There’s only 15 days to go for the Gold Coast Food Guide $100 dinner for 2 competition.

If you win you can choose any restaurant of your choice which is listed on the Gold Coast Food Guide website. Every review that you post will be counted as one entry so the more reviews you write - the better chance you have of winning!

So far we’ve had a heap of reviews posted. Share your favourite restaurants, cafes, fruit shops, bakeries, deli’s and more and maybe you’ll discover a new restaurant or providore.

If we don’t currently list your favourite place then click here to add it. For more info about the competition click here or just visit the Gold Coast Food Guide website.

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We went to You Japanese Restaurant in Surfers Paradise last night.

This is one of the best Japanese restaurants I have ever been to and it’s always packed out with Japanese customers so you know that they’re serving up authentic food. This small unassuming restaurant is set back from Cavill Avenue and is just near Melba’s nightclub at the entrance to a small arcade. We usually just park at the Surfers Paradise transit centre carpark and walk across the road as parking at night in Surfers can be near impossible. Parking only cost us $1.60.

We chose a seat at the bar which gives you a great view into the open kitchen. You can watch your skewered meat or eggplant being grilled and it’s fascinating to watch the expert head sushi chef beautifully slice up your sashimi. The menu has a wide range of choices but some options I haven’t yet tried because they don’t sound too appealing to my western tastes such as chicken giblets, jellyfish with vinegar and eel. I will be happy to sample some if someone else orders it but i’m not to game to order a whole dish just yet.

To start with I ordered a lime sour which is alcoholic - the waitress said it’s like Japanese Vodka which was lovely and refreshing. We ordered Edamame beans to start with (soy beans boiled in salted water in their pods), tuna sashimi, grilled eggplant which has benito flakes on top which move as if they’re alive from the rising heat of the eggplant, pork with vegetables and chilli and soba noodle soup with tempura prawn and vegetables.

For two drinks and all this food it only came to around $46. This restaurant can get a little noisy at times but it’s great if you want to try real, authentic Japanese food. The staff are always friendly and smiling and this is one of my favourite restaurants on the Gold Coast.

Location:

9 Beach Road
Surfers Paradise
Ph: (07) 5526 7266

You Japanese Restaurant - most people sit inside but there are a couple of tables out the front

The view from the bar - this restaurant has an open kitchen so you can watch all the action

Edamame beans - I’m so addicted I could eat them all day. Just squeeze the pods so the beans pop into your mouth. My lime sour is also in this shot.

Tuna sashimi. So tender and buttery it melts in your mouth.

Grilled eggplant with benito flakes which move as if alive from the heat coming off the eggplant.

Pork with vegetables and chilli

Soba noodle soup with tempura prawn and vegetables

Technorati Tags: you, japanese, restaurant, review, surfers paradise

Gold Coast restaurants, Gold Coast dining - Gold Coast Food Guide is a restaurant and food guide for the Gold Coast.

I spend a fair amount of my discretionary income on dining out. I love discovering a new restaurant that serves up great food and has excellent service to match and I’m happy to try out both cheap and fine dining restaurants because hey, I can’t afford to eat out at posh restaurants all the time!

This is the great thing about Gold Coast Food Guide - I’m discovering new restaurants, pubs, bakeries, fish and chip shops - you name it through the recommendations of other people reviews on the site. It’s also been interesting to note that the vast majority of the reviews have been very positive quickly dispelling the expectation of my friends that most people would only want to write a review when they’ve had a negative dining experience.

Anyway here are some of my favourite Gold Coast restaurants and providores:

Ace Wasabi’s Sushi Place - Mermaid Waters
Sheraton Hotel Terraces Buffet - Main Beach
Top One Seafood Chinese Restaurant - Southport (great for yum cha)
Peters Fish Market - Main Beach (great for buying seafood as you can choose it yourself)
Champagne Brasserie - Broadbeach
Tandoori Place - Broadbeach
Rossini Italian Restaurant - Broadbeach
Boonchu Thai Food - Broadbeach
Asian Grocery Store at Q Super Centre - Mermaid Waters
Manolas Brothers Delicatessen - Main Beach
Yuen’s Fruit Shop - Mermaid Waters

Technorati Tags: gold coast, gold coast restaurants, dining, food, providores, review

We went to the Oxenford Tavern last night to catch up with some friends. Apparently this used to be a bikie hangout but now this unassuming pub is more family friendly and has a kids playroom.

It’s a cosy, rustic feel pub and although it isn’t one of the biggest the food they serve up makes it one of the best. The meal prices are also very reasonable and averaged around $22. They also serve up some decent steaks and it’s nice to find a venue on the Gold Coast that has friendly smiling staff!

Our group ordered chicken parmagiana’s which were approx $17 (or is it parmigiana?), fish and chips and a vegetarian pizza which was $17.50.

Everyone was happy with their meals and the serving sizes were really huge. The parmagiana’s were chicken breast meat so they were tender with no fatty bits and the vegetarian pizza had fetta, sundried tomato and other veggies. I couldn’t get through all my pizza so I had to give a few slices away to the hungrier guys at our table.

The only gripes I had was that our table wasn’t wiped down after the previous customers had left and two of our mains came out about 10 minutes after the first two were delivered (they were ordered on seperate dockets but the couple who ordered after us received their meals first) although when we asked how long they’d be the waitress was prompt in getting straight back to us to say it was on it’s way out.

Recommended for a casual cheap dinner and it’s lovely in winter as they have a fireplace going. It’s a nice down to earth cosy pub. 

Location: 179 Old Pacific Hwy, Oxenford. Ph: (07) 5573 1224

The chicken parmagiana

The vegetarian pizza

Fish and chips

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After picking up my boyfriend from the Airport we decided to get a late night dinner in Surfers. It was about 9:30pm on Wednesday. We’ve been to Legends Chinese Seafood a few times before but normally we go there for dinner earlier.

When we arrived there were still a couple of tables filled with customers both inside and out but even though the dining room was mainly empty, they seated us at a table in a corner which had baby high chairs cluttered behind. We ordered tea and when the waitress came back to take our order whe was very brusque - basically rude. She quickly took our order saying ‘yes’ impatiently between each item I ordered before snatching back the menu’s. I was also a little peeved at being given cutlery instead of chopsticks (I’ve been eating asian food with chopsticks since as long as I can remember) and it took several minutes trying to get a waiters attention to swap them. Perhaps it was because we were there late at night and the staff were just over it but really there’s no excuse for treating your customers with contempt. The opening hours stated that the restaurant was open until 11pm.

Legends does serve up delicious food although it is more pricey than other Chinese restaurants. The San Choi Bao was about $9 for two serves and the beef with cashew was about $20.

I will go here again because the food is fantastic and it’s certainly one of the better Chinese restaurants on the Gold Coast and next time I’ll ensure I dine earlier in the night when the staff will (hopefully) be more welcoming.

Location: 3041 Gold Coast Highway, Surfers Paradise. Ph: (07) 5538 4567

Inside Legends Chinese Seafood Restaurant

The San Choi Bao. It was very tasty but there should have been a bit more filling.

The fried rice. It was very nice - can’t remember how much it was though.

Beef with cashews. One of my favourite Chinese dishes. The beef was tender and the veggies crisp with no fatty bits. It was worth paying a little extra.

Technorati Tags: chinese, restaurant, surfers paradise, review, dining, asian