Whether its because it gets bloody cold very quickly once the sun goes down, or because it's a town of retirees, I don't know, but chefs tend to close the kitchens around 8:30pm.
I'd asked the folks to mind the kids one night while JD and I went out for a dinner date. Last night was our night. Because restaurants tend to close early up here, we set out around 6:30pm. And the place was as dead as you'd expect Melbourne restaurants to be at 6:30pm. Up here, the excuse was the decider State of Origin (rugby union) match - Qld v NSW. (Something few Victorians give a toss about.) The restaurants were dead. One restauranteur suggested that many places would close up around 8pm if they were still empty.
After walking most of the length of Gympie Tce, the main restaurant strip in Noosaville, and surveyed the menus of a score of restaurants, we eventually settled on a tapas place about a third of the way up. It took a while to get seated, and even longer to get menus, and longer still before they came back to turn on the heater. At that point, ten minutes in, we gave up. I was just going to get shitty with the service, provided by two hipster dudes or didn't really seem to have much clue on dealing with an unexpectedly full house (hint: don't stand around talking to your colleague).
So we went to our second choice, Sirocco, and were immediately pleased that we did. The service was welcoming and proficient, and menu more appetising. We ended up having tapas there - a selection of wonderful entree/starter sized meals - and rather a bit to drink.
I'd asked the folks to mind the kids one night while JD and I went out for a dinner date. Last night was our night. Because restaurants tend to close early up here, we set out around 6:30pm. And the place was as dead as you'd expect Melbourne restaurants to be at 6:30pm. Up here, the excuse was the decider State of Origin (rugby union) match - Qld v NSW. (Something few Victorians give a toss about.) The restaurants were dead. One restauranteur suggested that many places would close up around 8pm if they were still empty.
After walking most of the length of Gympie Tce, the main restaurant strip in Noosaville, and surveyed the menus of a score of restaurants, we eventually settled on a tapas place about a third of the way up. It took a while to get seated, and even longer to get menus, and longer still before they came back to turn on the heater. At that point, ten minutes in, we gave up. I was just going to get shitty with the service, provided by two hipster dudes or didn't really seem to have much clue on dealing with an unexpectedly full house (hint: don't stand around talking to your colleague).
So we went to our second choice, Sirocco, and were immediately pleased that we did. The service was welcoming and proficient, and menu more appetising. We ended up having tapas there - a selection of wonderful entree/starter sized meals - and rather a bit to drink.
- Bruschetta, with lovely ripe, flavourful tomatoes, fresh basil, olives (JD had those) and balsamic glaze
- Cuttlefish, slow-cooked and exquisitely tender, in a lime, chilli and palm sugar dressing with a spicy chipotle dipping sauce (highly and appropriately recommended by our knowledgeable waitress)
- Octopus, chorizo, potato dish, and again, the octopus was magnificently tender
- Lamb meatballs, in a long-simmered spicy tomato sauce
- Whitebait, individually battered and fried, with a delightfully garlicky aioli (fish chips)
- Rocket (arugula) in a goats cheese and hazlenut dukkah, with roast sweet potato
For dessert they offered a good selection including our respective favourites - sticky date pudding (JD) and tiramisu (me). I was sorely tempted by the pomegranate-soaked pudding, with a toasted cardamom marscapone, but was swayed by the recommendation of the waitress. The sticky spiced date pudding was one of the best I've tried in a long while - light and flavourful (not stodgy and boring, as they so often are). The tiramisu was blissful - Belgian chocolate, espresso coffee, ganache, raspberries, sublime.
Short version: Very highly recommended. A++++. Will dine there again.
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