Best of the Gold Coast 2018: Five of the best Gold Coast seafood platters

Nothing screams summer louder than lingering over a sumptuous seafood spread. We’ve found the best places to indulge in the fruits of the sea.

The seafood table at Seaduction Restaurant and Bar, Peppers Surfers Paradise

NOTHING screams summer louder than lingering over a sumptuous seafood spread. We’ve found the best places to indulge in the fruits of the sea.

Currumbin Vikings Surf Club

741 Pacific Paradise, Currumbin

It’s hard to beat the ocean view at Currumbin Vikings Surf Club. Picture Glenn Hampson

It’s hard to beat the view at this sunbathed surf club standing above rolling waves upon a rocky ocean outcrop.

It’s the perfect setting for the house special seafood platter piled with fresh natural oysters, local prawns, green lip mussels, seasonal crustaceans, beer-battered flathead, panko prawns and salt and pepper calamari, custom-made for two or four people.

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“We get people who drive a long way to enjoy our seafood platters,” marketing manager Alana Welch says.

“They’re also very popular with international visitors. It’s a great Gold Coast experience to enjoy our seafood looking out over the ocean and the skyline. We’re very lucky.”

Seaduction

Peppers Soul Surfers Paradise, 8 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise

Seafood Table at Seaduction Restaurant and Bar at Peppers Surfers Paradise.

Seaduction not only provides a dazzling seafood feast and appetite-enhancing ocean view, it also throws in a chef.

Seaduction’s popular Seafood Table includes natural oysters, Mooloolaba prawns, selected sashimi, steamed mussels and clams, salt and pepper squid, tempura local prawns cutlets and grilled fresh fish.

Fresh sashimi selection as part of the Seafood Table at Seaduction Restaurant and Bar, Peppers Surfers Paradise.

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The chef introduces each element and is happy to provide details of where the seafood has been sourced and how it’s been prepared.

The lunch special makes the most of the vista over Surfers Paradise beach and you can also opt for a paired bottle of wine to take any guesswork out of the equation.

Glass Dining & Lounge Bar

74 SeaWorld Drive, Main Beach

Seafood platter from Glass Dining and Lounge Bar, Marina Mirage, Main Beach

With its mulitmillion-dollar views over the marina, Glass is perfect for special occasion dining.

Its hot seafood platter is a popular celebratory choice, even if it’s only to celebrate being able to eat fine seafood in such a location.

It features oysters, both battered and kilpatrick, grilled prawns, grilled calamari, bugs, a half lobster, octopus, grilled and battered fresh market fish, served with chips.

Seafood platter at Glass Dining and Lounge Bar, Marina Mirage, Main Beach

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It’s available for lunch or dinner but if you time it right, there’s nothing quite like watching the sun setting over the Broadwater.

If you’re a boatie who fancies a seafaring takeaway, Glass will also prepare you a hot or cold seafood platter, perfect for on-deck dining — or sailing off into the sunset.

Yellowfin Restaurant

6/20 Queensland Avenue, Broadbeach

Seafood platter at Yellowfin Restaurant. Picture: Richard Gosling

When it comes to variety, Yellowfin’s signature gourmet seafood platter is a standout.

The platter for two is generously stacked with Moreton Bay bugs, Queensland sand crab, Hervey Bay scallops, Pacific Plate oysters, king prawns, smoked salmon, New Zealand clams, prawn skewers, beer-battered barramundi (or fish of the day if you’d prefer) and calamari with gourmet salad, chips and dipping sauces.

Yellowfin Restaurant’s seafood platter. Picture: Richard Gosling

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Manager Jonas Gomes says it’s a very popular menu choice and he shares a useful tip: “Sometimes it can be very generous for two people. Often it comfortably feeds three.”

Yellowfin also offers a market price half lobster and bugs platter, accompanied by king prawns, salt and pepper calamari, salads, beer-battered chips and sauces.

The Lazy Lobster

Shop 2/300 Marine Parade, Labrador

Lazy Lobster’s Seafood platter.

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It’s all about the quality at this family-run steak and seafood restaurant which overlooks the Broadwater and Surfers skyline from its prime spot on the Labrador foreshore.

The hot and cold seafood platter is one of The Lazy Lobster’s all-time favourites, featuring a half Western Australian rock lobster, prawns, crab, oysters served three ways, fish, calamari, scallops, chunky chips and seasonal fruits.

It looks tasty!

But owner Des Lyons says seafood purists often prefer their seafood barbecued or cold.

“We do a barbecued platter or one served fresh and cold, or a combination of the two,” he says.

“We can also make up a platter of whatever anyone would like to try and we’ll price it from there. It’s all very good quality. You can’t go wrong.”