Dining with a difference
Australia's Gold Coast is the new inspiration for a dynamic group of talented chefs and restaurateurs moving to its shores from the metropolitan south of Australia and across the world.
These chefs and restaurateurs are celebrating the city's coveted lifestyle and its passion for good food and wine by creating a collection of unique dining establishments and inspired new signature dishes. They are the force behind the Gold Coast's emergence as an internationally recognised dining destination.
Dining on the Gold Coast unites the freshest local produce and products, including local seafood from pristine waters, with the clean flavours that define modern Australian dining and the exotic tastes of more than 100 countries.
Established dining precincts such as Marina Mirage, Tedder Avenue Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Sanctuary Cove Marine Village, Burleigh Heads, Coolangatta and Mount Tamborine deliver everything from fine-dining with a view to the freshest fish and chips that you can eat right on the beach.
- The best of modern Australia
- Where family dining is an adventure
- Award-winning dining
- Paid to sample the Gold Coast's finest fare
- Something sweet
- A world of flavours
- Award-winning breakfast
The best of modern Australia
Local chefs and restaurateurs born with an appreciation of the Gold Coast's unique culinary offering unite with an ever-increasing number of interstate chefs that now call this city home. Together they deliver a unique mode of modern Australian cuisine served by friendly wait staff.
Some of the best Gold Coast restaurants offer modern Australian fare in settings that make the dining experience unique. Focus on Paradise is the perfect place to enjoy the sunrise over breakfast, linger over lunch or savour a dinner with magnificent views over the Pacific Ocean.
Swap the sand for bird calls and the sanctuary of the rainforest and dine on a fusion of Australian flavours at the multi award-winning Songbirds Restaurant. Retreat to the sanctuary of an inner-city park in the middle of Broadbeach and dine on an F1 Wagyu Rib Fillet steak at Moo Moo - The Wine Bar and Grill.
Try the barbequed Moreton Bay Bugs at Omeros Brothers or experience the ‘Hot Rock' at Lygon Street Restaurant - a serving of premium beef, seafood or both served on a volcanic rock. Sage Café Restaurant also specialises in the great Australian steak - try the 90 day aged grain fed steak for an award-winning dining experience.
topWhere family dining is an adventure
To turn your family dining experience into an adventure the Gold Coast offers a number of restaurants where the atmosphere is decidedly fun.
Treasure Island Bistro is a favourite for little pirates. As part of Treasure Island Holiday Park, the bistro offers relaxed dining and a family-friendly atmosphere.
Dracula's Cabaret Restaurant treats little monsters to a 3D animatronic ghost train, horror themed food, live interactive entertainment and hi-tech computer imagery.
Award-winning dining worth singing about
In almost three years of operation Songbirds has had a substantial impact on the Gold Coast's dining culture, winning 17 awards including the Gold Coast Restaurant of the Year in 2005 and 2006 and Queensland Restaurant of the Year, awarded by Restaurant and Catering Queensland.
Songbirds sources the majority of its produce from its own two acre organic vegetable garden, creates a menu of new culinary sensations every six weeks and provides professional service with a friendly Gold Coast personality that cannot be found in metropolitan restaurants.
Songbirds' acclaimed excellence sees visitors arrive for a long lunch then choose to stay in one of the six luxurious villas. Others indulge in an interstate return trip to experience lunch at this 20 acre culinary paradise in the rainforests of Mount Tamborine.
Paid to sample the Gold Coast's finest fare
The Gold Coast Bulletin Food Journalist Brian Mossop was not always paid to sample the city's finest cuisine and wine.
Once a respected sports journalist for The Australian and Sydney Morning Herald, Brian indulged in the cuisine of the many different countries he visited, igniting a passion for food. In the last 12 years with The Gold Coast Bulletin, Brian has become a ‘guru' of Gold Coast cuisine.
Brian listed Cha Cha, a Japanese restaurant that offers inexpensive authentic food, as one of his favourites. He confirmed what many locals and visitors already knew, that Ristorante Fellini, Chill on Tedder, Songbirds, Absynthe, Oskars and Omeros Brothers all offer some of the Gold Coast's finest food.
He also shared some of the city's lesser known gems in Mermaid Beach's Squisito, a small restaurant serving Italian home-cooking and Fahrenheit, a Paradise Point restaurant boasting Italian with a twist.
"In the last 10 years the city's general growth has seen an out of sight improvement in service, and an influx of new chefs and local apprentices that have come into their own.
"It isn't just our chefs and restaurateurs that are driving this passion, local residents know good food and celebrate it. The Gold Coast has an extensive food event calendar. I believe the annual A la Carte in the Park event is one of the best family days on the Gold Coast - great food and great entertainment," Brian said.
Something sweet
Baked lemon curd tart with bitter sweet orange crust, vanilla anglaise and peach cream quenelle - Quality Resort Twin Towns
Caramel praline with strawberry and vanilla compote and coconut tuile - Lygon Street Restaurant
Passionfruit Panna Cotta served with a strawberry and mint salad - Amalfi Bistro and Wine Bar
Seasonal fruit soufflé served with gourmet ice-cream and fresh berries - Songbirds
A world of flavours
To discover the flavours of more than 100 countries infused into the freshest local produce the only travel required is the short walk out of your accommodation. Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian, French, Greek, Polish or even Hungarian - on the Gold Coast a world of flavour is at your doorstep.
Indulge in French fare served by a two star Michelin Chef at Absynthe. Try something a little belissimo with a stuffed chicken breast and pink brandy sauce at Volare Restaurant, a 19th century style Tuscan Villa.
The Gold Coast offers an abundance of Italian cuisine that perfectly blends traditional flavours with a dynamic Australian twist just like the menu of Australian celebrity chef Angelo Borlotti at Amalfi Bistro and Wine Bar.
For the perfect mixture of Mediterranean and Asian, visit Mango Tree. The Jasmika oysters with gazpacho jelly and tobiko will tempt every palate.
Just one visit to Australia's largest teppanyaki restaurant Benihana, will demonstrate how popular world-class Japanese food is with Gold Coast locals and visitors alike.
Golden Fortune Seafood Restaurant specialises in bringing authentic Chinese flavour to a variety of fresh live seafood. Try the lobster with ginger and shallots or opt for a hands-on dining experience with the abalone steamboat.
At Royal Phuket Thai you can satisfy your craving for the authentic flavours and aromatic spices of Thailand.
The spices of India fill the night air across the Gold Coast. Follow your nose and you could find yourself sampling the flavours of the Royal Courts of India overlooking the Broadwater at Raj Palace.
Taste the flavours of northern India at one of five The Tandoori Place restaurants across the Gold Coast or try Krish Indian Cuisine's delicious kebabs.
Start the day with an award-winning breakfast
Sopranos Restaurant, Café and Lounge Bar covers all your food and beverage needs, however it is the meal at the beginning of the day that won it acclaim at the Restaurant and Catering Queensland Gold Coast Awards for Excellence.
Sample their Turkish breakfast burger, seared scallops with scrambled eggs or salmon potato chive rosti and you will understand why Sopranos was recognised as serving the Gold Coast's best breakfast. The Brioche and Bugs is a favourite with French brioche bread filled with brie cheese, toasted and topped with Moreton Bay bugs, a spectacular brunch dish.
