Paper Daisy at Halcyon House | Cabarita Beach, AUSTRALIA
I can still vividly remember my first dining experience at Paper Daisy some three years ago. We had checked into the then newly established Halcyon House that afternoon after a leisurely drive along the coastline, and I was so eager to try the dishes from Chef Ben Devlin, former head chef of the three-hatted Esquire (the root of many amazing food experiences of mine). It was a dining experience of which the memory still lingers in our minds. Since its opening, Halcyon House (now a Small Luxury Hotels property) has featured in countless magazines on account of its beautiful designer interior, with its iconic blue and white colour scheme fusing a mix of timber, brass and rattan to reflect blissful seaside life. The stunning interior carries through to the hotel’s restaurant, Paper Daisy, which has attracted an equal amount of attention as the hotel itself, and for a good reason too.
Last Saturday, we found ourselves at Halcyon House again, eager to try dishes from the award-winning restaurant’s newly appointed executive chef - Jason Barratt, whose CV includes one of Australia’s most renowned institutions, Attica. Anyone who comes to dine at Paper Daisy should first check out their extensive cocktail menu because it is only fitting to sip on pretty cocktails when you have a lust-worthy pool and the rolling sound of waves as your backdrop. I ordered a Tropicana ($23) made with Husk pure rum, spiced bam bam rum, Malibu, burnt orange, pineapple, mango and coconut. If you made a summer island escape into a drink, the Tropicana would be it. The other travel bunnie had an Ol’ Fashioned Fry Up ($25), a drink with a bit of theatre - presented on a wooden board, the drink was trapped under a heavy glass dome filled with silvery smoke, like the early morning mist covering the landscape, as the dome was gently lifted, the smoke danced and swirled, revealing the drink and a strip of maple syrup glazed bacon as a stirrer. The bacon, we were told, was sourced from Noosa based Voodoo Bacon, the brainchild of Mississippi-born chef George Francisco, which specialises in 100% nitrate and chemical additive free bacon.
The new menu focuses on refined Australian coastal cuisine and is heavily influenced by what is grown in the northern rivers region. Reflecting the chilled coastal vibes, the menu provides a slightly less formal fare with a seafood focus. At the restaurant’s recommendation, we started our two-course lunch with baby cucumber, stracciatella, pepita and basil ($18) and lightly cured fish, green apple, grapefruit ($23). To be honest, when they recommended the baby cucumber dish to us, I wasn’t taken by the sound of it, but the other travel bunnie found the idea to be intriguing and went ahead with it, and later proved that I was so naive in thinking that it would be a boring dish. It was the complete opposite of boring. There were so many layers of textures and flavours, the refreshing and crisp consistency of the sliced cucumber contrasted against the rich creaminess of the stracciatella and was the perfect marriage. If it wasn’t for the delicious cured fish that I was devouring, I would’ve been green with envy sitting across from the other travel bunnie. At that point, I just knew that all the dishes that followed would be just as wonderfully tasty. The main courses that followed were wagyu cooked in ash, mushrooms, sweet onion ($45) and grilled lettuce and charcoal chicken, tarragon, duck yolk ($39). The chicken was cooked for a day at 63 degrees and the word ‘tender’ doesn’t even begin to justify just how juicy and soft the meat was. As for the wagyu, it was every bit that which I had hoped for, perfectly melt-in-your-mouth, simply done to let the meat do all the talking, and it was a pure pleasure to eat. The mains were complemented by two sides of the day and we found the food to be plentiful.
The service that we received, which goes without saying, was top-notch. Our waitstaff, Hannah, was extremely informative and knowledgeable of the menu. Her eyes sparkled with passion every time she came over to our table for a chat about the food that we were devouring and the personable interaction that we had with her was truly the icing on the cake.
The new chapter of Paper Daisy reads like a delicious tale that I just simply can’t get enough of. If you are lusting after an escape from the city or if you simply want to have a good feed, a drive to Halcyon House might just be the answer.
Disclaimer: with thanks to the wonderful team at Halcyon House and Paper Daisy for welcoming DolceBunnie to the property as an invited guest, please note that my opinion is as always, my own.
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