Brunch on the southern Gold Coast: where to go

The southern Gold Coast, the stretch from Burleigh Heads down through Palm Beach to Currumbin and on to Coolangatta, has quietly become the best brunch strip in Queensland. We run kitchens at both ends of it, so this is our honest guide to doing the morning properly.

Burleigh Heads: the bakery end

Tarte Bakery & Cafe sits at 1748 Gold Coast Highway, and the bakery is the reason to come. Croissants laminated over three days, crullers, and a pastry bench that turns over all morning. The brunch menu is built on our house Everything Bagel, from the Bullseye Benny with miso hollandaise to the Brisket Bagel with 24hr wagyu. Walk-in only, doors at 6:30am, takeaway window from 6. The atmosphere is a working bakery at full tilt, and there is not much better to eat breakfast next to.

Currumbin: the creek end

Twenty minutes south, Tarte Beach House puts the same pastry and coffee on the sand of Currumbin Creek. The Cafe is walk-in and dog-friendly from 6:30am. The Restaurant serves brunch all day over the water, Crumpet Benny, Roti Canai, Creme Brulee Pancakes, and holds the long lunches. The Tea Garden beside it does high tea, and The Hideout looks over everything through the branches of a hundred-year-old fig tree. If your idea of brunch atmosphere is water, sand and dogs rather than a queue on a corner, this is the end to start at.

How locals play it

Weekends: Burleigh before 8am for first pick of the bench, or Currumbin any time the tide is doing something worth watching. Mixed tables are easy at both ends, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free run through both menus. Coffee at both venues is the same exclusive house blend, roasted for us by Parallel Roasters, so you lose nothing by choosing on scenery.

One brand, both ends of the southern Gold Coast, open every day from 6:30am.

[Tarte Bakery & Cafe, Burleigh Heads] · [Tarte Beach House, Currumbin]