5 reasons you need to eat at Rick Shores on the Gold Coast

And it’s perhaps that unfussy approach that makes it easy to forget that Rick Shores is a world-class restaurant. Here are five reasons you need to add it to the itinerary for your next Gold Coast visit.

1. The people

Former head chef Jake Pregnell and sous chef Simon Hanmer launched Rick Shores with a Southeast Asian-focused menu that introduced a bunch of star dishes, including the now ubiquitous fried bug roll — arguably the most famous snack on the Gold Coast. More recently, the kitchen has been helmed by James Brady, formerly of Shannon Bennett’s prestigious Vue de monde in Melbourne, and he’s continued to push the menu towards broader pan-Asian flavours.

The quality trickles all the way down to the front-of-house staff. Rick Shores pumps on weekends and during holidays, but that rarely stops the service from being efficient, friendly and knowledgeable.

But then you needn’t take our word for it. Rick Shores’ quality is reflected in the huge number of awards that has seen it rated as one of the best restaurants in Australia by both the Australian Financial Review and Gourmet Traveller, and named Delicious’s best restaurant in Queensland in 2017 (and second best in 2018).

2. The view

While we're a country famous for our beaches, there are surprisingly few places in Australia where you can step straight off the sand and sit down in a restaurant. Rick Shores is one of them.

Located right on Burleigh Beach, a seat at the front of the venue overlooking the water will have the surfers slicing along rolling breaks mere metres from your table. To the north, the skyscrapers of Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise stand like sentinels in the afternoon haze. Needless to say, it's one of the best restaurant views on the Gold Coast; perfect for a long lunch before heading upstairs for sunset drinks at Burleigh Pavilion.

Can’t land a spot by the enormous bi-fold windows? No stress. The restaurant has been cleverly tiered, so even those towards the back of the dining space get to peer at the Pacific.

3. The food (and the wine)

Fried bug rolls. Look around you at Rick Shores and at any give moment and maybe a quarter of your fellow diners will be demolishing these slider-sized delicacies, fried Queensland bug meat slapped between two halves of a golden-baked milk bun with gem lettuce and sriracha sauce.

But the bug burgs these days feel like they’re there just to get you through the door. Rick Shores’ pan-Asian menu ranges far and wide, from kingfish sashimi and oysters served with a Thai vinaigrette to fragrant red duck and smoked pork curries, and madras-spiced lamb or sticky pork belly for mains.

There's also a coal-fired grill, charring up ssamjang chicken with corn and coriander, or West Australian octopus with sweet and sour mango, chilli and lime.

Wash it down with an award-winning wine list that reflects the broad food menu. The name of the game at Ricks is to explore its constantly evolving selection of wines by the glass — including whites, rosés, ambers and reds — allowing you to order a bunch of plates and mix and match the vino to suit. 

4. The scene

If nothing else, Rick Shores is a good opportunity to mix it with the locals. And we do mean locals: Burleigh Heads, hemmed in by hills to the west and the headland to the south, retains its very own sense of community.

They’re a glamorous, good-looking bunch, but also friendly, welcoming and relaxed. And like Flynn says, they’ll often be hanging at the restaurant’s bar wearing Birkenstocks and board shorts, with a beach towel draped across their shoulders.

5. The location

You may be beguiled by the beach, beach bums and bug buns, but don’t forget about the suburb that spreads across the hills behind you. This is one of the coast’s prettiest locales, with a vibrant cafe, restaurant and bar culture worth exploring over a weekend on its own.

If you’re not having knock-offs at Burleigh Pavilion or The Tropic, save yourself for some of brilliant restaurants clustered around James Street and the Laneway. There are outrageous burgers at Ze Pickle, fabulous Japanese share plates at Iku Yakitori, modern Vietnamese at Jimmy Wah’s, and rooftop pizza at Justin Lane, or wander instead a few blocks inland on West Street to discover the precise, elevated dining of Restaurant Labart.