Cafoo Izakaya
Palm Beach
Cafoo Izakaya is a hidden gem of a Japanese eatery, sake and whisky bar tucked away off the Gold Coast Highway in a side street of Palm Beach's main shopping and dining precinct.
Take a seat in the cosy wood-panelled indoors or outside on the terrace, where well-behaved pooches on leashes are welcome to join their owners for lunch, dinner or tapas and drinks.
Gold Coast locals-in-the-know flock to Cafoo Izakaya for seriously good Japanese cuisine, beautifully presented, despite the casual dining vibe.
Tapas dishes include prawn tartare, agedashi tofu, grilled scallops, Ninja chicken wings, okonomiyaki, arancini balls, tori kala (traditional Japanese style marinated fried chicken) and gyoza.
A heavenly selection of sashimi and fresh seafood dishes includes salmon, yellow fin tuna, kingfish or assorted sahimi, kingfish carpaccio or aburi salmon carpaccio.
From the char grill, delicious sumiyaki skewers included momo kushi (traditional Japanese style chicken thigh yakitori with tare sauce), Black Angus beef and haloumi cheese, with the option of an assorted platter.
In addition there's a choice of seared salmon or fresh seafood salad, sushi (California, salmon avocado or spicy prawn crunchy roll); miso risotto and Japanese curry as well as traditional sweets such as Yuzu sorbet and Cassis apple spring roll with Houjieja ice-cream.
For drinks, Cafoo has a menu of Japanese flavoured sake and whisky-based cocktails, Japanese and Australian craft beers, sake, shochu, plum wine and Japanese whiskeys as well as a mix of Australian and Italian wines, Japanese tea and soft drinks.
