Birthday Month

A few of my friends have birthdays in the month of August. I also celebrate my birth day in this month.  I always think of us as Christmas Celebration babies :-)

Karen's birthday is at the beginning of this month, Kate is in the middle and I celebrate at the end of the month.  We decided to try a couple of the local restaurants in Palm Cove for our birthday luncheons.  The first was NuNu Restaurant. A few of us had eaten here once before, quite a few years ago, and and found it to be a bit of a mix of good and bad. It's funny how one meal can turn you off returning. But this time athe food was undeniably some of the best I've eaten in a long time. The head chef and owner, Nick Holloway,  prides himself in sourcing fresh local produce with quite a heavy emphasis on using indigenous foods.  The end result is amazing.  There were six of us sitting down for lunch and not a single meal out of our three courses could be faulted.  Just to make your mouth water, here is what I chose from the menu......

XO Bun, Pork, Scallop and Ponzu

Ora King Salmon, Coconut, Finger Lime, Green Mango and Papaya

Roast Pineapple, Black Pepper Caramel & Coconut Sorbet

Oh yeah and Philip was pretty impressed with his Sugar Cane Smoked Duck with Radicchio and Rhubarb......

Wow, wow, wow.  We will be returning and, for the win,  both Lunch and Dinner are the same menu.  That is fabulous for those that prefer to eat lunch over dinner.

Our next birthday lunch was at Vivo Restaurant also at Palm Cove.  After NuNu's spectacular meal the week before it was always going to be hard for Vivo to measure up but surprisingly it was very good.  The menu does not have quite the same finesse as NuNu but my meal was still very good.  This time I chose the Fried Seafood Dumplings with Siracha Aioli and for main the Black Angus Eye Fillet with Duck Fat Potatoes and Marrow Bone Jus.  My only complaint is that they didn't state on the menu that the steak was grain fed and there is no comparison to a grass fed piece of beef. The taste is so different and actually one that I don't enjoy that much when I am eating a piece of steak medium rare.  But having said that the steak was beautifully tender and the Jus was to die for.

After Vivo's, where we once again sat over our meal for almost three hours, the eight of us adjourned to our balcony at Paringa for a wonderful afternoon of drinks, more food and chatter.  We said goodbye to our last guest at around 7.00 pm and headed straight to bed! It was a lovely end to a beautiful birthday and I'm so grateful for the friends in my life who complete my world.  And lets not forget my husband, my best friend, who always has my back and who served me breakfast in bed for my birthday.  He is the love of my life and there is not a single day that I don't thank god for the life that he has given me.