Euphoria Espresso Café

It’s a pleasant surprise when you don’t expect too much from a corner coffee shop and then find out that all the food’s made by the chef in the oven you can see, that the coffee’s great and the service friendly and attentive. Euphoria Espresso Café is a rare watering hole in the urban jungle […]

Frigg Café

The pizza arrives, a steaming plateful of cheesy topping dripping over the edges of the crust onto the giant-sized plate. It’s huge, far too big for my appetite, and this is only one slice of pizza! It’s lunchtime in Disneyland, the place ‘where all your dreams come true.’ Someone’s dreams, perhaps, but some of my […]

The Oak Café

Somehow, every time we visit Mudgeeraba we fall in love again. It’s because little things count. A greeting from wait staff or a friendly smile from the open kitchen, water immediately brought to the table, a bowl of water for someone’s dog… it all adds up to make a village. The Oak Café, Mudgeeraba’s latest […]

Sage Café Restaurant

Chances are that if you’ve been to Broadbeach for holidays, you’ve eaten at Sage. Slung around a winning corner in the highly competitive Broadbeach dining area, Sage has been a solid performer over the last few years. Now under new owners, a whole Asian Fusion menu has been introduced and we can’t get enough of […]

Silipo Coffee, Southport

The coffee roasting company, Silipo Coffee, is hidden away in the light industrial area of Bailey Crescent, Southport. Local workers can refuel with excellent coffee carefully brewed by barista Richard Silipo, grab breakfast or lunch, or buy their own takeaway coffee beans. After owning the trattoria Basilico in Southport and Oompahs in Burleigh, Richard decided […]

Pasture & Co

Sometimes, you need to go a little out of the way to find beautiful things. That’s so with Pasture & Co. Sitting alongside organic co-op Ground Grocer, facing the entrance to Currumbin Valley’s Eco Village, the café is situated on the newly-named precinct, Ground at Currumbin. With a new tenant comes new life. Dani Riley, […]

Dinner at Cardamom Pod Brickworks

NOTE: Cardamom Pod is no longer open for dinner, however Cardamom Pod Broadbeach is open nightly until 9.30pm. Gone are the days when ‘vegetarian’ meant a simple salad landing on your table. Not any more! As more people adopt a plant-based diet, the bar has been raised for vegetarian food. Vegetarian has gone gourmet! Our […]

Best kept dining secrets – Cafes

Everyone has their favourite café. Some of them are places only locals know about; tucked away places they share with friends. You know you’ve found one when people greet each other by name and you, the newcomer, score a subtle surreptitious glance. They’re not necessarily the latest trendy spot, in fact they may be well […]

The Pastry Emporium

Adrian Grazioli always had a dream of opening his own patisserie. After training at Brunetti’s in Melbourne, Adrian moved back to the coast, working for different cake shops before opening his own premises, ironically in the same block as the restaurant his parents founded: Riviera. Hidden away in a tiny suburban shopping centre in Sorrento, […]

Guilty Café

Sitting in front of me, resplendent in its calorific glory, is a huge chocolate milkshake topped with two lamingtons. Piled high with cream, a strawberry perched on top, it’s magnificent! Gasps escape from diners around me. Yet I feel nauseated. My internal dialogue has taken over: ‘It’s just fat and sugar. It may taste good, […]