The Gold Coast’s best new spring menus from the region’s favourite restaurants

Spring is here and that means fresh fare from our favourite restaurants. We reveal five of the best new menus making the most of harvest season.

Spring is so close you can almost taste it. Amber Macpherson has found five of the best cafes and restaurants revamping their menus ahead of the harvest season.

Espresso Moto

2/1389 Gold Coast Hwy, Palm Beach

Espresso Moto new menu item - You All Know Me AEP dish with avocado, edamame and pea smash on sourdough.

WHERE YOU CAN LEARN TO COOK FROM A RENOWNED CHEF

Espresso Moto co-owner Jordan Stubbs isn’t sentimental about the Palm Beach cafe’s seasonal menu items. “Even if we love them, they’ve got to go,” he says. Colour and culture comes to mind when taking a peep of the menu that dropped earlier this month. The new breakfast quesadilla comes with house made beans, potato, chorizo and roasted turmeric cauliflower. Decadence is found in the gourmet mushroom croissant with truffle oil, while the You All Know Me AEP dish with avocado, edamame and pea smash on sourdough is light and bright. “That’s really eye popping,” Jordan says. “Flavour, colour and texture heading into spring is what you want.”

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Double Barrel Kitchen

64 Karbunya St, Mermaid Waters

Double Barrel Kitchen's new menu item — protein pancakes topped with ricotta, mixed berry compote and fresh local honeycomb.

IS THIS AUSTRALIA’S BEST BEACHSIDE DINING STRIP?

The days of comfort food are over for Double Barrel Kitchen. “Our winter meals are a lot heavier,” DBK owner Jess Winters says. “Coming into spring everyone says ‘let’s get the winter coat off, let’s get some greens into us’.” And greens is exactly what you’re getting at DBK after its new menu launched last weekend. “We’re doing a shakshuka green, we’re making it with spinach, kale and fresh herbs with chickpeas. I’ve got a beautiful coconut raspberry bircher, and we’re doing a sweet protein pancake with mixed berry compote and fresh honeycomb.” For lunch, diners can try the miso open chicken sandwich, a panko crumb eggplant burger or a sesame crusted tuna and quinoa bowl.

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Elk Espresso

Shop 44 The Oasis, Charles Ave, Broadbeach

Elk Espresso's new Moroccan waffle dish with spiced lamb, citrus coconut yoghurt and pumpkin creme.

Elk Espresso’s menu refreshes are always highly anticipated and for good reason. The Broadbeach brunch spot is not afraid to experiment with texture, colour and flavour. “We like to make standout dishes that the diner hasn’t had before,” Elk owner Andrew Whiting says. “The two left of field dishes would be the Korean benedict and the Moroccan waffle. The Moroccan waffle tastes great with lots of bold flavours but not too heavy, we really wanted to push the boundaries with breakfast lamb and this dish is yummo.”

THE GOLD COAST’S 13 BEST HEALTHY CAFES

Little Mermaid

1a/2557 Gold Coast Hwy, Mermaid Beach

Little Mermaid's new menu item - beef meatballs sprinkled with goats cheese snow.

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’Tis the season for seshes, and Little Mermaid is shaking things up with a new knock-offs cocktail menu. “In terms of the creation, we tried to capture a sunset afternoon,” Little Mermaid bar manager Taylor Lee says. “We have a lot of Sunday arvo sessions where we do sunset cocktails, so we try to base it around that time of day.” Warm spring days call for one of Little Mermaid’s new margaritas, while night diners can cuddle up with a boozy hot chocolate. With a new head chef, Little Mermaid is looking to refresh its food offerings as well, staring with a new Friday to Sunday bar menu. Pick up some arancini balls, salt and pepper squid or spicy popcorn chicken for $10 or less after 2.30pm.

Greenhouse Canteen

1/140 Griffith St, Coolangatta

Natalie Evans runs Greenhouse Canteen & Bar. Photo by Richard Gosling

WHERE NEW OUTLET FROM BAM BAM TEAM WILL OPEN

If you think there’s only so much you can do with vegetables, take a leaf out of Greenhouse Canteen’s menu. The vegan haven released a new range of options earlier this month, a long-awaited revitalisation of its healthy and wholesome dishes. “Our last change was around January (this year),” Greenouse co-owner Charlie Evans says. “We swap out about five dishes from the small eats and five from the big eats.” Charlie says the Italian-inspired chickpea crepe cannelloni is proving a hit, featuring baked tofu and kale, Napoli sauce and zesty herbs. The jackfruit rogan josh is a revitalising curry, and the mushroom cheeseburger is comfort food without the guilt — a tempura mushroom bun houses a lentil and tofu patty, plant-based “brie cheese” and pickled onion.