Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Club

Cnr Marine Parade and Hill St Coolangatta QLD 4225
Ph: (07) 5536 1506
Open: Lunch and dinner every day and breakfasts on Sunday’s.

WHEN one pays a visit to Goldie, one must dine at a Surf Club.
Our first attempt at the Broadbeach Surf Club failed as we missed dinner, which finished at 8.30pm. Oops. Gold Coast retirees like their dinner early.
A second attempt was successful with lunch at the Tweeds Head surf club further south, which happens to be the states oldest surf club.
Boasting a superb balcony, the surf club overlooks the magnificent Greenmount beach which is what attracted the hundreds of high rises and hotels in the first place that some might say spoil what must have been a pristine coastal nirvana.
Looking out over the beach means the high rises are out of view behind.
The lunch menu was impressive. Oysters, steak and prawns every which way. But the steak hamburger with the lot grabbed me. It came with egg, beetroot, pineapple, lettuce and tomato, piled on a perfectly cooked slab of scotch fillet. Fantastic.
Chunky chips and bit of salad rounded out the meal.
My partner in crime splurged on surf and turf and was presented with a porterhouse piled with prawns, Moreton Bay bugs and scallops. More chunky chips on the side.
The superb view, cold beer for him, raspberry and lemonade for me, perfected the occasion, for less than $40.
We were hoping to spot humpback whales that were passing through in their hundreds but instead we enjoyed perving on those dining around us; weather beaten locals, accented tourists, sugar daddies and their young companions.
Traditional surf club specials feature with Monday offering steak night ($13.90), Tuesday, baked roast dinner night ($9.90) and Wednesday, shanks, jazz and shiraz night ($14.90).
For a hearty meal and unrivalled views without blowing a hole in the wallet, the Tweed Heads surf club does the trick.

7/10 - Kate

Koi

Wave Building
Cnr Albert and Surf Parade, Broadbeach
Ph: (07) 5570 3060
Open: 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner



FINDING a top meal on the Gold Coast is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Navigating the hundreds of restaurants and cafes touting to tourists is not easy and who wants to risk a bad meal when so many good ones can be had on holiday?

With no idea, we stumbled across Koi in Broadbeach, the slightly less trashy version of Surfers.

Close to the beach and Oasis shopping precinct it was in tourist heartland. But breakfast hunger pangs prevailed and we gave the funky looking cafe a go.
A comprehensive brekky menu was on offer boasting a heart smart brekky and one aptly named get stuffed.

The (almost) 60-year-old opted for heart smart ($14.90) which featured roast tomato, asparagus, spinach, and tofu topped with thyme on crusty bread.

Her daughter went for the opposite, the Get Stuffed ($17.90) which was a plate piled high with two fried eggs, roasted mushrooms, piles of bacon, hash browns and tomato.
Eggs Benedict ($14.90) was piled high with a generous serve of bacon, poached egg and dollop of hollandaise on a piece of toast, not an English muffin.

Pancakes with compote, strawberries and maple syrup ($13.90) was a generous serve stacked with three thick pancakes and ice cream. A bit too much sugar for breakfast.


Side orders of thyme roasted tomatoes ($2.90), sautéed mushrooms ($3.90) and baked beans ($2.90) bolstered the feast.

A poppy seed breakfast bagel looked good ($12.90) with a fried egg perched on a tower of bacon, tomato and rocket.

All agreed the coffee ($3.50) was problematic – too weak – but gave the breakfast the thumbs up.

For seven of us, the bill totaled $173 which included fresh orange juice ($6.50), a hot chocolate ($4.50) and tea ($3),

Hearty fare at tourist prices.

6.5/10

- Kate