Finn Poke celebrates the goodness of life
If there’s something we never tire of, it’s freshness. The first dedicated poke bar to open in the south-east corner, Finn Poke, opened their second venue upstairs in Pacific Fair exactly a year after the opening of their Byron Bay shop. With a longterm hospitality background in extended family restaurants ‘Fig & Olive’ and the […]
Zipang
Named after the ancient title of Japan, Zipang, Chef Atsushi Mizushima’s cafe has a split personality. By day, it’s a tiny ‘dine in’ or quick ‘grab and go’ eatery where workers stop in to get lunch. By night it’s a romantic laneway restaurant guarded at two entrances by ancient warriors. We first dined at Zipang […]
You Japanese Restaurant
For 25 years, even before Japanese food became trendy, You Japanese Restaurant has been operating on the Gold Coast. It’s an unassuming little izikaya on the Cavill Street end of an arcade overlooking Cavill Park, the sort of restaurant frequented by regulars, or by Japanese tourists who’ve heard about it by word of mouth; a […]
Mario’s Italian Restaurant
If there was a family tree of restaurants on the Gold Coast, Mario’s would be the patriarch. Since it was established in 1989, Mario’s has been a favourite of many families, whether they are locals or tourists on annual holidays. Mario’s longevity, when so many other restaurants have come and gone, is testament to its […]
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 […]
Two Wise Fish
After spending a lot of fruitless time fishing, I’m of the opinion that there are more than two wise fish in the ocean. Experience tells me that there are lots of fish who were canny enough to snatch bait from my line without being caught. From our past fish shop experiences on the Gold Coast, […]
Crab Carnival 2018 at The Balcony Bar, Byron Bay
“Are you sure you want to go out in this weather?” he asks. “Crabs!” I reply. Just one word. It’s enough to get us moving from the comfort of the lounge, out into a storm wild enough to blow crabs up onto the beach; not enough deterrent, though, to keep us from eating crabs with […]
A Tasmanian Getaway
A trip to Tasmania is the essential compact island journey. It’s the ‘island of everything’ with all the elements of a great holiday plus an escape from the summer heat. Founded by force, for many of its settlers Tasmania has been a place of new beginnings. For us, inexpensive airfares proved to be an irresistible […]
The Cuban
The glamour of Cuba in the 1950s is legendary. In the favoured holiday destination of movie stars and celebrities, at chic bars and stylish restaurants, tables were laden with food and mojitos flowed. Socialites partied on in a haze of cigar smoke, their drivers waiting outside in Studebakers lined along the street. But trouble was […]
The Island Boutique Hotel
There’s something special about heritage places, especially when they’ve been reborn. It’s as though those who’ve gone before have trod the floorboards, breathed the air and imbued into the building a sense of place. There’s all that and more at The Island. The original five-level tower, built in 1964 by Greg Graham and Bill Reichelt, […]