Healthy Noosa Eats
Travel food can be a tricky thing especially when you have food intolerances, allergies or a particular diet. Whenever I plan a trip I take a bit of time to get to know the area I am going to and do a bit of preplanning so I can hit the ground running. I can’t eat just anywhere (nor would I want to) but having a plan puts my mind at ease and allows me to relax and look forward to eating some good food along the way.
*I never do a Whole30 while traveling but I stick to my everyday healthy diet keeping in mind my gluten and cow milk intolerance but allowing more gf bread, alcohol, sugar and other things I consider treats.
Pre Travel Planning Tips:
- Set up a Google Map of all the foodie spots. I will search “healthy food Noosa” or “organic food Noosa” and see what comes up. If I find something good I will locate it on the map and mark it so when I land on the ground I know exactly where to go. Play around by searching for gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo etc. This is usually how I find the small out of the way places that turn out to be the best eats.
- Locate a good grocery store and organic grocer. Saves lots of time to stock up on essentials.
- Pack lots of snacks for the airport and plane. Unfortunately places like Australia and NZ are hard core about not letting you bring food past customs so only bring what you can eat.
Healthy Noosa Eats: Lucky for you I scoured Noosa to find the best bets for a fresh, healthy, sustainable meal made with local ingredients and lots of love. Disclaimer* there are plenty of places offering smoothies, Acai Bowls and vegan sweets but I tend not to eat those types of things and left them out.
- Belmundos Organic Market – Inside the market is probably the best takeaway deli I have been to featuring healthy GF, Paleo, Vegan and tons of fresh lovely salads – it’s called Vanilla Food Cafe. Also inside the market is excellent coffee at Clandestino Roasters including cold brew on tap.
- Grilld – Yes it’s a burger chain, whatever! This is real food burgers! I got an organic beef burger on a low carb bun that looked like flatbread and it was UH MAZING. I don’t know many places that can cater to a gluten free vegan, a celiac or an ethical omnivore all in one place. P.S. Try the GF Zucchini Fries!
- Sum Yung Guys – definitely the best meal of our trip! So many amazing flavors and the service was 5 star. This is modern Asian in adorable Sunshine beach setting. Make sure you order the Hiramasa Kingfish and book a week in advance as it’s hard to get a table. Many options for dietary allergies. Almost worth going to Noosa just to eat here!
- Cafe Le Monde – right on busy hastings street this bustling open air bar/cafe/restaurant does it all. You can get your morning Clandestino coffee here or a fresh pressed juice and later come back for lunch, then happy hour and then dinner! Love places like this that do upscale casual perfectly. You know, jandals and oysters and champagne. Love it. This place, like all places in Noosa is super family friendly and probably has 100 highchairs for the 100 babies that seemed to be dining here. Wait, I need to tell you about the food! First thing you need to know is that Thursday happy hour has $1 Oysters. Second thing you need to know is that they have one of my favorite meals. 3 different choices of salad that you can add your choice of protein to! Yea, amazing concept giving people choices! So I ordered a beautiful salad of greens quinoa and a creamy goats cheese dressing with the gluten free fried chicken which I am still thinking about. Their menu is labeled very clearly so GF/DF can navigate easily.
- Moto – part shipping container, part bar and open air cafe filled with beautiful vintage motorbikes hanging around. Really cool local vibes here. Was skeptical of the Mexican influenced menu (because of my years eating Mexican in California) and even more suspicious of the gluten free burrito wrap but turned out to be truly outstanding. All of our meals were tops. A couple of nights per week they do Japanese street food which looks yummy. Lots of gf options, vegetarian, dairy free you name it. Great coffee too.
- Depot Cafe – we didn’t get here but I am adding it to the list because it’s worth checking out. Next time Noosa! Next time…
- Noosa Farmers Market – Sundays. One of the best markets I have been to outside of California (Aussies do a damn good market). We were spoilt for choice when it came to food here. We ended up eating Crispy Potato Cakes (vegan, gf potato cakes with your choice of guacamole, bacon & free range eggs, smoked salmon, moroccan lamb balls plus many more. I chose poached egg and grilled portobello mushroom with chimichurri and green salad. Yum!
I’m looking forward to going back to Noosa for some more fun in the sun and checking out even more healthy food options. What a fun and relaxing destination! Have you been to Noosa? Tell me about your food experience below.
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