coffee here is Segafredo. It was $3.50 for a flat white and our coffees were fine.

Aside from their breakfast and lunch menus, there are loads of other deli goodies you can pick up here. At the fresh deli counter there are cold meats, cheese, antipasto, salads and various pastries. Along the other wall of the deli is a great selection of food, covering spices, pasta, oils (we almost bought some argan oil from Morocco), gluten free goods, jams, relishes, sauces, biscuits etc. Since the renovation, the range of deli goods seems to have been expanded, which is great.

Service at the Main Beach Delicatessen has always been genuinely friendly, and the presentation of meals has really picked up. Be warned though, it's not the biggest shop on the coast, and can fill up quickly. If you can't get a table straight away, its definitely worth the wait - in the meantime you can browse through the delicious deli selection.

What does all this mean? Beautiful breakfasts and lunches at low prices and a great deli too.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Modern cafe surroundings
Value for Money - Top Shelf
Wine - N/A
Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Good

Main Beach Delicatessen
Shop 10, 14-16 Tedder Avenue
Main Beach 4217
P - 07 5564 0288

The Rice Paddy

Being a big fan of Vietnamese food, I've been meaning to eat at The Rice Paddy in Surfers Paradise for a couple of years, but never made it there until just recently.

The Rice Paddy is on the Gold Coast Highway at Surfers Paradise, just south of Cavill Avenue. The restaurant has a dark, modern minimalist feel to it, with a few Asian touches.

We ate there on a Saturday night, and the restaurant was surprisingly quiet. A couple of tables left before ordering, perhaps because The Rice Paddy is priced a little above some of the other Asian options in the area, and is also licenced, with no BYO option.

I wasn't about to leave though, as there was plenty of delicious food on the menu. Entrees cover a range of soups ($7), spring rolls ($9), rice paper rolls ($9) and san choi bao ($8), together with options like spicy quail ($10), beef in betel leaf ($12) and sugar cane prawn ($10).

We weren't ravenously hungry, so both went for rice paper rolls - one serve of the prawn and one vegetarian (both $9). These were pre-made, and each serving consisted of 3 very large rolls. The prawn rolls were disappointing, lacking any distinctive flavour. The prawns were tiny and I think the flavour of these rolls could be improved with some fresh local prawns. Unfortunately mine just tasted like lettuce and rice noodles. On the other hand, the vegetarian rolls were excellent - having not only a great flavour, but also a lovely contrast in texture. The mushrooms and Vietnamese mint really added to the flavour of the rolls.

As I've already mentioned, the menu is pretty wide ranging. There are plenty of house specialties, including caramelised pork belly with egg ($20), spicy tamarind prawns ($22),
spicy wild boar ($25) and Vietnamese salad with prawn & pork ($20). If the house specialties don't take your fancy, there is also a range of stir fry dishes and noodles. There are 10 vegetarian dishes included in the stir fry section, giving vegetarians a good range of options.

I ordered the grilled pork spare ribs ($22) from the house specialties, which were described as a
rack of pork ribs marinated with garlic, ginger, lemongrass, salt & chilli, grilled and sliced, then served on a bed of lettuce. There was plenty of pork, and the ribs had been chopped into bite size chunks. It was served with a great clear sauce, tasting of fish sauce, chilli and garlic. I really enjoyed this dish, and it was a generous serving.

We also had the snow peas with Chinese mushrooms ($15) as a main. This dish had a tangy ginger flavour and a tasty sauce to soak up the rice. The snow peas were plentiful and perfectly cooked, contrasting with the texture of the Chinese mushrooms. It was a good vegetarian dish.

There is also a great wine list here. Happily, there's a whole page devoted to riesling, which I think is a terrific match with Vietnamese food. We had a bottle of the 2007 Mountadam Eden Valley riesling ($38) which was limey and crisp - perfect with our meals.

Other wines that caught my attention on the list as a good fit for Vietnamese were the great selection of German rieslings (ranging from $40 up to $440 for the 2001 Trimbach Clos St Hune riesling), Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard sauvignon blanc ($55) and the Vinoptima gewürztraminer ($72).

The wine list covers an interesting range of premium wines, including 1999 Louis Roederer Cristal ($540), 2004 Domaine Leroy Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru ($1990), 2004 Domaine Leroy Gevrey Chambertin ($890), 1998 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon ($305), and the 1991 Penfolds Grange Shiraz ($820). I'm not convinced that some of the wines on the list (like the Italian varietals, grand cru white Burgundy and Australian shiraz) complement Vietnamese food, but wine is of course an individual choice, and they're on the list if you want to spend up big. By the same token, there are plenty of wines under $50, so don't think its all just big ticket items. I've used the version of the wine list available on the website, so not all vintages may be available on your visit.

Service was very friendly throughout the meal, and the staff were happy to make food or wine recommendations during the night.

Overall our meals at The Rice Paddy were good, and I'll definitely be back to sample some more of the Vietnamese specialties next time we are at the coast.

What does all this mean? A great range of Vietnamese options at reasonable prices, with a very adventurous wine list.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Dark, modern & minimalist
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Great
Vegetarian - Good

The Rice Paddy
Shop 1, 3100 Gold Coast Highway
Surfers Paradise 4217
P - 07 5592 1390
E - ricepad@bigpond.net.au
W - http://www.thericepaddy.com.au/