GAME ON, GOLD COAST
Fiona Donnelly checks the state of play at the Gold Coast’s best drinking and dining spots.
With the Commonwealth Games on the horizon, FIONA DONNELLY checks the state of play at the Gold Coast’s best drinking and dining destinations and finds they’re kicking goals.
We’re dithering on a footpath beside the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads. There’s no sign to indicate we’ve arrived at our destination. We can’t even find a door handle. We’re learning that some of the tastiest choices on the Gold Coast are the least obvious.
Behind Iku Yakitori Bar’s heavy iron-framed door and traditional Japanese blue noren curtain is a dimly lit charcoal-toned interior with floors and walls clad in grey stone. There’s tatami seating in suspended recycled-timber booths and leather stools around a custom-made binchotan grill. Add a likeable menu – from tsukune with a raw-egg dipping sauce, to grilled chicken tail, cartilage, heart and oysters – and the dial is firmly set to fun.
Iku is the handiwork of Gold Coast locals Mitch and Nerissa McCluskey. The absence of signage is a nod to the experiences in Japan that inspired them.
“It just feels super-Japanese to us,” says Mitch. “It reminds us of walking down cobblestoned laneways where you might see a random door and you need to take a risk to go in. The idea of not being able to see in – where you’ve got to peer in – just really appealed.”
The McCluskeys are among a wave of Gold Coast entrepreneurs who see no need to oversimplify menus and experiences for travellers. “Lots of people are excited about the Commonwealth Games,” says Mitch, “but we’re excited for what happens afterwards.
The international exposure will be amazing and the ripple-on effect should help us to get even better.”
Organisers are expecting an influx of visitors and a global audience of 1.5 billion viewers when the XXI Commonwealth Games opens at Carrara Stadium on 4 April. Athletes from 70 nations and territories will participate in 11 days of events staged at 17 venues on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville.
Simon Gloftis, whose destination Greek restaurant Hellenika in Nobby Beach has just undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation, is another Gold Coast restaurateur confident that Queensland’s second city is primed for its international close-up. “The Gold Coast’s best days are in front of it,” he says. “There are some truly amazing buildings and landlords, and a lot of investment on the way.”
Of course, there’s much more to the Gold Coast than the high-rise skyline. Ranked as Australia’s sixth biggest city, it spans 57 kilometres of coastline, hinterland tracts of World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforest and a string of urban hubs from Southport’s Broadwater Parklands in the north to the white sands of Coolangatta in the south.
For the best dining and drinking on the Gold Coast, here’s our Games plan.