The Food Zeitgeist

I was lucky enough to take a short break with the family on the Sunshine Coast away from work, renovations, computers and the Internet for a full week - the thought scared me, but being forced to just enjoy the sun, water and excellent food that the Noosa shire has on offer gave us a healthy reboot.

We go up there every year for the annual family holiday and one thing that is always consistently good is the quality of the restaurants. I guess when your audience are mainly fussy Sydneysiders and Melbournians with high expectations, you’ve got to deliver!

Eating with kids - High chairs, kids’ menus and crayons are definitely OK. In a holiday town it’s kinda important for them to accommodate families, but they do it well with early sessions and an understanding smile. This makes eating out in Noosa with kids really accessible.

There is a lot to cover in this area but if I had to choose one eating adventure it would involve Wasabi followed by Massimo’s.

Wasabi is a great Japanese fusion on Sunshine Beach which was with without a doubt the gastronomical highlight of our trip. Whilst serving the freshest sashimi, nigiri and rolls for the purists, they also confidently throw together fusion in the form of the Escondido : yellowfin tuna, avocado, salsa and bonito flakes and Hiramasa Ponzu : sashimi style hiramasa kingfish, toasted sesame, ginger chips and ponzu. They have plenty of mains options ranging from Tori Teriyaki : marinated free range chicken fillets sauteed in a light teriyaki sauce, caramelized onion and shitake, hijiki rice but I would highly recommend that you go long on the outstanding entree’s and desert. Desert? Yes you heard right. Can you remember when you last had desert at a Japanese restaurant. Serious Chocolate Plate : a selection of four house made chocolate morsels and Nashi Sorbet : house made pear and mint sorbet served with vanilla and lemon custard, black sesame sable biscuits but prepare yourself for the chocolate shot. Served in short black cup and resembling a hit of espresso, the quality of this hot chocolate left me reeling. In fact I walked away from the most memorable Japanese dining experience with nothing but chocolate shot on my mind.

Wasabi on Google Maps

Massimo - It’s getting late and I still haven’t unpacked the dishwasher so this will have to wait for my next post but to all you Gelato lovers out there check back here for what has been called “Simply the most fabulous gelato outside of Italy!“

Massimo on Google Maps