Six of the Best: Gold Coast’s best autumn menus

The much-welcomed change of season brings exciting new menu offerings. We’ve found the best places to find autumn comfort food.

New autumn fare at Stable Coffee Kitchen, Tugun.

STABLE COFFEE KITCHEN

1/570 Gold Coast Hwy, Tugun

Charred banana and steel-cut oat porridge with salted caramel tahini and coconut yoghurt at Stable Coffee Kitchen.

Crisp autumn mornings call for comfort food and Stable Coffee Kitchen obliges with its newly unveiled autumn menu.

“As the seasons shift, we’ll see the return of warm, cosy breakfasts, including a charred banana and steel-cut oat porridge with salted caramel tahini and coconut yoghurt; and a linseed and buckwheat crepe, which has been created with a nostalgic nod to the humble apple crumble,” Stable owner Benjamin Honey says.

“The new menu takes into consideration flavours and ingredients we’ve noticed over the past year of business that our customers love, while at the same time weaving in new concepts that we think they’ll appreciate.”

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THE NORTH ROOM

1/2527 Gold Coast Hwy, Mermaid Beach

The North Room, Mermaid Beach for Taste, Gold Coast

If your tastebuds had toes, chef Tim Stewart would be sure to keep them on it.

He’s a wizard when it comes to reinventing comforting flavours.

The intimate eatery’s menu is loaded with new plates to explore: hot, salty pretzel bread; potato skins with chestnut mushrooms, yolk and the pop of trout pearls; a texture-rich homage to Ballina prawns; pork jowl with guava, cabbage and peanut; and schnitzel reimagined with celeriac

The crowd favourite bone marrow crumpet with mud crab and cultured cream with a lick of jalapeño heat is sticking around for autumn too.

Host Shannon can hook you up on the refreshment front as they move to showcase more small batch producers and minimal intervention wines.

MR P.P’S ROOFTOP & DELI

43 Nerang St, Southport

Mr PP's Deli and Rooftop in Southport. Picture Mike Batterham

Diners have been giving new head chef Julie Rogers a warm welcome to Mr P.P’s and she’s returning the favour with her debut menu.

Seasonal highlights include baked conchiglioni with a creamy spinach, ricotta, pine nut and grana padano filling; and rosemary and potato pizza with truffled ricotta, kalamata olives and fior di latte.

Julie, who previously owned 42Fifteen and restaurant and SoPo Dining Room, has also stepped up the dessert game.

Indulge in lemon curd pizza with creme fraiche, blueberry compote and pistachio crumb or the tiramisu for two with whipped masala mascarpone, espresso almond meringue and coffee liqueur gel and trust your cool-weather wardrobe to hide the evidence.

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NINETEEN AT THE STAR

1 Casino Drive, Broadbeach

Shucked Oysters, one of three entree choices for the seasonal lunch special menu at Nineteen at the Star.

Restaurateur Simon Gloftis celebrates every change of season for the new menu options they bring.

“We’re constantly changing our menu to take advantage of what’s seasonal and fresh but, me, the chefs, everyone, we absolutely look forward it — we love it,” he says.

In a nod to autumn, Queensland’s regional restaurant of the year is offering a two-course seasonal lunch menu for $55.

The choice of three entrees includes grain-fed seared beef carpaccio with tuna sauce while confit duck leg with sweet potato and jus gras adds a warming touch to the mains.

For $24 extra, Nineteen at the Star’s expert sommeliers will pair your selections with two glasses of wine from the establishment’s impressive two-storey wine cellar.

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ELK ESPRESSO

Shop 44 The Oasis, Charles Avenue, Broadbeach

Pork, date and sage sausage with roast cauliflower, butternut pumpkin puree and crispy kale, charred leeks and fried eggs and brie at Elk Espresso, Broadbeach.

The cooler weather has seen people turning to slightly heavier fare at Elk, where seasonal menus are always hotly anticipated.

Pork, date and sage sausage with roast cauliflower, charred leeks and fried eggs is a standout breakfast, while confit duck with pearl barley, Jerusalem artichoke, pine nuts, wild mushroom, garden peas and goat cheese is a lunchtime favourite.

“Even with the bit of rain we’ve had, people look for different food to what they were eating during summer,” Elk owner Andrew Whiting says.

“We love the change of season for the exciting things it brings to the menu. It’s not winter food. That comes later — we’re already planning that.”

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