Mario’s Italian Restaurant

NOTE: Mario is now under new ownership. …. 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 […]

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 […]

Balboa

It’s hard to miss Balboa as you drive through Palm Beach. Its red brick two-storey building, once a quite unremarkable office block, now forms an imposing picture; even more so at night when the interior emanates a warm glow and the tables spill over with food, drinks and good times. The latest venture of Avvia […]

Baritalia

Sometimes a really solid little restaurant can be hiding in full view, waiting to be discovered by locals. Perhaps you, like us, have walked past the olive trees too many times. All along, Baritalia has been sitting in the corner beckoning us with hooded eyes and somehow we’ve missed the overtures. Located on a triangular […]

Rare Delights – A Month of Truffles at Cucina Vivo

It’s winter, which means it’s the month for truffles, and we’re heading to Cucina Vivo in The Star Gold Coast to enjoy a ‘truffle feast’. It’s been a slow love affair for me. To be perfectly honest, you’d never pick a truffle for a first date! A large, darkish blob covered in wart-like nodules hiding […]

Gemellini

The Carney brothers, owners of Gemelli, waited some time before opening their second venue, Gemellini. But the wait was well worth it! Nobby’s ‘Little Twin’, as the name means, is a more relaxed and intimate venue than its older more worldly-wise Broadbeach sibling. Feeling fashionably well-established, the venue yawns back lazily from the street, a […]

Alfresco Italian Restaurant

Alfresco Italian Restaurant presents Surfers Paradise with a glimpse of Naples through its frescos of the Amalfi Coast, its authentic Southern Italian cuisine and its bustling friendly service. It’s the casual dining restaurant celebrities keep coming back to, a place where locals like us are made to feel like family. Little could Raffaele Velardo have […]

Spaghetti & Jazz

UPDATE, March 2016: Spaghetti & Jazz is now open for Breakfast and lunch Tuesday – Sunday. Lunch special includes two courses and a glass of wine for a competitive price. Spaghetti & Jazz: the name may be quirky, but the restaurant is not. Situated on the ground level of a set of suburban shops in […]

Cucina Vivo

UPDATE January 2015: 26,000 pizzas and counting! The Star Gold Coast’s own Italian restaurant Cucina Vivo has ticked off two milestones this month with the famed wood fired pizza oven churning out its 25,000th pizza coinciding with the venue’s first birthday. While the Prosciutto e Arugula is the most popular pizza, the Nutella pizza has […]

Gemelli Italian

FROM THE ARCHIVES: You will find a more current article about Gemelli here: The Gemelli Group: Bringing Life to Tradition … Excitement! There’s no other way to describe my reaction to the news of Gemelli’s opening. Hand-kneaded, thrown dough, wood-fired, handmade pasta… the words bring little ripples of anticipation. I’m a traditionalist when it comes […]