Cocktails

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Ricky’s River Bar & Restaurant – Noosa – Thursday 25 May 2023 – Lunch

“I never watch the stars, there’s so much down here” is a lyric that has always grabbed me by Lorde. It’s not intuitive, especially since I love looking up at the stars on a clear, dark night, in the country air. In that relaxed, reflective mood, that you only achieve on holiday, I can start to see the point though.

When you are not religious, it can be particularly difficult to navigate the question of “what else?” In the same vein that there’s so much down here, so too are there little moments during your life where heaven is on earth. Perhaps I’m going too far, but for someone whose top hobbies include simply dining at a restaurant, if heaven is supposed to be some form of constant bliss, Ricky’s today is worthy of the afterlife.

On a truly beautiful day, our early lunch booking comes with a bonus as Sydney has fallen asleep as we approach the restaurant on foot. Ricky’s River Bar & Restaurant is right on the Noosa River, with a fitout that is as sleek as the view. Our waitperson is quirky, professional, and largely attentive, with some added touches for Syd that show thought and care is part of the script here. Now all we need is for three courses of great food and we are inside the pearly gates.

My freshly shucked oysters are a nice beginning, coming from South Australia. The scallops in their half shell with cauliflower puree, were good without being as juicy and succulent as you might hope for. However, the Mooloolaba king prawns were wonderful and fresh, beautifully cooked, and nicely paired with the flavoursome roasted cabbage.

There were two local white fish fillets on offer, with Catherine choosing the barramundi. My coral trout has that natural colour that makes presentation a breeze. It is perfectly cooked, sitting atop a celeriac puree, with charred leak, and asparagus to accompany. It’s not cheap, but it is a great piece of fish. With the same accompaniments, Catherine’s barramundi is just as well looked after by the chefs, and we are very pleased with our mains.

We are two very dessert oriented people, and often we find it difficult for the sweet course to equal, or even top the savouries. Here it was a tough call, as the passionfruit soufflé could not have been better executed, and the poached pears and Maravista honey cake, were absolutely superb ways to finish.

Did we linger? Absolutely! We’d started with some subtle but enjoyable cockails (Goodtime is a soft gin, Campri, grapefruit and thyme syrup combination; and I had a Blood Orange Margarita). We then moved into a Clare Valley Riesling by Carousal, and a Petit Chablis by Gueguen, before I finished with a Light Hand Chardonnay, and cleansing Land & Sea Juicebox IPA for good measure.

It wasn’t that this was the best meal of our lives, but it was delightful. It felt like everything came together perfectly, and even though the dining room was effectively full, the spacing of the tables, and the expansive view, made us feel like we had the restaurant to ourselves. It also helped that there was a quiet confidence about the floorstaff, as there should be, with such an impeccable offering.

Ricky’s River Bar & Restaurant
https://www.rickys.com.au/
2 Quamby Place, Noosa Heads
Open Wed to Sun 12pm to late
+61 7 5447 2455

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Tomahawks – Bright – Wednesday 29 March 2017 – Dinner

Cauliflower + mozzarella fritters, Moroccan ketchup

Bright is a very nice town. There is an obvious pride that the community has put into many aspects, and the scenery surrounding is beautiful. Walking around and checking out some of the restaurant menus for tonight, we noticed a sophistication above the usual associated with a town over three hours from Melbourne.

Having worked out where dinner would be, we enjoyed a drink at the Bright Brewery. I wanted to try several beers but still be fit to drive, so the tasting paddle of six beers was the perfect option. All of them are nice beers, but my favourites were the porter style (Staircase), and the Belgian style wheat (Razor) was quality too. Catherine had the drier style of cider (Alpine) from locally grown apples, and was pleased with the choice.

After a nice relax, we made it to Tomahawks for dinner and sat on the bar. One of the staff recognised us from earlier in the day immediately building rapport, and luckily he was right that we didn’t need to book. The small restaurant is set in a long rectangle that has a bar as the main feature. We noticed that while it was relatively busy, the turnover meant that no one was waiting for a table, but during the evening most tables had two sittings. It’s a sign of a strong business, especially given it opened late last year.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder bruschetta, hummus, pickled red cabbage, zucchini, salted ricotta

We were urged towards the twelve hour lamb shoulder bruschetta and given I was already more than halfway there, it became one of our mains, along with a cheeseburger to share. I thought we better have some vegetables, so we started with the cauliflower and mozzarella fritters with Moroccan ketchup. They were not quite the refreshing vegetable dish we were looking for, but they were delicious and indulgent, which is better in our book.

Sevens Creek Wagyu Cheeseburger, habanero mustard, pickles, maple bacon

The chefs helped us out by halving both the lamb shoulder bruschetta and the cheeseburger, and it didn’t impact the presentation. The lamb shoulder is beautifully slow cooked on a grilled piece of light bread. It had us reaching for more, even with the burger in our midst. The burger too was great, but Catherine found the patty to be a bit fatty for her taste. Personally I liked the fattiness, and the fact the bacon was dispersed through the patty, but I can agree that the occasional chewy bit was less pleasant.

We were very satisfied from the savories and decided to forgo the ice cream sundae which looked pretty good. Besides, Catherine’s cocktail to begin was a bit desserty with the sherbet surrounding the glass on the Tiki Sour.

Tiki Sour

Tomahawks did a terrific job, making it more than clear why it is so popular in a town adorned with good places to eat. If we were in town a few more days a repeat visit would have been likely, but we’ll have to wait until next time.