Red Hot Cod

Red Hot Cod

Simon Scott lives and breathes the ocean. Born and raised on the Gold Coast, Simon’s a keen surfer and fisherman. When he’s not out on the ocean, he’s in the kitchen cooking the catch.

So, it’s understandable that when Simon and his wife Buffie opened a seafood shop in Burleigh it would be within sight of the ocean.

“We had Red Hot Wok just down the road for many years [hence the name Red Hot Cod]. Since it closed ten years ago, I’ve been managing bistros in Evans Head and teaching seafood cookery at Northern Rivers TAFE,” Simon tells us.

That all involves seafood, and a lot of vegetarian food too, he says.

It’s the point of difference in Red Hot Cod: sourcing all Australasian seafood, all wild caught except the salmon, which is Tassie farmed, and hand-making the sides fresh each day.

“I source our seafood from Ballina to Broome; wherever they have the freshest catch that I want,” he tells us, “and that includes oysters, prawns and octopus.”

Everything is portioned and prepped, then cooked to go, speeding up the service.

They’re out the door before you can blink: daily lunch specials of $5 fish and chips, a large piece of lightly battered NZ cod with a side of hand cut chips, thank you very much! Cheeky!

Mostly it’s up to you: choose your fish (cod, flake, king dory, salmon, sea perch, snapper), how it’s cooked (including the option of a gluten-free batter), and what you want to add (salad, chips, rice, sweet potato chips).

Hardly any wonder that Red Hot Cod has been voted Burleigh’s #1 spot for fish and chips and scored in the Top 10 on the Gold Coast!

While the crowds are snapping up the lunch specials, celebrities are coming in from the surf to feast on grilled salmon, brown rice and salad. Who could blame them, when the ocean is just across the road!

We dine in on one of the tables out front, casting our eyes over the salads: organic quinoa with roasted sweet potato and cauliflower, a Greek salad bowl or mixed green leaf salad.

There’s a lot on this menu to take in…

We can’t pass up the lunch special, but grabbing my attention are the poke bowls and Indonesian street food, keeping past patrons of Red Hot Wok happy: nasi goreng with two fried eggs on top, satay sticks and even duck spring rolls! Who would have thought!

We’ll always miss Balinese food, so we double up with a beef curry and brown rice to share ($18).

Glancing around the shop, decked out with a ship’s portholes and rusty steel sides and up high in one corner spy a surfboard signed by Joel Parkinson: “Thanks for the best fish ‘n chips on the coast!!!”

“Parko… He’s retiring soon isn’t he?” I ask. Guess he’ll be coming into the Cod more often then.

Might hang out a while to celebrity spot as I enjoy a beer with my curry…

1716 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads Ph: 07 5607 0084 Open: Mon – Sun 12 noon – 9pm

https://redhotcod.com.au
Open: Mon – Sun 12 noon – 9pm
      
1716 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads QLD, Australia