BSKT Cafe, Gold Coast

In December 2013 we headed up to the Gold Coast for a few days.  Deciding to stay at Peppers Broadbeach, we took advantage of the bikes the hotel has for hire and took a lovely ride down south, past all the beautiful house, mermaid beach and had a beautiful lunch at BSKT Cafe.

Right on the beach, the atmosphere is cool and laid back, the staff are friendly and helpful. BSKT has a good size menu with plenty of healthy, free range, organic, gluten free and vegan options.  Not only is the food good for you, but is tastes great (a combination others have tried and failed).

This visit we enjoyed:

• BSKT Burger - Ground Angus beef, wholemeal bun, beetroot relish, tomato, spinach, goats cheese, leg ham, fries and aioli
• BSKT Juice - Apple, berries and mint
• Hot chocolate
• Gluten free banana bread

The scenery is great, the staff are welcoming and the food was amazing. We had a bit of food envy with teh table next to us enjoying the DIY fresh spring rolls - raw veggies, fried tempeh, Vietnamese mint and satay sauce with light pancakes.  So that is on the list for our next visit!

We love this refreshing cafe, committed to providing high quality nutritious food at reasonable prices and have placed it on our list for the next GC visit.

Well done BSKT Cafe!

http://www.bskt.com.au/

Vanitas Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast, Queensland

As the fine dining restaurant at Palazzo Versace on the gold Coast, Vanitas does not disappoint.

It's a beautiful restaurant with five star service and fantastic food. It boasts a great view of the hotel's lagoon style pool,is dotted with tea light candles giving a romantic and relaxed atmosphere, and, as you would expect - Versace plates, cutlery, glassware.

On arrival the staff made us very welcome, nothing was a problem and they had a wealth of knowledge in relation to menu, wine and cocktails.

We opted for the sand crab tortellini with tempura of New Zealand scampi, aoli and herb oil - this was the best entree we have had in a very long time. The pasta was amazing and the dish was fresh, had beautiful flavours and the portion size was quite large.

For main the choice was easy - roasted duck breast with sweet potato purée, bok choy and coffee sauce. The duck was cooked to perfection, the sweet potato puree was silky and flavoursome and, as someone who is not a fan of coffee, the sauce was still fantastic.

The baby spinach in butter with garlic and spiced hand cut chips sides that we chose to compliment the dishes were tasty and the portion size generous, so generous in fact, that there was room for tea and coffee but not desert.

Highly recommended for a romantic meal.