Norté — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

If you could be bothered reading this long review...

We stumbled upon Norté on a Sunday night with no booking and no prior knowledge of the venue (I’m from Melbourne), and what a surprise it turned out to be!

Venue: From the moment you walk in, it’s clear that Norté is all about a luxury, fine dining experience. The open kitchen adds a wonderful sense of theatre – I love watching chefs at work – and the moody lighting, high-end fixtures, and thoughtful interior design create a romantic, elevated atmosphere. Even the bathrooms had that premium, bougie touch. I especially appreciated the layout – it felt intimate without being cramped, and we could actually hear each other talk without shouting across the table.

Service: Overall, the service was warm and attentive. We did have a minor hiccup where mains were delivered to our table by mistake, but the staff resolved it quickly and professionally. You could tell they were still finding their rhythm (likely due to being a relatively new venue), but it didn’t detract from the evening.

Food: The quality of the food was impressive – beautifully presented with refined, well-balanced flavours. That said, I personally would have loved some bolder flavour profiles. For example, the jalapeño in the spanner crab churro was a bit too subtle for my taste, though the dish itself (especially with the umami jelly disk on top) was a highlight, as was the beef tostada. The only real letdown was the prawn moqueca – the flavours were nice, but at $55 and with only three (albeit large) prawns, it felt a little off in terms of value, especially when most diners are eating in even numbers. Just one more prawn would make all the difference.

Our menu: Scallop, kiwi aguachile, jicama, green sorrel Mooloolaba spanner crab churro, cucumber, apple, jalapeño Beef tostada, fermented chilli, smoked agretti, taki kombu Ballina King prawn moqueca, coriander oil Crushed potatoes and lemon myrtle Seasonal vegetables, brown butter, salsa pebre

Value for money: This was a memorable and beautiful dining experience. A few of the dishes were genuinely some of the best I’ve had recently. I’ve worked in luxury dining and events for many years across Australia, and Norté is absolutely a stand-out.

The pricing across the raw, starters, sides, and desserts was exactly what I would expect for a venue of this quality and calibre – fair and reflective of the experience. However, the mains, while I didn’t see or try them all, felt noticeably overpriced compared to similar venues at this level (eg. NOMAD, Cutler & Co). I do hope the restaurant reconsiders the pricing of the mains or adds a little more to the dishes to help the value for money feel more balanced.

It was definitely a treat and priced for a special occasion – a stunning venue for a night...

The restaurant’s fit-out is a showstopper — a design masterpiece unlike anything else, making you feel like you’ve stumbled into a scene from a stylish movie. The service? Decent, though a tad sluggish on drink orders, making it feel like the servers were taking a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ approach.

The food was good, not mind-blowing. The seasonal vegetables stole the spotlight, but the steak, while decent, was a bit of a mystery. It arrived sitting in what could only be described as a shallow pool of resting juices, lacking the char you’d expect from a grill, and the smashed potatoes? More like a cousin of roasted baby potatoes with a crisp edge. Not the smash we envisioned.

On the bright side, the condiments served with the steak were luxurious — it’s like they knew that was the highlight.

But then came the grand finale that soured the experience: We paid our bill with plans to head up to the rooftop bar for a nightcap, only to be informed there was no room due to rain. A high-end lunch followed by an “oops, no space” moment? Definitely a lowlight.

And while the ambiance looked great, the two-person tables have some design quirks — if you’re 6 feet tall or above, prepare to have a light fixture practically in your face. Plus, sitting at those tiny tables, especially if you’re wearing a dress, means you’re practically doing a limbo to fit your legs under the table base.

Overall, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. Between the design brilliance and the steak’s watery pool of confusion, the experience had its highs and lows. Will I return? Hard to say. I might just stay grounded — at least my feet won’t have to fight for space under a table, and the lights won’t be trying to shepherd me...

Was part of a small table of 6 and we had no sooner arrived on our booking time, yet the waitress appeared to be under pressure to advise us of the strict dining window (let’s call it 2 hours).

We had not been seated for 5 minutes and despite not all our party being seated and receiving menus, were asked to order meals.

While it was 3 of 5 of us were seated and others on their way (within 15 minutes of booked time) i was recommended to call the other guests and take their order over the phone. Wtf!

We had not been given a drinks menu.

During the meal we were asked if the meal was ok and if we wanted desert. Had not seen a seen a desert menu and was literally still chewing on the main menu but this request came with a stern reminder we had 45 minutes of our dining period to go! Plenty of time in my mind but staff could not put enough pressure on us (and others) to clear the tables).

The food was nice, but way over priced with small portions, and the service was just condescending, rude and inconsiderate to a party that spent at least $100 per person and was willing and able to spend a whole lot more had we have been given the opportunity to have a good night.

When the bill came (about 25 minutes before the end of our parking meter expiring) we voiced our concerns to the manager and while he veiled some level of giving a sht with the offer of a free drink (which we declined) he was clearly somewhat complacent with the poor service and attitude to simply take your order and move you out like a fast food restaurant

Want a relaxing night out with good food, ambiance and service - I don’t...