we have dined at Dannys (ex-Scarborough Beach) many many times

for most of that time we had problems, not with the food, but the lack of variation and interest in menu, and the fact that it went almost unchanged forever

the menu presention, was, and remains, very downmarket, more like your chinese, with plastic sleeves and unviting formating, and lacking any additional information on dishes or ingredients, and a 'specials' board that pretty much stays unchanged, and, mainly offers basic fare/dishes. NOT special or very exciting at all

BUT. Danny has definitely lifted his game considerably in recent months. the actual dishes on the menu are much more varied and interesting to what he offered in past years (but as they say in the classics "Could do (much) better".

However, the food itself and the cooking is consistently pretty good if not brilliant (but you aren't paying for brilliant :-)

The front-of-house service is (almost) always excellent and friendly.

And i should point out that that Danny will put food on the table for you regardless of when you go eg 2:30, 5pm wheneven

that was one reason we went often there to lunch because we knew the kitchen would be open even if we were late.

The wine list is quite decent and fairly resonable with a good range, and Danny likes to stock some good reds. They wil also alloow BYO with 'corkage' (bit out of date now, hey?) of $7 per BOTTLE. These days. with stelvin tops, we would suggest a (lower) corkage per person would be more logical.

Prices are quite reasonable for quite good food

And finally the locale opposite Scarborough Beach is quikte pleasant with two caveats - the constant cars passing , and te fact that beiong due east facing its gets NO sun all day basically and will often appear a bit dark from the outside because of this.

(want a much nicer and sunnier location during the day? try the Reef Point Cafe. but don't expect the excellent food)

the decor and tables are pleasant and comfortable enough with linen serviettes but no tableclothes i think (?)

the bayside venue and surroundings are of course the killer attraction. and the staff/owners are all very nice.

BUT, and it is a big but. the menu is really really lacking in any interesting choice. worse, what arrives on your plate is quite disappointing and poorly conceived and delivered.

whoever is in the kitchen just isn't up to the job, period. even given the very basic menu, and he still can't deliver something great on the plate (and we are not expecting or wanting haute cusine here, just tasty casual food well done and presented)

now the kitchen used to be pretty small, but i believe has been extended. but i have eaten in lots of restaurants that produced great food in a miniscule space

if it wasn't for that, we would be there every weekend (and week)!

but a great place to enjoy a glass of wine on a Suday arvo or a coffee during the week

PS i imagine that breakfast is prob better, so maybe try that. a nice spot. and nice people, and good service. now if we can only get a much better menu and some decent food on the plate

Approximate cost: $22

nice people here (brothers & sister). i assume new owners recently as big revamp and completely new greatly enhanced menu.

hidden amongst all the usual cafe fare are some real interesting gems, and it was really nice to see fennel and the 'ugly' vegetable, celeriac being used along with some other other interesting touches

all very reasonable priced and good food deleivered.

and sorry folks, i told them that their wine prices were too LOw for the quality of the wine. on which point, small but nicely selected range. nice quality currently priced at less than $30. get in quick. :-)

now, i am definitely not a fan of 'booth' style seating in restaurants (what's it called again?), but was comfortaable enough.

all told a most enjoyable experience. hosts and food.

we will definitely be back. we just have to add them into our mental (very short) list of acceptable restaurant venues on the Pennisula or close by. on the Pennisula itself for evening dining, it is a very short list indeed. :-)

Waterlily, possibly the best for food and locatioin, until it closed and moved to Maroochydore (i think) ages ago, Boroughs, definitely next best, until Odin lost the plot and it closed; in the meantime, Dannys has most definitely lifted his game (and menu)! and we have been pleasantly surprised with the Golden Ox food & service on a couple of recent visits. But frankly, the Jetty is right up there for us. and GREAT to have. Welcome.

Approximate cost: $25

Only discovcered this (Indian) place when visiting nearby restaurant (Watercress) and have been meaning to come up to try as the menu looked very interesting.

OK. The menu is undoubtedly the most interesting and nicest Indian menu we have seen. Lots of different interesting dishes we had never heard of before, plus the usual old favourities. Also the menu was very nicely put together - thoughtful and informative dish descriptions and ingredient information, along with Indian photos. But bring your glasses as the print is quite small.

A common theme in this restaurant is that it does not look looks like your traditional Indian restaurant. Someone with a good eye for design has been involved here, eg, the menus mentioned, the windows feature lovely b&w 'etchings' of Indian photos. not sure about the wine glsses though which are more like cocktail glasses, but perfectly attractive & workable.

Now the food. To sum it up, all the food was uniformly excellent. And we ordered a LOT of dishes to try for two people (we will be eating left-overs for a while). the plain rice was quite different to your normal and very tasty. as was the naan. The chicken tikka which i think is a good test was excellent (and used chicken breasts, not anonomous lumps of meat we have been served elesewhere).

The service. The service was brilliant. we had one very affable and helpful young man doing the whole front of house, and that was almost 20 people, and never a mistake or wrong order, and the food flew out of the kitchen too. The only thing we would have liked is a time for a bit more explanation of which dish was which, but ths lapse is explained by the number of people he was responsible for at the time.

The prices. Very reasonable. Main course curries less than Indian Brothers @ $21-22 for much more interesting dishes and restaurant ambience.

Wine. This is fully BYO, and a very reasonable corkage of $3 (per person i think?)

Environment. As well as what mentioned above, nice tables, not too close, linen serviettes & tablecloths, and restrained decoration. Maybe they could lose the dried stem arrangments?

Finally, please note that apparently all tips go to World Vision to support children in need. this is somethng tehy do that they should explicitly promote far more, as we only found out in discussions when leaving.

We will be back soon. As soon as we finish our leftovers. :-)

Approximate cost: $21

Paul here runs a great butchery. And recently with some fridge/freezer space, has more and more interesting cuts and items. Lots of duck, quail, kangaroo, crocodile, spatchcock, and more, plus the cuts of beef, lamb, and pork you would expect, plus things like beef cheeks and pork butt (both fantastic slow cooked)

have been to this place many times. mainly for lack of alternative. in past the food has been pretty good, but the atmosphere was always very lacking. a big place with lots of tables set out in seried ranks, that are usually mostly or entirely empty. they would be better losing some tables and arranging in a more attractive manner, maybe with the (real) plants, and other features, to add interest and ambience

and last time even the food wasn't up to much, particularly some very rubbery chicken

Approximate cost: $26

we have been here twice, the last being a couple of months ago which means i cannot recall precise details unfortunately, however i remember we thought the food was pretty good and service was very friendly and fairly efficient. ambience is ok. a bit stark and lacking in warmth. plan to go back again though, and maybe then can be more detailed