A Chef's Guide to Eating Your Way Through the Resort
Seven venues, one weekend — our executive chef's honest route through every kitchen, including what he'd skip.
Guests ask me which of our seven venues is 'the best' — which is like asking a parent to pick a child. So instead I'll do something more useful: tell you how I'd eat the resort in one weekend if I were a guest, including what I'd skip and where I'd double up.
First rule: don't eat at the same place twice. The whole point of this precinct is range — a ten-course counter, a fire kitchen, a raw bar, a conservatory breakfast and a 2 AM noodle bar are different appetites, not different versions of the same meal.
Friday night: Atelier 33
Start at the top. The ten-course counter is where the kitchen shows off — native lime, Mooloolaba tuna, Darling Downs beef, and a pairing flight Élodie curates nightly. Book the 7 PM sitting; the pacing lands you at dessert as the floor below hits its stride. If you can only do one dinner here, this is it.
Saturday morning: The Conservatory
The breakfast buffet is quietly the best-value meal in the building — the pastry section alone (the Level-6 farm honey croissant) justifies the A$48. Sit by the courtyard glass.
A menu should taste like its postcode. Ours tastes like mangoes at noon and ironbark smoke at midnight.Matteo Ferraro, Executive Chef
Saturday late: Ember & Oak
This is the kitchen I'd take my own family to — ironbark-grilled beef, whole fish split for two, and a dining room that stays generous until 2 AM. Order the dry-aged rib-eye, the charred cos, and whatever whole fish came in that morning.
Sunday: Nami Raw Bar
Twelve seats, one itamae, omakase that reads like a seafood itinerary — Mooloolaba, Tasmania, the bay. The A$195 progression is the tightest dinner in the building; add the sake pairing if you didn't drive.
What I'd skip (honestly)
Don't fill up at the gaming-floor eateries — they're designed for speed between hands, not memory. And skip the in-room breakfast on your first morning; The Conservatory is worth walking downstairs for. Save room service for the 2 AM truffled popcorn, which is genuinely excellent and absurd in the best way.
The full venue list and booking links live on the dining service page.
The cellar shortlist
Élodie's list runs 400 labels, but three deserve flags: the Granite Belt Saperavi (Queensland's own answer to Barossa), the Tasmanian sparkling we pour at the raw bar, and a small Barolo allocation that never makes the printed list — ask for it by name at Atelier 33.
By the glass, the 'river route' flight — four pours from four Australian regions — is the smartest A$65 on the property.
Booking strategy
Counters release 30 days out — Atelier 33 weekend sittings go within a fortnight of release, Nami slightly slower but firmer. Everything else holds same-week tables. Flag allergies at booking and the menu rebuilds before you sit; mention an occasion and the kitchen writes it into the dessert course.
Quick Answers
The questions this piece raises most often.
Atelier 33 if you can get a seat — it's the purest expression of the kitchen. If not, Ember & Oak is the most forgiving introduction: generous, flexible and open till 2 AM.
Smart casual after 6 PM across the signature venues — jackets not required, thongs not permitted. The conservatory is relaxed all day.
Both counters run full vegetarian tastings with 48 hours notice — and honestly, the vegetable courses are where our farm produce does the most showing off.
Book the Route Yourself
One weekend, seven venues — the concierge will sequence the reservations so you only have to arrive hungry.