I was so, so excited to discover that a Grill’d has finally expanded onto the Gold Coast!

I first discovered Grill’d in Melbourne and used to regularly visit and even convinced my co-workers to make trips to Grill’d for lunch. For those Queenslanders that haven’t experienced Grill’d then you’re in for a treat. They make amazing tasting, healthy gourmet burgers with fresh ingredients and seriously yummy chips.

They’re not the cheapest but they are incredibly filling and their range is diverse -from meat to lamb, chicken and vego. I tried the moroccan lamb which had roasted capsicum, tzatziki, salad and relish.

Grill’d
Shop 23, 72 Marine Pde
Coolangatta, 4225

Phone: 07 5536 3555
Web: http://www.grilld.com.au

Outside Grill’d at Coolangatta

The Moroccan Lamb burger $10.90 and chips $3.90

Inside Grill’d

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Yum Cha is one of my absolute favourite weekend destinations. It’s particuarly good for brunch and I find it works wonders when you’ve got a hangover.

From memory Top One opens around 12pm. It’s best to book here because it’s always packed - and the restaurant is pretty big! Located at the Australia Fair shopping centre in the food court it’s a welcome addition to the Gold Coast dining scene and I think the best yum cha on the Gold Coast.

When we arrived we were given a number and had to wait around 10 minutes for a spare table - and this was at approximately 2pm so definately book if you hope to get in earlier and especially if you’re going with a group.

There are so many staff working at this restaurant that you don’t have to jump up and down to get someone’s attention. The yum cha girls are friendly and thankfully, not pushy unlike many other’s I’ve been to. You can also order off the menu if you aren’t into yum cha or want some additions such as fried rice.

If you’ve never been to yum cha then basically the way it works is that you get an A5 sized piece of cardboard which sits on your table. The piece of card is divided up into different priced sections. The yum cha trolleys are pushed around the restaurant and they explain and show you each dish so you can choose what you want to have. Don’t feel guilty at not ordering anything from the trolley - just wait until the next one comes around which will have a different selection.

Once you choose your item they will stamp your piece of cardboard under the appropriate price depending on what you ordered. At the end you take the piece of cardboard up to the cashier.

Some more hints: If you order chinese tea and you’ve run out of water, simply turn the lid upside down or leave it off the teapot. This signals to the waitstaff to refill your pot. Also ask for soy sauce and chilli sauce to give your dim sims some kick.

Inside the Top One Seafood Chinese Restaurant

Yum Cha selections - chinese broccoli, turnip cakes (on left, the square shape) and from memory seafood dumplings

One of the yum cha trolleys bustles past with custard tart desserts

More yum cha goodies - prawn fried dumplings on the right and some other steamed dumplings in the middle

The live seafood tanks. Personally I couldn’t bear to have a live fish or lobster brought to my table

Technorati Tags: chinese restaurant, top one chinese, southport, restaurant review, gold coast restaurants, seafood restaurant, chinese restaurant review

Capri pizza is located underneath some shops off station street.

You can drive down the driveway and park underneath. The restaurant feels like it’s in a basement and yes it’s daggy and home decorated but we’ve been back a few times. Why? because they make awesome pizza and home made pasta. It’s a simple, suburban restaurant and they know it. They don’t try to be anything they’re not and they focus their energy on producing good food, not on flashy decor, cutlery or tableware although they could do with some knives that are serrated to cut through the pizza - we ended up just eating each slice by hand.

The woman who manages the pizza oven at the front is always friendly and happy and has been in the industry for over 25 years.

We brought our own six pack of beers which helped keep the costs down and ordered one medium pizza with two different toppings on each half to share. The young scottish waitress was friendly and smiling and apologetic when our pizza’s took a while to come out.

If you’re after a simple, affordable and homey tasting Italian restaurant then Capri Pizza is perfect. It’s the sort of restaurant where customers bring their own beers and stubby coolers and can feel completely relaxed dining out in old jeans and a tracksuit top.

Capri Pizza
Italian

3 - 27 Station Street
Nerang, 4211

Phone: 07 5578 2499

Inside Capri Pizza

We ordered a medium half vegetarian and half mexican approx $21

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We came here for dinner last weekend on recommendation of a friend.

It’s quite a funky looking restaurant from the street and we were looking forward to trying out a new Japanese restaurant.

The dining room inside is very small but the wooden chairs and tables are very rustic looking and the fairy lights hanging from the roof give it an intimate touch.

There are some very interesting/strange menu choices blending east and western foods such as tofu lasagne, garlic chips, wasabi garlic bread and tofu dip Japanese nachos….

We ordered Edamame beans $4 and tempura prawns and vegetables for entree $18. I prefer it when the edamame beans are still slightly warm from the boiling water - these were cold and they could have been saltier. The tempura was nice but felt it could have been better value and should have included some more vegetables.

For mains we ordered chicken teriyaki $16. I normally prefer it with a crispy skin and with a bit of a western blend, it came out with a dab of mashed potato. I also ordered from the specials menu somen noodles. I haven’t ordered this before and for some reason when reading the description I was sure it was a noodle soup dish but instead it was a cold noodle dish with chopped raw vegetables, a raw egg yolk and some strange fermented sticky beans. To say the least I wasn’t a fan but that was my fault in not reading the menu. I was disappointed though to have wasted the money on a dish I didn’t like.

I prefer more traditional Japanese fare and perhaps someone who is more willing to experiment and try new blends of cuisine would appreciate this restaurant more.

Service was good, it was just unfortunate that we were seated next to a couple with two young, noisy children which dampened the mood as the restaurant is quite echoey.

Bistro Lamp
Japanese

Shop 5, 3021 Gold Coast Highway
Surfers Paradise, 4217

Phone: 07 5538 4377
Web: http://www.bistrolamp.com

Outside Bistro Lamp

Edamame Beans $4

Tempura prawns and vegetables $18. I thought it could have included more vegetables to make it better value for money

Inside Bistro Lamp

The teriyaki chicken which came with some mashed potato $16

The somen noodles I wasn’t a fan of - from memory approx $17

Technorati Tags: bistro lamp, restaurant review, japanese restaurant, japanese food, dining review, surfers paradise, gold coast, japanese

Chiangmai Thai is an institution on the Gold Coast and is my vote for the best Thai on the Gold Coast.

We visited the restaurant at Broadbeach and if you’re visiting the Gold Coast, it’s on the Gold Coast highway and is lit up purple with lots of tiki lanterns lit outside. This restaurant has a great ambience and they’ve gone to a lot of effort to decorate it including heavy, wooden Thai furniture, elephant statues, Thai paintings and wood carvings to ensuring their female staff are dressed in colourful Thai costumes.

This is a beautiful restaurant for a relaxed dinner or romantic, intimate setting and you can sit inside or outside amongst the garden. Service is alwasys quick and professional as they have plenty of wait staff on. The food is always beautifully presented and reasonably priced. Mains are around $16 for meat dishes and in the low $20 range for seafood.

There are other restaurants in Surfers and Nobby’s Beach. To write your own review on the Broadbeach restaurant click here.

Seafood Tom Yum soup - this spicy soup is made extra tasty fresh vegetables

The chicken Tom Yam soup has a coconut base (I may have the name wrong)

Coconut prawns and chicken satay sticks for entree

The lamb yellow curry

Technorati Tags: chiangmai thai, restaurant review, nobby’s beach, surfers paradise, broadbeach, gold coast, thai restaurant

Four of us came here for lunch the other day as my sister is on holidays from London.

I’ve been to Songbirds once many years ago and I’ve heard so much about this restaurant that I was excited to try it again. It’s located not far from the main street on Tamborine Mountain. When you arrive you walk down a gravel stepping stone path. The restaurant is set amongst beautiful gardens and there’s plenty of wildlife to look at from kookaburra’s to butterflies.

The service was fantastic, our waitress was very friendly and helpful in describing the unusual ingredients listed on the menu. They also pay attention to detail such as adding a slice of lime at the table to each glass before they pour the sparkling water.

My dad commented that the last time they visited they had a bad experience - it was his birthday and they took a long time to bring out his meals and the service was poor but this time we were very fortunate. We booked for 12pm which was before the other tables filled out so maybe this had something to do with it but from my experience I can’t fault them.

I won’t describe all the meals as I’ll do so below but we all ordered the set menu (I can’t remember accurately but I think it was $60 for 2 mains and around $15 for each dessert) Entrees on their own are around $20 each and mains $36 plus.

Songbirds is very much a fine dining experience. I think it is best to visit at lunch so that you can enjoy the garden outlook and if you have the means, make a weekend of it and stay at Songbirds as they have onsite accommodation.

To write your own review on Songbirds click here.

Location:
Songbirds in the Forest
Modern Australian

Tamborine Mountain Road
Tamborine Mountain, 4272

Phone: 07 5545 2563
Web: http://www.songbirds.com.au

The alfresco restaurant - luckily it wasn’t raining

The grilled calamari and orzo pasta entree. The calamari was stuffed with chorizo, spinach and tomato

I ordered this for entree - the smoked ham hock consomme with a cabbage dumpling. It was very good. They bring it out with just the peas and dumpling in the bowl and pour the soup at the table.

The open lasagne of roasted yabbi tails entree

My boyfriend ordered this for his entree as he’s a huge scallop fan -roasted Queensland scallops on a tomato terrine with cucumber foam

The view from our table - the gardens surrounding the restaurant. Afterwards we went for a walk as they’re quite large gardens.

Black bean glazed duck breast - underneath was tofu

The wagyu beef with an oxtail and mushroom dumpling on top. Three of us ordered this for our main.

The boned whole quail with kipfler potato salad. One person from our group wasn’t that hungry so they ordered this entree as their main.

We ordered two sides - chips with aioli sauce (the sauce was sooo good) and a rocket and beetroot salad.

The banana fritter with chocolate sauce dessert which I ordered.

The souffle of the day - coconut and mango

Chocolate creme brulee with chocolate strudel

Technorati Tags: songbirds in the forest, restaurant review, tamborine mountain, modern Australian 

We came here a couple of weeks ago for dinner with a friend one Friday night.

It’s an old fashioned pub located in the village of Mudgeeraba. We had some drinks first in the bar which was quite nice - lots of wooden tables in a cosy atmosphere but there wasn’t much seating and the tables around the corner are in another room and don’t have much atmosphere.

We went into the dining room at a table near the windows. I was slightly shocked to see that almost all the meals were in the $27 plus range - quite expensive for a suburban pub meal.

I ordered the twice cooked duck and my partner ordered oysters with crab meat topping and our friend ordered the lamb shanks. The lamb shanks could have been a lot more tender as the meat did not fall off the bone, the twice cooked duck also should have been crispier - the skin was still quite fatty and was not crisp like I’ve had at most other restaurants and I wasn’t a fan of the thinly sliced crisped vegetables. The interior of the restaurant is also looking a bit daggy and outdated but I guess other peoples view is that it has a country feel.

I will visit this pub again but I’ll probably just stick to catching up with friends for some drinks rather than dinner. Perhaps they should introduce some more mid range meal prices.

To write your own review of this restaurant click here.

Location:
Woodchoppers Inn

66 Railway Street
Mudgeeraba, 4213

Phone: 07 5525 3500
Web: http://www.woodchoppersinn.com

Technorati Tags: woodchoppers inn, mudgeeraba, gold coast, restaurant review, pub

Could this be the best Japanese restaurant on the Gold Coast?

I came here mid week after going to see a movie at Pacific Fair (Death at a funeral - really, really funny Brittish movie if you haven’t seen it already.) It was about 8:45pm and we were all trying to decide where to go for dinner as generally this time is considered ‘late’ by many restaurants on the Gold Coast.

I figured it would have to be an Asia restaurant as they generally stay open later than the others so I suggested Itoshin which was nearby on the Gold Coast highwasy in Mermaid Beach. I’ve been to this restaurant once before but I wasn’t overly impressed at the time. I think from memory I thought the teriyaki meals were a bit too westernised.

It’s a very funky/urban looking restaurant with graffiti on the walls. It was still very busy when we arrived - most of the restaurant is table and chair seating but I did spot a couple of tables where you can sit on cushions on the floor. 

The sushi is amongst the best I’ve had on the Gold Coast and was very fresh with nice large pieces of tender tuna pieces. We also ordered salmon and avocado. The tempura vegetables were crisp and firm and the hot pot was shared amongst four of us. I was skeptical at first becuase I thought ‘Why would I want to cook my own food when I’m at a restaurant’ but it’s all chopped up for you and it’s actually quite fun watching it cook and dishing it up to share. It was really filling too so next time I might just order one plate of sushi and a hot pot between two of us.

We ordered the teriyaki beef which was thickly sliced with teriyaki sauce poured over the top. It was still my least favourite meal as I prefer it to be more thinly sliced.

Overall I’d give this restaurant 8.5/10 - Service was fast and friendly, food was quick and fresh and the restaurant has a funky and fun atmosphere

Located:
Itoshin Japanese Restaurant

2484 Gold Coast Highway
Mermaid Beach, 4218

Phone: 07 5575 5733

To post your own review on Itoshin click here.

The sushi - this was salmon and avocado and in the background we had tuna sushi

Edamame beans - from memory about $7. A great starter snack to share. You just pop the salty soy beans in your mouth and discard the empty pods in a bowl.

Tempura vegetables - these were nice and firm and the batter was perfect.

Hot Pot - About $30. It’s a great meal to share. You add all the chopped ingredients into the hot pot to cook and dish it out when it’s ready.

The hot pot cooking away

Technorati Tags: itoshin, japanese restaurant, restaurant review, mermaid beach, gold coast

This little Indonesian and Thai restaurant is located amongst a cluster of suburban shops at Carrara on Pappas Way.

It’s a typical suburban restaurant which is unassuming from the outside - a simple wooden painted sign surrounded by coloured lights and it has a small, sparse interior but if you’re after a fuss free midweek meal that’s quick, easy and cheap - then this is your haven.

The lady that served us was, I’m guessing Indonesian. She was very friendly and regularly filled up our water before ducking back into the kitchen to help. Above us the Indonesian news was playing on a small TV.

We ordered two entree’s - potato croquette’s and a chicken and noodle clear soup. The soup was a really large serve and had that home made feel. It would be great on a cold Winter night. The croquette’s came with a chutney and sweet chilli sauce.

For mains we ordered beef Rendang curry. The meat was so tender and the coconut sauce was absolutely beautiful. We also ordered garlic pepper beef with vegetables which was fantastic. The meat wasn’t fatty and didn’t taste cheap or nasty which I was sort of expecting.

This little restaurant is a hidden gem. It’s the classic example of a small restaurant really trying hard and producing amazing, authentic tasting food. The mains are only $12-$14 approx so it’s an absolute bargain considering the HUGE serving sizes they give you. We couldn’t finish it all so we took it home and enjoyed it reheated the next night for dinner again.

I hope this little restaurant thrives once word gets out because there are so many average-below average restaurants on the Gold Coast but this is one that deserves to survive and do well. 

Location:
124 Pappas Way
Carrara, 4211

Ph: 07 5594 1888

To submit your own review click here

The front of the restaurant - it’s amongst some shops and is next to the Garlic Clove French restaurant

The potato croquettes with chutney and sweet chilli sauce

The chicken and noodle clear soup

Beef rendang curry (at the rear) and lam with garlic pepper sauce and vegetables

Inside the restaurant

Technorati Tags: house of satay, carrara, restaurants, restaurant review, gold coast, Indonesian, Thai

Champagne Brasserie is without question my absolute favourite restaurant on the Gold Coast. This restaurant serves up traditional French food.

Four of us booked to came here for dinner on a Saturday night a couple of weeks ago. If you have never been here before you may be a little disappointed when you first arrive as it’s beneath the Hi-Ho motel which looks a little run down from the outside. The restaurant and motel are located at the beach end of Broadbeach a couple of hundred metres away from all the other restaurants. This is a plus though because it’s at the quieter end.

The restaurant has seating both inside and outside but we booked for a table inside as it’s a little more cosy. To start with our waitress brought out some complimentary bread and appertisers which you can see below. She was very knowledgeable on all the dishes and wines and I have to say it was such a pleasure to dine at a restaurant on the Gold Coast where the staff are professionally trained.

Champagne is the type of restaurant where you book a table and it’s yours for the night. We never felt rushed, the lighting was dimmed for intimacy - if you’re after a romantic night out and the service was flawless.

Below I’ve labeled what the meals were but I have taken the prices off their website. I noticed that the site lists a slightly different menu than what we had two weeks ago so I’m not sure if the menu and prices are correct.

Champagne Brasserie - French

2 Queensland Ave
Broadbeach, 4218

Phone: 07 5538 3877

Little complimentary pastry appertisers - they were like mini quiche’s and we were also served some bread to start with.

French onion soup with Gruyere cheese served in a rustic style bowl - this tasted so divine $12.50

The steamed mussels entree

Entree caremelised onion and olive tart with goats cheese, pear and rocket salad $14.50

Entree fresh spanner crab crepe with white wine & chive sauce $16.50

Roasted chicken

Grain fed beef fillet - three of us ordered the same and it came with a basket of fries $32.50

Bakes rhubarb and apple crumble with mini creme caramel. The creme caramel was the only disappointing thing the whole night as it was slightly bitter. $11.50

Crepe Suzette $11.50

The apple tart with ice cream $11.50

Technorati Tags: champagne, brasserie, restaurant, review, broadbeach, gold coast, french