Everyday Epicurean

While on holidays, in sunny Coolangatta (on the Gold Coast, Qld, Australia), we ate at the Rusty Pelican.
This is primarily a seafood place, but also does steaks, in fact their tagline is “Grog, Steaks and Seafood”, which kinda drew us in (as tacky as it sounds).

Let me start off by saying, the food was excellent. The particular day we visited was a public holiday, so reduced staffing levels were in effect, and thus the service was a little lacking. However, I’m sure on a normal day, this wouldn’t be a problem.
The decor is not high class, plastic chairs and a bright nautical coloured sponged effect wall covering lends it an open beach-side feel. Don’t be fooled though, as the food is a lot better than the look of the place suggests.

We shared garlic bread as an aperitif, which was made from half trunchers of crusty bread, coated in just the right amount of melted garlic butter.
The children had, fish and chips, calamari and chips and spaghetti bolognese respectively, all were a decent sized serve and all done beautifully (the calamari was very tender, the fish crisply battered).
The children’s meals also come with a complimentary dessert of ice-cream and topping (very cold, but very tasty).

Lea dined on Lobster Mornay, at a special price of just $30 (usually $48), while I had a Seafood Crepe. Tom, or visiting Alaskan, went for Bugs and Steak.

The Lobster Mornay was a big hit, and served cut in half, with the tail split open for easy eating. The Bugs and Steak went down well, with Tom being very pleased with the Bugs (Moreton Bay Bugs), something not available in Alaska.

The Seafood Crepe was a bit of a misnomer. Yes, there was a crepe with seafood in it (prawns, squid, mussels) and served with a garlic bechamél sauce, but it also came with half a bug, a fillet of very nice smoked Atlantic salmon, some sea scollops, and some more prawns, with a side of steamed rice. Far more than I expected, but all excellent. Both the latter two dishes were around $26, which considering the amount and quality of the seafood, was a very reasonable price.

In conclusion, I can happily recommend this restaurant, but try to avoid public holidays if you’re in a hurry.