The Best Restaurants in Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise is at the heart of the Gold Coast’s tourist centre. The best places to stay in Surfers Paradise are all located extremely close to the many beaches and shopping centres, so this really is the perfect spot to base yourself while you explore all that the Gold Coast has to offer. To add to this hotspot’s already impressive list of reasons to visit (including great weather all year round), Surfers Paradise also has a thriving nightlife district, with an excellent range of restaurants, bars and cafes to choose from. Check out these top restaurants while you are in Surfers Paradise.

Seascape Restaurant & Bar
Seascape has become a go to restaurant for fine dining in Surfers Paradise. Located across three levels on the beautiful Surfers Paradise Esplanade, Seascape has some of the best ocean views around. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a table here where you can’t see the ocean. Seascape is split into different sections, with a casual bistro on level one, where you can enjoy share plates and drinks with views of the beach. Upstairs on level two you will find the world class fine dining restaurant with floor to ceiling glass windows. The menu is focused on quality seafood, with exciting dishes such as their ‘Chargrilled Queensland prawns and Wombok salad and coconut cream and kaffir lime dressing’, along with an impressive wine list. On the 4th floor, the newly opened rooftop provides a laid-back setting to enjoy a tapas style menu and drinks with stunning panoramic views.

Elston
Another popular esplanade restaurant with jaw dropping views is Elston. Located at Peppers Soul, Elston is an ‘all meals of the day’ kind of place, with delightful menus covering breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the bar is well worth a visit if you are just after a drink or two. Start your day with a hearty breakfast of ‘sweet corn fritters, fresh avocado, tomato salsa and poached eggs’; or fill up on the ‘Elston Feast’ with chorizo chipolata’s, fried eggs, thick cut glazed bacon, potato hash browns, mushroom tapenade, tomatoes and sourdough. Tuck into one of their delicious burgers for lunch, and indulge in some seafood or a thick cut steak for dinner.

Clifford’s Grill and Lounge
There are a couple of very nice ‘grill and bar’ style joints in Surfers Paradise. One that is always popular is Clifford’s Grill and Lounge, located in the Watermark Hotel on Surfers Paradise Boulevard. Clifford’s boasts a lounge style bar that is perfect for relaxing with a drink or two off their impressive cocktail and drinks menu, while the smells from their flame grill will have your mouth watering. The menu is exciting for a grill joint, with a lot more than just steak and ribs. It is, however, hard to go past their 450g rib eye on the bone. Clifford’s is also big on the share plate, with a variety of starters and mains options. If you’re up for it, they have a 1kg T-bone steak for sharing, as well as a full rack offering of Texas style BBQ ribs.

Costa D’oro
Italian food is another popular cuisine in Surfers Paradise, with plenty of restaurants on offer. Costa D’oro, located on Orchid Avenue, is about as good as it gets. This place has been Italian family owned and run in the same place for over 30 years. The restaurant has grown and changed along with Surfers Paradise itself, but what Costa D’oro boasts about is their unchanged menu, keeping things simple and traditional, how Italian food should be. You will be hard pressed to find a disappointing option on the menu, but people rave on about their pastas, particularly those with seafood. Try their ‘Fettuccine D’oro’, with king prawns, fresh garlic, bacon and spinach leaves in a creamy garlic sauce.

Seaduction Restaurant & Bar
If you want to indulge in a truly extravagant, fine dining experience in Surfers Paradise, Seaduction Restaurant & Bar, located in Peppers Soul, has you covered. This restaurant is aptly named for its seductive and opulent feel as soon as you enter the intimate dining room, with elegant décor and floor to ceiling glass windows with views of Surfers Paradise Beach. Chef James Friske’s philosophy is to create a menu that uses fresh, local ingredients that changes with the seasons. This creates an ever changing and exciting menu of options that will have you wanting to return to try something new. One excellent option is to get their seasonal tasting menu, which selects several courses to suit the current season, which you can also match with wines.

Chiang Mai Thai
It seems that you are never far from a Thai restaurant in Australia, and Surfers Paradise is no different. When it comes to Thai food on the Gold Coast, Chiang Mai Thai tops the list as the best around, and it is located right in Surfers Paradise on Palm Avenue. This place has been around for a couple of decades now, becoming well ingrained into the local restaurant scene. Chiang Mai Thai serves up all the traditional Thai favourites in a relaxed setting, and they offer some excellent banquet set menus for groups of people.

Hurricane’s Grill & Bar
Another great choice if you are craving a good steak is Hurricane’s Grill & Bar, located on the Soul Boardwalk on the Surfers Paradise Esplanade. You’ll find an excellent choice of steaks here that suit all tastes and budgets, but they also serve up ribs, chicken and seafood as well. They have a second place around the corner in Cavill Mall known as Hurricane’s Woodfire Grill, where you can enjoy your steak cooked over an amazing wood fire, or grab a takeaway burger. Their bar has an excellent drinks menu, with happy hour every day from 3-6pm.

Betty’s Burgers & Concrete Co.
If you’re looking for a good burger in between beach visits, Betty’s Burgers has you covered, located right in the heart of Surfers Paradise. Betty’s is an American style diner that serves up delicious burgers and fries, plus a good range of thick shakes. The unique menu option here is their ‘concrete’, which is a creamy custard ice cream served with a variety of toppings. Interesting options include their ‘spiced pecan and banana cream pudding’; or the ‘passionfruit ginger crumble’.

Whether you’re looking for an extravagant, fine dining experience, or just a quick burger, there are lots of amazing options in Surfers Paradise. Enjoy these fantastic restaurants and more when you visit.

Images by Syed Abdul Khaliq, Anthony Cramp and Rocky T under Creative commons license.