Noosa 2011

Daisy and I are just back from a trip to Noosa with family and friends. We had a lovely week of sunshine and swimming, and here are a few of the food-related highlights...

The crate of strawberries above was a bargain buy at the incredible Noosa Farmers Market, which is held every Sunday morning. Such is my enthusiasm that I paid two visits, the second top-up trip being just prior to closing time at 12pm - hence the huge strawberry box being purchased for just $10.

Other market favourites include the Suncoast Limes stall below - they make the loveliest lime cordial - topped up with sparkling water (and a dash of gin or vodka if that's your thing) this is deliciously refreshing.

Also worth hunting out is the Slow-rise Wood-fired Bakery stall who make beautiful bread, great value paper bags of muesli packed full of local fruits and nuts, as well as an array of spelt-based baking. Their chocolate macadamia cookies are divine, as are the flourless chocolate, orange and hazelnut cakes.

(image via)

Noosa isn't overly endowed with high quality dining establishments, but I had heard mentions of Wasabi from various sources, and we had a great meal there. Top-end contemporary Japanese, and a world away from your usual cheap and cheerful sushi joint. We loved the tempura crumbed inside-out sushi with tiger prawns, mango and coriander. Other highlights included the sashimi style hiramasa kingfish with toasted sesame, ginger chips and ponzu (pictured below) and the almost too beautiful to eat tempura zucchini flowers with ocean trout and scallop stuffing. Interestingly no wasabi appeared anywhere on our meals?! Recommended for a special dinner.

At the other end of the dining spectrum we enjoyed lunch on the sunny deck of the perfectly positioned Noosa Surf Club. Anna and I shared a bowl of calamari and 'diamond' chips (very good!) accompanied by an ice-cold Buderim ginger beer brewed just thirty minutes away.

Daisy was introduced to the 'babycinno' (known in NZ as a fluffy) and by the end of the week proved herself a pro with an espresso cup. We sifted out the best baby cap location at Amo Gelato Caffe in Noosaville, where not only the obligatory marshmallow but also a pair of tiny teddies are provided as baby beverage accompaniments. Luckily Amo also served some of the best coffee we had in Noosa, using the locally roasted Costa Noosa beans. Excellent coffee was also to be had at Hard Coffee on Hastings St in the unlikely location of the foodcourt.

For more of our favourite things in Noosa check out Miriam's write-up from last year's visit. To update - Lamington design store is still full of lovely things, but sadly they currently don't offer their amazing gift-wrapped lamingtons as the bakery supplying them has changed hands, however they are on the lookout for a new supplier. Nutworks is still worth a visit - I bought 1kg of macadamia chips for $17 - perfect for porridge topping and baking. Claude's Food at the Eumundi Market still makes delicious rice pudding!

Noosa

Becs and I (along with family & friends) recently returned from a holiday in Noosa, on Australia's Sunshine Coast. Here are some of the culinary highlights from our travels;

Lamington is a lovely wee design store in the main street of Noosa, that also happens to sell lamingtons. They are packaged up so beautifully, and although I didn't eat them (due to the coconut) everyone reported that they were delicious.

We were treated to lunch at Bistro C, which has become a family favourite restaurant. Right on the beach, it must be one of the best located restaurants around, and we watched porpoise's frolicking in the sea as we enjoyed our food. We all loved this desert of poached pear with caramel risotto. Poor Dad was under the illusion that he'd ordered this for himself, and was rather taken aback when 4 other spoons started attacking it!

The Eumundi market, held every Wednesday and Saturday is a foodie highlight. I am a big fan of the ginger beer stall, it is such a refreshing drink on a hot day!

We also loved Claude's Food which sold delicious fresh salads and treats. Becs and Daisy both loved the rice pudding they shared, and we all enjoyed Claude's chickpea & pumpkin salad.

Bulk macadamia nuts from Nutworks. A 1KG bag of Macadamias was about $23 (Australian). Much better than the $50+ we can pay per kg here in NZ. Needless to say, we stocked up on lots of nuts.

We stayed across the road from Noosaville Fish Market, that claimed to have the best fish and chips in Noosa. And they were worth writing home about. The calamari was a particular highlight.

Although not always able to partake in eating the delicious food, wee Daisy found that there was generally a pair of sunglasses on someones face just wanting to be grabbed off and chewed on!