Like many a city dweller we fled the City as soon as we were released from lockdown and could enjoy some sunshine R’N’R in the Byron / Tweed region. We actually stayed at Hastings Point. Delightful.
A Review of Jason Barratt’s Paper Daisy Restaurant: The Restaurant
Paper Daisy is a bit of an institution in this part of the world. It is situated in a motel complex, a la Rick Stein’s Bannisters.
The Restaurant is open plan with large lounges for coffee and an alfresco area fronting the beach side for cocktails, if you want. It oozes comfortable but unpretentious conviviality.
On the evening we attended I had the feeling that the house service may have been compromised by a staff shortage, but I might be wrong on that.
Importantly, this restaurant permits reservations up to 10pm. This is very rare in our experience – especially so in a regional restaurant.
I have looked at various reviews of this restaurant. It appears that the menu changes regularly, no doubt taking advantage of local produce availability and seasonal opportunity. This makes a review challenging. It means that the review is a snapshot in time – your visit may be a totally different experience.
Cocktails
Our reservation was for 8.30pm. We arrived 15 mins early so we opted for a drink at the bar. A pink gin and Negroni were ordered. We also ordered some macadamias to nibble.
The cocktails were good. The Negroni had a large block of ice in the drink, so it was difficult to see how much was Negroni and how much was ice. Nevertheless, well mixed. As it turns out the macadamias needed to be roasted and tossed in spices before we received them. We had nearly finished our drinks when they arrived. It was a very generous serve. In retrospect, they were too filling, and we should not have ordered them, as delicious as they were.
Starters
We shared some Sydney Rock Oysters with finger lime. At $6.00 an oyster these were relatively expensive. On the night they were tasty, but not, in my view, premium. This is not a criticism per se. It must be difficult to source oysters in this area. They came with a delicious house baked sourdough bread.
Entrees
Just one entrée (see the macadamia comment above) being the Bay lobster, white radish, green garlic, granny smith apple (Moreton Bay Bugs to us). It was a good choice if not quite up to the quality of Maisie’s (see a forthcoming review).
Main Courses
I had a superb roast duck dish and Mrs E had a lovely Kingfish baked in local kelp, sweet corn, smoked onion, dried prawn.
We shared a plate of roasted potatoes as a side. This was a very large serving. We took the leftovers home and made a tortilla the next day.
Dessert
We shared a selection of Australian cheeses with roasted fig, honeycomb, rye crackers . Being a weak man, I had an Armagnac.
Wine
This is where things get tricky. I note on the restaurant web site that in 2019 the restaurant wine list won an award. In 2021 I honestly couldn’t find a wine that suited my taste. My philosophy is when in doubt pick a good Sancerre. You can’t go wrong with a French Sav/Blanc. Nothing like the NZ and Australian product. In this case that didn’t work – there was nothing suitable to me. You would be hard pressed to spend 30 euro for the best Sancerre at a vineyard in Sancerre. Even with wine tax etc, the mark ups at Paper Daisy were a bit steep for my liking. Even the Australian whites were a bit over the top. When all else fails a grand house Champagne is the best answer. We ordered a bottle of Louis Roederer NV. It was delightful and met all of our expectations and the modest mark-up met our criteria.
The Review – 4 Stars
This was a pleasant dining experience. However, it was a relatively expensive evening. The wine list is really a personal preference issue, but on this occasion, it was not to my taste. Some of the Australian white wines were expensive for the quality and age of the wine, in my view. I would like to have seen some quality options at more reasonable prices.
Service was pretty good.
I think that there are a number of good restaurants in this area which will give Paper Daisy some healthy competition in the near future, if not now.
PAPER DAISY
Halcyon House: 21 Cypress Cres, Cabarita Beach NSW
Telephone: (02) 6676 1444
