Covered in this post:
- Berardo’s Bistro on the Beach (dinner)
- Bistro C Beachside (breakfast/brunch)
- Canteen (lunch)
When work sent me on a junket field trip to SE Queensland I was very excited. Why? Because finally I was going to nice places, with beaches, and restaurants, and work was paying. Normally the kinds of field trips I get to go on are to much less salubrious places. I’d name names, but… let’s just say they’re not exactly tourist hotspots.
I was also by myself for a good portion of the trip, which was both excellent: driving around with the car radio so loud the windows rattled; and not-so-good: eating out by myself. Awkward! I tend to eat out with friends or family, not alone, and was very unfamiliar with the type of eating alone that doesn’t involve unthinking consumption of food court food.
Pool I had no time to use given it was a work trip… le sigh
I lobbed into Noosa late in the afternoon, however, and taking a walk along the beachfront near Hastings Street, I spotted…
Berardo’s Bistro on the Beach
Which, Sunday to Thursday, offers a two course dinner, with a glass of wine, for $35. Having recently indulged in a series of these kind of lunches in Melbourne (see: here, here and here) I am quite the fan of this style of dining – sold!
View from my table – so Nooooosa
The menu offers no choices – you get what the options are on the day. Therefore, for my entree, I had smoked salmon risotto with peas and leaves.
Can’t remember what the herbiage was…
The risotto was good, but a bit watery for my taste. I picked up hints of lemon, which was refreshing.
For mains, polenta crusted pork belly with green beans and cauliflower puree was on offer. The presentation was great (see photo below). There were ample amounts of green beans, which I was happy with as I love green beans, and the pork was meltingly soft. There were random tasty bits of brown stuff on the plate – don’t know what they were but I lapped it up. The only downside to this dish was that the polenta crust kept the pork belly from crisping up and instead retained the fat in a fairly thick layer. I would have preferred a rendered and crispy skin on the pork belly.
More unidentified herbiage…
To wash all this down I had a nice glass of semillon sauvignon blanc. I was happy with my meal – for $35, even given the minor quibbles I had, the entree and main were more than enough food and I’d recommend checking out this deal if you’re in Noosa midweek. The view from the restaurant is stunning, too, overlooking the beach. (I’m not sure about paying full price, reviews seem mixed.)
Oh, and the staff were really friendly to me, dining on my lonesome, as well as super friendly to the family next to me who had a small issue with a vomitous child and had to head back to their hotel to clean up. Yeah, when you’re by yourself, you totally eavesdrop on everyone else’s business.
Bistro C Beachside
The next morning, I went back to the same location and had breakfast at the restaurant next door. The views, man! Unbeatable. Bistro C seems very popular for tourists and locals alike.
Bistro C breakfast view
The menu had some interesting choices. I went for the grilled mushrooms, celeriac and potato roesti, two poached eggs, prosciutto wrapped asparagus spears with pistou. How could you not, from that description!
Also on the plate, but not mentioned on the menu, a spicy tomato relish.
It was very good but the eggs were weirdly poached (potentially in the microwave?) and the yolks were overcooked. Pistou, as far as I could make out by the way, turned out to be basil sauce, but for a while I thought it might have been the spicy tomato relish. The prosciutto wrapped asparagus was yummy. This breakfast filled me up for hours. They have some other interesting sounding breakfasts on the menu so I’d probably go back, but not order poached eggs.
Canteen
Canteen is a cute little cafe on the main street in Noosa Heads, near Noosa Junction shopping centre. I had a bite to eat here for lunch and grabbed a watermelon and mint juice and this little beauty:
Roast vegetables and goats cheese… mmm.
The sandy was a spelt bread foccacia with pumpkin, goats cheese, spinach, caramlised onion, capsicum and tapenade. Yummy sandwich and friendly service.
Fresh Bread 
Hey … there’s nothing awkward about a table for one! In fact, I sometimes think food blogging is a nifty way of legitimising what is one of life’s great pleasures. Just go for it. Tho’ yum cha remains a bit problematic!
Ha! Yes, I am loving the fact that I no longer need feel guilty whenever eating out due to this newfound hobby of mine!
Eating out is always fun, especially by yourself. Sure you’ve got no one to share random bits of conversation/comments about the food, but it means to can take your time.
And eat that sundae exactly how you want – unless the waiters mind 😛