Who says that street food belongs only on the street? These Gold Coast restaurants have given street food dishes a gourmet twist.
BAO
Bao – literally ‘wrapping cake’ – is a dish eaten in different forms throughout Asia. Lucky Bao’s chef, Daud Kendall, brings us the most delicious Taiwanese-style bao, handmade buns sandwiched around tender meat, yielding easily to the bite.
HALO HALO
A colourful mix of shaved ice and evaporated milk with toppings of boiled sweet beans, coconut, sago, jelly, fruit, and purple yam ice cream – Halo Halo is the Filipino dessert sweeping the world. Kubo’s serves a beauty! ‘Mix mix’ as its Tagalog name implies, and you have a light, refreshing treat; perfect to share on a summer’s day.
RAMEN
Originating from China, ramen is now a Japanese regional specialty with a culture all its own. Muso serves four variations, everything including noodles made from scratch by Chef Akira Takagi. His ‘Tonkotsu’ pork stock is simmered for hours resulting in a super-rich flavour. Delicious!
GYOZA
There’s traditional gyoza, and then there’s Harajuku Gyoza’s ‘little Japanese dumplings of happy’. As co-owner Steve Minon says, “Dumplings and beer, sharing food, high energy service and crazy stuff…that’s Harajuku – a $30 trip to Japan.” Nothing old school here with 3-cheese and Nutella being two gyoza fillings available.
PIZZA
If you’re following the ‘holy grail of true pizza’ trail, Double Zero has the highest ‘appellation’ of pizza – it’s the first Queensland pizzeria accredited by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association for serving true Neapolitan style pizza. “It’s all about the quality of ingredients, and the attention to detail…Making pizza is a science,” co-owner Matthew Slivonik tells us.
SOUVLAKI
A modern take on traditional souvlaki, at The Lamb Shop shoulders of Junee lamb and Byron Bay pork are marinated for 24 hours, then slow-cooked over charcoal for four to five hours, basted constantly during cooking. With culinary techniques and family recipes passed down through centuries, this is far from ‘fast food’.
BOMBOLONI
These innocent round balls of light, sweet, fluffy dough are a ritual in northern parts of Italy, eaten with coffee as a snack or dessert. Bomboloni can be filled with jam or crema or in luxurious style with Nutella at Gemellini. Literally, they’re ‘the bomb’!
CHICKEN AND WAFFLES
This mashup of Southern soul food and Pennsylvania Dutch is served with class at Easy Street Diner: baked to order Belgian waffles topped with chicken tenders, maple syrup and whipped butter, with loaded fries and buttered greens. What more could your little heart want!
BIBIMBAP
One of the few traditional foods seeking harmony between taste and nutrition, Korean bibimbap is served at Stones Throw for brunch. Fermented and pickled vegetables, including carrot, wombok, cabbage and house-made fennel kimchi come on a base of brown rice, served with a crispy-edge fried egg on top. Delicious!
HOT DAWG
When German immigrant Charles Feltman began selling sausages in rolls on Coney Island in the 1870s, he started a new trend. Frankfurters soon became hot dogs, one of America’s favourite foods. The Loose Moose serves up four gourmet Hot Dawgs: chargrilled double smoked bockwurst with jack cheese and fillings in an organic milk bun.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
Destination Gold Coast acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are situated, the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh Language Region.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging, and recognise their continuing connections to the lands, waters and their extended communities throughout Southeast Queensland.