Sunday Sessions – Sunshine Coasting

Juan Fifty

One cuisine the Sunshine Coast does really well is Mexican – and not just the all in together sort of slop that Mexican food used to be (remember those office parties?). We’re talking new Mexican, tasty Mexican, amazing burrito bowls and soft shell tacos with fillings that haven’t seen the inside of an El Paso packet. Food that goes incredibly well with blue skies, bright colours, vibey vibes, and beer and tequila in an Instagram worthy setting.

Juan Fifty at 150 (get it?) Alexandra Parade – right across the road from the Alex Surf Club – is that sort of Mexican.

The decor has even more colour than the beach across the road, and the drinks menu has enough beers, tequilas and cocktails to make it worth making a night of – or whiling away a Sunday afternoon…not that I’d ever advocate a lack of moderation…no siree…drink responsibly people. There are even a few local faves on the craft beer list – like Your Mate’s Larry (a pale ale) and Donnie ( a dark ale) brewed right here on the Sunshine Coast.

And the food? We shared:

Chickpea Battered Brocollini ($8)
Battered cod fingers with a harissa bell pepper sauce ($9)
Pulled pork tacos with blackened Pineapple & Jalapeno Salsa Coriander, Cucumber, Slaw, Housemade Rainbow Corn Tortillas (2 for $16) and
Build your own burrito bowl with pulled pork and street corn and black bean salsa ($18)

The verdict? I think we might have found a new Mexican fave…

For more information, check out their website.

Details, menu and prices valid as at November 2018

Hong Sa Bar at Spirit House

We’ve been fans of The Spirit House for what seems like forever. I hate to think how many times I’ve posted about it on the old and anyways site. They absolutely deserve the accolades they’ve received – speaking of which, they retained their hat status in the recent Good Food Awards…I digress.

Anyways, just when you thought they had done it all – great restaurant, fabulous cookbooks, seriously hard to get into cooking classes – now they have a bar. It’s completely separate to the restaurant, but has that same could be in Bali feel about it – albeit a much sleeker could be in Bali feel than the restaurant does.

Set in the lush gardens of Spirit House, Hong Sa’s bar is dark and moodily lit, with the centrepiece the mural of the golden swan – a symbol of kindness, gentleness, richness and happiness. According to the menu, it’s a traditional Thai tattoo down as Pa Ya Hong Tong. It also happens to be very striking.

The deck, however, is the place to be – especially on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Barrel-aged cocktails seem to be quite the thing at the moment and Hong Sa had 2 on offer – a negroni and a manhattan. I opted for the negroni, but other than that the signature cocktail range is an interesting one.

As for the food? Song Ha’s list of bar snacks changes regularly. We were after a really light lunch so went with the coffin bay oysters with a tangy red nahm jim, massaman lamb pies with homemade tomato sauce, Mooloolaba prawn roll with tom yum mayonnaise, and Hiramassa kingfish skewers with green nahm jim.

It all had the same full of flavour Thai with a twist creativity that we’ve come to expect from Spirit House – and is just a tad easier to get into these days!

Where: Spirit House is at 20 Ninderry Rd, Yandina

More info: Their Facebook page is here.

La Canteena

Bucket of beers. Do three words ever sound as good as these do? Especially on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon on the Coast.

What if I throw in another few words? Words like tacos, and corn, and chicken wings. Dude food Mexican style. Yeah. Those words sound pretty good too.

At La Canteena on Ocean Street, Maroochydore’s foodie street, there’s all this – plus a mural wall that would not be at all out of place in a Melbourne laneway. In fact, if we want to take it further, La Canteena would not be at all out of place in a Melbourne laneway – although I suspect there wouldn’t be quite as much need for shade. Just saying…and by now you should know how much I do love Melbourne.

Of course, it’s not all about beer. With a name like La Canteena, you’d also suspect there would be sangria and tequila and other cool cocktails – and there is.

On the menu ipad you’re given you’ll find pizzas and lots of Mexican street food in share plate style – although I never knew that Brussels Sprouts were traditional Mexican street food…who’d have thunk it. Having said that, these are not like the Brussels your Mum used to force feed you. Oh no – these are very yummy. These ones are pan fried with crispy bacon and drizzled liberally with chipotle mayo.

For me, though, it’s all about the tacos. We’ve sampled the soft shelled crab, the fish, the pulled pork, and the pork belly, but still have a few more left to try.

And the devilled chicken wings. You have to try the chicken wings. And the street corn – buttery with parmesan, lime and herbs.

Where:

19 ¾ Ocean St Maroochydore

When:

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 5pm – 10pm

Saturday, Sunday 12pm – 10pm

More info:

Find out more at their website or on Facebook

Guru Life

It’s a funny thing, but one of things I remember distinctly about holidays to the Sunshine Coast was the sugar cane. I remember that on the road to Nambour there was lots of sugar cane. I even remember that sometimes you had to stop for the train that took the cane up to the mill.

I don’t know when we stopped noticing the cane, or the little train and the mill. Apparently the train and the mill closed in 2003 – the cane probably making way for development. I hadn’t even really thought about it until I took the back road – down through Bli Bli – to the airport the other day.

Where am I going with this? I’m not really sure, except to say that I thought of it again as we drove through cane-fields in Rosemount to Guru Life.

Where’s Rosemount, I hear you ask? No, I had no idea either. Anyways, it’s sort of west of Maroochydore, but not quite as far as Nambour – and surprisingly not really very far from anywhere.

I’d heard a lot about this place – about how the coffee was fabulous, about the quirky furniture, and about how it’s a great weekend hang-out for the sort of restorative all-day breakfast after the night before. Perhaps the pineapple wallpaper on the counter expedites the healing process…

We visited at lunch time on a steamy Friday to find the carpark – and the courtyard – relatively full.

And the food? Hubby was concerned that with a name like Guru Life he was going to be confronted with a completely vegan menu full of acai bowls and quinoa and kombucha. A quick trip to the website and the phrase “extra bacon” soon put his mind at rest.

I chose the Indian spiced corn fritters with potato kofta, hummus, yoghurt dressing, avocado, a salsa, and bacon. Phew.

Miss 19 had the same, but with smoked salmon.

Hubby had the fish and chips – and exceptional fish and chips they were.

Guru Life is also a roastery and I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that they’d been voted by something or other as having the best coffee on the coast, but don’t quote me on that. Given that it was a Friday and my head hurt from work and some other stuff that you don’t need to know about, I went straight for a glass of wine. Don’t look at me like that – it was medicinal.

Speaking of which, aside from being a great spot for breakfast or a mid-week lunch, this is the perfect place for a Sunday session. A spot outside, a cold ale or three, maybe some tunes, and the world is a very special place. With a duck pond. What more could you ask for?