I have been living on the Gold Coast for the past four years, since starting my studies. The Gold Coast's food culture just keeps getting better. There is so many options of places to eat. It can actually get a bit overwhelming.

I love eating out with friends and family- as much as I love cooking, it's always so nice to share a meal with good company without the fuss of having to prepare it. I also love eating out as it can be a big source of inspiration for me!

Admittedly, there has been many of times I have been disappointed with meals when eating out, even if they got great ratings on trip advisor, but that's just the nature of it. When I visit new towns I am always scrolling the Internet days before, trying to scout out some places I want to try. That's why I thought I would share some of my favourite local spots on the coast for anyone visiting and needing some good tips!

Here are my top 5!

Greenhouse Canteen
Paddock Bakery
Justin Lane
Mandala Organic Arts Cafe
Blackboard Coffee

Keep scrolling for photo diaries of each location and menu tips!

No. 1

Greenhouse Canteen is my absolute jam! Easily comes in as my fav place to eat on the coast. They used to be called Greenhouse Factory and were located in Kirra however they have recently moved to Miami and have come back as Greenhouse Canteen, with a revamped menu. The restaurant is super intimate, filled with greenery plus there's a cruelty free store called 'LC Lovechild' attached. Greenhouse is 100% plant based and their meals are insanely delicious! Lots of your favs turned into a vegan dream, such as hotdogs, pulled enchilada, meat ball sub, and nachos. So you can have some of your old favs without any cruelty! Too wicked! My partner and I are regulars, as it's convieniently located 500m from our place. We always get a couple of meals and share, so we can try new things and get the best of both worlds. Our fav dishes are the pulled jackfruit enchilada and the planet plate, plus you can't go past the cauliflower 'wings' and the antipasto board. Greenhouse will undo anyone's preconcieved ideas about vegan food... The meals are huge, So no one will ever walk away hungry, and super reasonably priced. If you want to introduce someone to vegan food or give it a try yourself, I think this is your first stop! Oh and did I mention the desserts are heavenly...

Top to bottom: planet plate, cauliflower wings, enchilada, nachos

No. 2

Paddock Bakery in Miami is nestled in a reburbished white home, with gardens filled with flowers, herbs and veggies. It's not a vegatarian or vegan cafe, but it's definitely one of my fav spots for breakfast! The avo toast is my absolute fav, you pretty much get a whole avo mounted on top of they're deliciously fresh, chewy sourdough. I also love the acai bowl with fresh wood fired granola. The coffee is also delicious, and I love the chai pots! You can also get cold press juices, salads, raw treats, plus it is a bakery, so what they're probably most famous for is their baked sweet treats (doughnuts and pastries). My partner can't really go to breakfast without getting a flakey croissant. There's also some quirky old home favourites featured on their menu: toad in the hole, fairy bread, and dippy eggs. Of course, they give it a modern and exciting twist. They also have a brother cafe called Bam Bam Bakehouse in Mermaid Beach. If you don't fancy eating your breaky from a cardboard box then this is your go to! The menu features all different but equally delicious options. I love that they give the avo toast a different twist at Bam Bam.

Top to bottom: cranberry walnut loaf, long black, almond croissant, avo toast, acai bowl, cold press juice, latte and donut

Bam Bam Bakehouse Spread, avo toast every time

Be sure to visit their brother cafe: Bam Bam Bakehouse in Mermaid Beach

No. 3

'Eat, drink and be messy'

Justin Lane Establishment is located in Burleigh Heads. They have a takeaway pizza shop, pizza and pasta dining and rooftop bar. This is my favourite pizza place on the coast. There isn't actually any vegan pizzas on the menu, however there is about 3 vegetarian pizzas. Me being me, as I always do, like to remove, swap and add things to make a pizza featuring all my favs. The zucchini and cherry tomato pizza is my favourite, which I remove the cheeses and add olives, mushrooms and rocket. The pizza base is the best part- a handmade chewy sourdough base. Getting takeaways and taking them down to Burleigh beach to watch the summer sunsets is my kind of Saturday night.

Watch them cook the pasta from the upstairs dining area/ pasta bar

Takeaway shop attached to the restaurant

My fav combo- zucchini, mushroom, tomato, and olive

No. 4

Mandala Organic Arts Cafe

Mandala's is also famous for its pizzas. However mandalas is a 100% vegan cafe/restaurant. So for vegan/vegetarians it's a dream come true. I've been coming to Mandalas for 4 years, because it's just so good. Their other signature dish is the nacho's, which are insanely delicious- mexi bean mix, salsa, cashew cheese and cream, guac and corn chips. On Tuesday's they have their all-you-can-eat pizza night for $25, which is totally worth it so you can sample all of the pizzas, plus their dessert pizzas and salad. My favourite is the creamy mushroom pizza, and even my partner who is a mushroom-hater, loves it! The garden is a beautiful place to sit in the summertime. And on weekends they have live music inside. You can also get their pizzas takeaway and they do breakfast on weekends.

No. 5

Blackboard Coffee is located in Varsity Lakes, a short drive from the coast line, but totally worth it for their delicious coffee and food! Probably best known for their coffee which is served at various cafes on the coast, as well as their injectable doughnuts or 'cronuts'. This is another fav breaky spot of mine as I've never had a bad meal and they're accomodating for vegans (happy to swap out the eggs for mushrooms). My fav dish is the Green Super: GF toast, avo, kale, broccoli, sprouts, seeds with added wild oyster mushrooms. My partner had the avo feta smash, a flakey croissant and we had to try their pitaya bowl. Aside from the great coffee they also have a selection of juices, smoothies, a great chai tea blend and turmeric latte. And of course my partner had to test out one of the doughnuts for the sake of a good photo!

Bright colourful pitaya bowl (dragonfruit)

Avocado, greens, wild mushrooms on GF toast

Sunday brunch spread at Black Board Coffee

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing my fav five eats on the Gold Coast. Of course, there are so so many more that I would love to include.

Let me know what you think of this post, if you have any other suggestions for places to eat, and ideas for future blog posts!

Elsa xx