UPDATE: We’ve eaten several times at Social, including with vegans, gluten and lactose intolerants all at the same table! On every occasion our needs were gracefully accommodated, with Matt’s food surpassing our expectations. We give Social our highest recommendation for both food and service.
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Social Eating House + Bar takes ‘smart’ to a new level. It’s the latest brainwave of one of our most celebrated chefs, Matt Jefferson, People’s Choice Chef of the Year for the past three years who, together with his wife Amy, is co-owner of RockSalt, Broadbeach.
The Jeffersons have taken note of dining trends, especially the movement towards more casual ‘non-committal’ shared plate dining, to give the Gold Coast a whole new style of venue: casual restaurant, tapas eatery, alfresco dining, modern charcuterie, and upmarket bar, all merged in one. It’s a move that’s sure to make some of our more complacent GC establishments sit up and take notice!
Oracle Boulevard is fast becoming the new dining precinct in Broadbeach, with venues bringing a range of cuisine from around the globe. Almost all are casual dining restaurants suitable for families enjoying our relaxed Gold Coast lifestyle. Social not only adds to the Oracle culinary scene, but takes it to a new level.
In chic but for the most part muted industrial colours, the long space has been split into several more private areas, each with a visual feature. Divided by a bright canary-coloured pillar and high seating, one end of the restaurant has a view of the kitchen, the other the bar.
Taking pride of place in the middle is a picture windowed charcuterie cabinet, a modern take on a Mediterranean shop display, visible from the whole restaurant. Matt says that he decided on a charcuterie as a visual selling point so that diners could identify and understand the produce they would eat. It houses an elite hand-picked collection of some of the best Spanish, Italian and French cured meats and cheeses available. Sobrasada, prosciutto, and salumi sausages hang silently alongside legs of jamón and waygu bresaola, while cheese rounds lean against each other for support alongside the paté, awaiting the knife. The scene forms its own still life and the surrounding chalkboard wall leaves no doubt that we’re dining on quality fare. Some of the best cheeses from France and Spain are on offer, alongside our own renowned Old Telegraph Road Gruyère. On the side board, the daily specials are listed, adding to the menu listing snacks, small and large shared plates, salads, sides and sweets.
Now, about that jamón…it’s Ibérico, the Kobe beef or Beluga caviar of hams. Not only that, but Jamón Ibérico de Bellota comes from porcine royalty; free range specially bred pigs who feed all their lives on acorns from the cork tree, their diet and exercise giving the 40 month aged ham a rich nutty flavour and tender texture. Rare in Australia, because Spaniards eat most of this delicacy themselves, it’s well worth a taste on a share plate!
We’d already enjoyed a mid-week lunch at Social of Oysters with yuzu and elderflower granita and Prawn and white truffle risotto with pecorino, and yearned for more. A dinner for four provided an excellent opportunity to share a few small dishes (Truffled Scallops, and Buffalo Gnocchi in a Roquefort, white wine and hazelnut sauce) before settling down to the fabulous 1kg slow-cooked pesticide free Saltbush lamb shoulder, accompanied by a rainbow-like salad of Heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella dressed with herbs and EVOO.
It was an amazing meal which we’ll talk about for months to come. We loved the way the food itself is on display in each dish: the intensely unique flavour of each different tomato, the richness of blue cheese and hazelnuts, the boneless lamb carved at the table melt in the mouth succulent and packed with flavour. Sensational, yet almost disloyal to the other dishes to call it the standout dish amongst such high quality cuisine! We paired our meal with the deep spicy berry fruits of a Clare Valley Sevenhill Cabernet, picked from the well-chosen, interesting wine list.
There’s been upbeat, crisply professional service both times we’ve dined, with staff paying attention to detail and eager to please.
Social Eating House + Bar is the ultimate venue for the casual diner who enjoys sophisticated food. It has a sexy vibe, great food, knowledgeable service and keen pricing, plus it’s open seven days!
Matt and Amy Jefferson have made a very loud culinary statement to the Gold Coast: Even when you dine casually, you can still eat absolutely delectable fine cuisine at an affordable price! So smart!
137/3 Oracle Boulevard, Broadbeach Ph: 07 5504 5210 Open daily 12noon – 5pm, 6pm – 12midnight