Ever since arriving in Australia, I seem to keep hearing about Aussie meat pies. For some strange reason or another, they come up in conversation quite often. I guess it’s true what they say, Aussie’s really are obsessed with their meat pies. As a coeliac, I just assumed I’d never be privy to the Authentic Aussie Meat Pie Experience™ so I just held my tongue.
Until I went to the Sunshine Coast.
Beefy’s Pies, various locations
This is the store that took me one step closer to understanding my new countrymenandwomen. Countrypeople? Anyway. Beefy’s have developed a range of gluten free pies which I was delighted to be able to try.
As you can see, I really enjoyed it.
I had the steak, bacon and cheese, because that’s all they had left, but that’s the one I probably would have chosen anyway. It was absolutely delicious! They have them both hot and ready to eat or chilled to go, and they come individually wrapped and cross-contamination free. The owner’s son is coeliac so you know they know what they’re doing.
If you are gluten free and simply must try an Aussie meat pie, run don’t walk to Beefy’s Pies. You can thank me later. They’ve got a string of stores throughout Queensland AND in writing this post I’ve realised they deliver Australia wide, so my future supply of true blue meat pies is assured. I’ll be placing an order once I hit publish on this post.
The Peregian Beach Hotel, Peregian Beach
Located a convenient walk from our AirBnB, I was happy to find somewhere we could eat with a relaxed atmosphere and gluten free food items marked clearly on the menu. S and I both had pizza. You can read a bit more about it here.
It was good… but not the best gluten free pizza I’ve ever had. It gets busy so book ahead!
Via Italia, Maroochydore
This restaurant had a cool outdoor dining concept and we wanted to figure out what Maroochydore was all about. It was nice to sit next to the ocean for dinner, and the twinkly light atmosphere was cute.
We had pizza again because I’m on a mission to find the best gluten free pizza in Australia. This was better than the Peregian Beach Hotel but still not my best ever.
The service was friendly and the night was warm. What more could you ask for?
The Orangery, Maleny
If I can get you to visit just one place other than Beefy’s Pies, this is it. The Orangery is the most beautiful cafe set in a quiet side road outside Maleny, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Even though I arrived just before closing time, the owner was so kind in explaining exactly which of her cakes were gluten free (most of them!) and helping me decide which to go for. I was left to enjoy the large open-air balcony in peace and quiet.
I had my delicious berry smoothie and cheesecake on the balcony, and enjoyed some peace and quiet while I ate.
Unfortunately the combo proved to be too much for me on a hot day, but the owner kindly noticed and offered to package it up so I could take it home.
Overall I thought the Orangery was fabulous, and I’m only sorry I didn’t go in time to sample their breakfast menu (how good does it look?? Gluten free Canadian pancakes!).
Cafe Le Monde, Noosa
If I’m honest we mostly chose Cafe Le Monde because they had those air mister things going and it was a suuuper hot day. Queensland heatwaves ain’t no joke. Turns out, the food in Cafe Le Monde was also excellent (and the misters utterly ineffective). S and I split a burger and a salad between us, and it was all deliciously cooked.
I normally side-eye burgers that are made with a slice of gluten-free bread, but the bread was actually quite decent. And the rest of the food was so well done I couldn’t complain – duck fat chips?? Who cares about a burger bun when you’ve got duck fat chips.
I also really appreciated my lightly crumbed chicken salad, which was amazingly gluten free and so well cooked. The salad was just the right size for a hot day.
And S had an obnoxiously coloured iced juice that was delicious. I was secretly envious of it – my cold pressed juice was good, but not as good as his. If you go, get the rainbow lorikeet. It’s great.
Australia Zoo
Australia Zoo has quite a fancy food court, elevated on the first floor of a giant Queenslander-style building. A word of warning, it’s not air conditioned… The website lists the gluten free options available at Australia Zoo’s food court, but doesn’t tell you which outlet sells them. We were too hot to faff around with finding out exactly who could sell me the gluten free steak and salad, so we just went to the salad outlet and were done with it. All their salads were available gluten free, so I had a chicken caesar and it was fine.
Note that this doesn’t appear on the schedule I just linked to. Also it was expensive, but it’s a zoo, so. You really should be ready for that.
Noosa Arts Cafe, Noosa
I was so excited to visit this 100% gluten free cafe, but when we rolled up… it was 100% closed. Devastated. I’m not sure if they plan to reopen somewhere/sometime but I really hope they do. Their menu looked great.
This is quite a short post as we weren’t there for long, and tried to cook more in our AirBnB to save costs (ha, didn’t work). Next time, I’d like to try…
- Pizzami, Peregian Beach for gluten free pizza
- El Capitano, Noosa (we tried to go but turns out it’s only open in the evenings) for more gluten free pizza
- Delicats, Nambour for gluten free wraps and chocolate crepes?
- Cafe Nurcha, Buderim for nachos or spring rolls, although cross contamination may be an issue
- Kimnat Little Market and Café, Woombye for all kinds of hearty sounding meals (although, again, cross contamination may be an issue)
- Kelly’s, Peregian for brunch when we go back to Peregian Beach and are feeling fancy
- Pitchfork, Peregian for when we go back to Peregian Beach and are feeling fancy
There are also numerous coffee shops and cafes that promise ‘gluten free options’ which I’m sure I’ll need to investigate, as well. Hopefully they’re not all sad brownies.
Have you been to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland? Any gluten free eateries you’d recommend to me?
-Rachel
