FLAMING FAMOUS

Six years after opening its delightful Marina Mirage waterfront location, family-operated Saks Restaurant and Bar continues to dazzle regulars and tourists alike.

If you are reading this and have already had the pleasure to indulge in the Saks’ Signature main course dish, the aphorism ‘preaching to the converted’ is surely appropriate.

Comprising a succulent char-grilled eye fillet topped with Moreton Bay bugs, scallops and king prawns, the dish is the Gold Coast’s ultimate gourmet reef ’n’ beef or, if you prefer, surf ’n’ turf.

As tantalising to the eye as it is to taste, the Saks’ Signature is the perfect solution for any diner torn between the Italian restaurant’s variety of seafood and beef.

Saks co-owner Bianca Parente, who founded the restaurant with husband Frank and his parents Maria and Angelo in 2004, says the dish could become as famous as the restaurant.

“We’ve always been about serving quality food and delivering value for money and a great dining experience,” she says.

“It’s very important for us to always think about what food we would like to be served. People love bugs, prawns, scallops and a great piece of beef, so why not have it all on one plate?

“Being in a special location here with 180 degree waterfront views, it’s definitely a requirement to serve up a special reef ’n’ beef dish. It’s a very popular meal, especially with the men.”

If a Saks’ Signature isn’t tantalising enough, the restaurant boasts an impressively diverse menu featuring pasta, seafood, lamb and chicken dishes and Italian gourmet pizzas.

A roasted rack of lamb with chat potatoes, smokey eggplant puree and fire-roasted truss cherry tomatoes almost got the nod along with a fresh Atlantic salmon, prawn and soft shell crab lasagne.

An equally diverse hot and cold entree menu gets the party started, with sizable soy and sesame duck spring rolls and a lemon pepper calamari the stand-outs.

Other entree offerings include Sak’s antipasto, hot and sour prawns and soft shell crab.

A delightful salad menu and a range of fresh oysters rounds out one of the most well-balanced menu’s on the Coast.

The Saks’ dessert menu also lives up to expectations with an array of traditional favourites and innovative homemade concoctions including a Ferrero Rocher inspired cheesecake and a rich macadamia chocolate brownie.

The Parentes are also famous for their homemade sorbets and ice cream’s which include the strawberry-based lychee rose sorbet or Sicilian blood orange.

Six years of restaurant excellence and the Parentes may be forgiven for thinking they have the formula just right, but Bianca says constant improvement and refining the menu is essential.

“We’re always listening to feedback from our customers and changing the menu to keep it fresh and contemporary,” she says.

“But the Saks’ Signature won’t change, it’s become a pretty famous dish now.”

The dining experience at Saks Restaurant and Bar extends further than the menu too as one expect in this part of the city.

Diners can enjoy the yachts motoring by from the modern inside comforts, or relax on the outside deck where fish can be easily spotted.

Coupling the dining ambience and service with a menu that leaves many options for our next visit – one sitting at Saks Restaurant and Bar just won’t do.