First Impressions: Good Bar @ Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast)

I grew up on the Sunshine Coast but since working and living in Brisbane for most of my adult life I have not returned very often, it seems there is now a few more reasons to visit the Coast!

One of those reasons is Good Bar, located in the busy but beautiful sea side town of Mooloolaba just a street back from the beach this new addition to the Coast is pumping out some great American inspired grub matched with some great local beers.

just water but cool coasters!

Good Bar's menu and theme is focused around holyness and the "good" food with the coasters and menu items following the theme, like the Brisket burger which is called The Transcendence.         There is a growing selection of local and international craft beers with a focus on cans. This is good to see as there is still a lot of stigma attached to canned beer in Australia which stems from smashing down 12 cans of what ever flavourless lager you had on hand. The truth is cans are actually better as they let no light in (which can affect your brew) and travel better than their glass brethren.

At the time I hadn't actually sampled any Brisbane's Green Beacon cans yet so was a no brainer to start with the tasty Windjammer IPA and moving on later to Moose Drool a well flavoured brown ale from Big Sky located in Montana in the USA.    There wasn't any taps at the time but hopefully this comes later because it'd be great to see some Sunshine Coast Brewery on tap in a local bar or even more beer from Brisbane.                                   

I ordered The Good Burger, a beef burger with two patties, cheese, ranch, pickles and ketchup. The rest of my party ordered The Transcendence (Briskett), The Carolina Crusade (pulled Pork) and The Good Reuben (Pastrami sandwhich).

Double Beef, Double Cheese

All the burgers come on soft and fluffy brioche bun's which work fairly well and each burger was generously portioned with meat with prices ranging from $13-16 and each coming with fries.

I feel the only thing that was missing off the menu (that is usually a staple) is the ability to add bacon, but other than adding it to the beef burger you don't really need it so it's not too disappointing to live without the deliciousness of bacon for a meal.

My burger was juicy and tasty although it seemed more like mustard than ranch which isn't a bad thing as it just reminded me of a really good double cheese burger, with tasty mustard and pickles which is one of my favourite things to eat.

All the other burgers went down well from what the rest of my group said, the only negative is that the Reuben seems to have some seriously thick bread, possibly too thick for the amount of meat.

Pastrami + Sauerkraut on Rye

Beef Brisket, BBQ sauce and Slaw

Pulled Pork, Jack Daniel's Sauce & Slaw

What we had is really just the beginning of the menu which contains heaps of awesome sounding meals, snacks, sweets and shakes. From peppers stuffed with chorizo and goats cheese to a Peanut Butter Jelly shake to Pumpkin Pie but all of this just gives me an excuse to revisit next time I'm up the coast.

It's great to see so many new options for food and beer popping up on the coast as they have done in Brisbane, I may have to go up more often!

Sunshine Coast Brewery

I've been drinking local and international craft beer for around 10 years now, so it seems fitting that I return to my home town and the first brewery I ever purchased beer from!

I was in my early 20's when I last visited The Sunshine Coast Brewery and back then I purchased a carton of chilli beer which in my youth I thought was a good idea. I can say now that I'm older and wiser that attempting to drink a carton of chilli beer was an unwise decision.

Returning to the brewery with a more mature palette has been a blessing as I got to enjoy a tasting paddle which included their Hef, Dark (middy), Bitter Ale, Pilsner and Summer Ale. After this I was offered an extra taste in the form of a German style smoked beer called Rauch Bier which was quite nice but really is something you have a small amount of.

The tasting platter was excellent and let me know what was on offer and despite having a busy period over Easter which cleaned out a lot of their stock there was still a good selection. The standout beer for me was their Rye ESB (Extra Special Bitter) which is a fantastic hoppy explosion with a nice punch of rye. It reminds me a lot of the IPA style which is so popular right now and worth visiting the brewery for on it's own.

The only beer I didn't get to try that I was hanging out for was their Porter but I am sure I can order some when they have it bottled again or use it as an excuse for another visit!

The staff were very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely interested in listening to of their customers feedback and exchange beer related stories.

They were also nice enough to see if the Rye ESB was anywhere near being bottled again and whilst I couldn't get any during my visit the young man serving me went out of his way to give me a bevy of options to ensure I could order some if I wanted to, this type of service is fantastic and definitely only comes with passionate staff who care about the beer and their customers.

Whilst the main attraction is clearly the beers the food that is on offer is also very good with pub style mains and nothing costing over $17. They even do take-away!

I went with the chicken parm which was delicious and my party had another parm and a couple had beef burgers. We were all satisfied with our meal both in flavour and portion size and all agreed that the chips were the standout as they were crunchy and moreish! 

Overall a good experience and worth dropping in for lunch and a beer or five if you live on the coast or are visiting for any reason!