BSKT Cafe

It's been great how much support I've had from my friends about my new found gluten free life and this blog. So many of my friends are recommending places to go and check out. One such place was BSKT Cafe on the Gold Coast (Nobby's Beach) recommended by good friends Meg and Lucas. Lucas doesn't like anything but Japanese food when eating out, so I knew this place would be good. We went there on Sunday with their 3 year old daughter, Chloe and Mum (still 'mummy-sitting').

BSKT claims to use the highest quality organic and gluten free foods. The menu was on trend with the "Super Foods" trend, featuring lots of Coconut (oil, juice, milk, sugar etc), Quinoa, Kale, Macqui Berry and other  new age foods you can't pronounce. Not everything on the menu is GF but the majority of it is. Not only does the menu indicate if it is GF, it also says if it is Vegetarian, Protein packed or Antioxidant packed. 

With so many things I wanted to try, I made everyone order GF so that we could all share (sorry guys, but I was doing you a favour). 

This is what we ordered: 

• Bang Bang Chicken Wings - lightly fried chicken wings coated in chilli and honey hinterland glaze ($14). A bit like buffalo wings (prepare to get messy) it has a bit of bite, but the creamy dressing cools it down nicely! A sure winner.
• Crispy King Prawns - garlic aioli, chilli puree and lime essential oil ($18). Again, y'all know I love trying out deep-fried GF  (DFGF) goods.  It was good but not the best. The chilli sauce had a similar taste to the chicken wings so it was a bit of the same same but different. 
• BSKT Ribs - slowly braised rack of ribs with house slaw and Chef's condiments ($24). It was lacking in a bit of flavour but they were massive ribs and with the meat tender as. The chef must love chilli cause the house slaw had a bit too must chilli for my liking, but the 'condiment' of the shredded carrot salad was sweet so counteracted the spice!
• BSKT Beef and Noodles - adzuki and black bean noodles, lean angus beef strips, fresh leaves and herbs, cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic and zesty dressing ($21). I've never tried adzuki and black bean noodles before (didn't even know you could make noodles from beans), they taste a bit like soba noodles (which unfortunately although made from buckwheat is usually mixed with wheat flour so no go for us glutardies). I used to make a salad like this (but with soba noodles), it had a nice fresh dressing and would be great for summer. 
• French Fries and Aoli ($6). I was dying for chips, cause chips are usually battered in flour (you can't get away from wheat!!). Chips were the small end bits and a bit soft, but chips are chips so I ain't complaining.   

Bean Noodle Salad

RIBSSSSSSSSSS

DFGF 

Wings

Now on to the desserts..... wow.... Glutard heaven!!  We ordered pretty much everything on the dessert menu (it was the weekend, don't judge).

• Gluten Free Macqui Brownie and Sorbet ($7). Crunchy top, soft inner, don't know what Macqui berry is but I could hardly taste it amongst all that moist chocolate goodness. The sorbet was a coconut sorbet (see below). 
• BSKT Donuts (ABC/Protein Glaze) ($5). A while back I went to Eat Street and there was a stall for gluten free donuts (OMFG) they were amazing, pretty much the best donut I've ever had (even in my glutenous days). One of my friends always says to 'manage your expectations', I clearly did not cause I was very disappointed, not like the Eat Street ones at all. Mind you, they weren't bad, they just weren't what I was expecting. It was more 'cakey' than donuty and it was a bit dry, the icing made it a bit better. 
• Orange Almond Cake with Yoghurt ($8). This is probably the most common kind of gluten free cake. It was moist and sweet and the yoghurt added a tartness to it. 
• Coconut Sorbet ($5). I could have eaten a whole tub of this. I love coconuts, so of course I would love the coconut sorbet. I think it was made more from coconut water more so than coconut milk, so it wasn't too rich and it was sprinkled with roasted coconut shavings.

Sweet GF Heaven

Who said GF is boring huh??

The cafe is child friendly too, with Kiddie Menu options and a play area out the back. Which I had the pleasure of going in, as I was with a kid (would have been a bit creepy I wasn't with a kid)

The place is pretty popular at the moment and was quite crowded (recommend you make a booking). Although there were about 20 staff working, the service was slow, so more of a place to go if you want a long lunch! 

Ps - Non-gultards to learn a thing or two about how not to piss us off, check this out. 

Oh My G-free rating – 8.5/10