Social Eating House, Broadbeach, Queensland

Social Eating House is a newish restaurant, in Broadbeach on teh Gold Coast.  It focusses on a shared dining experience and offering a great range of small and large sharing platters with plenty of flavor.


As we were staying at Peppers on Broadbeach, the restaurant was conveniently located just downstairs on Oracle Boulevard.


We visited in December 2013 and were very impressed with our meal, drinks, the restaurant and the staff. We enjoyed:

  -  ½ Shell Hervey Bay Scallops, Red Curry, Tomato and Kaffir Lime
  -  1kg Boneless Salt Bush Lamb Shoulder, Slow Roasted In Sheep’s Milk Yoghurt and Lamb Stock
  -  Grilled Red Claw Yabby, Tarragon and Brown Butter Emulsion, Shaved Fennel, Jamon and Rockmelon Leaf
  -  Roasted Chat Potatoes, Caper and Lemon Mayo
  -  Green Leaves, Fennel, Peas, Feta and Mint

The lamb was by far the star of the show. Slow cooked, packed with flavor, moist and tender, melt in the mouth goodness. The green leaves, fennel,peas, feta and mint where there perfect friend for this huge piece of meat allowing us to ensure we finished the entire piece (it was slightly larger than expected).

We have tried a few slow cooked lamb shoulders at other restaurants however, this one is by far the best

This casual, relaxed and trendy restaurant/bar is a great place to catch up with a  group of friends. We will definitely be visiting again.

http://www.socialeatinghouse.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.