It may not be right on the sand (it’s actually on the other side of Hastings Street) but Noosa Beach House is dedicated to dishing up the very best of the ocean’s harvest. The menu is replete with Mooloolaba prawns, seafood tapas, local yellowfin tuna (cleverly combined with roasted pork belly, pickled beetroot and chilli salt for a punchy starter), spanner crab, tempura snapper and oysters. However, meat devotes are not forgotten with possibilities such as roasted pork belly and wagyu sirloin.

The restaurant is part of the Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort and has a breezy yet elegant coastal vibe with bare floorboards, blonde-wood chairs and yellow ‘egg’ lights on each white-clothed table. At the helm is Noosa local, chef and restaurateur Peter Kuruvita, also an SBS TV host on various food programmes, who spent his early years in Sri Lanka before moving to Australia aged 11.

The fine Sri Lankan snapper curry, served with aloo chop (potato croquettes) and tamarind has become a signature dish. Although the menu is a modern incorporation of many influences, there are other hints of Kuruvita’s heritage, such as Mooloolaba prawns with smoked Jaffna curry (Jaffna is a northern Sri Lankan city), coconut dahl and roasted cauliflower, or perhaps brown butter roasted chicken with heirloom rice, pomegranate, pistachio and jaggery cream.

At $100, the dinner degustation is good value for six well-sized courses. Service is adept and the lengthy drinks list works its way through cocktails, including a holiday mood-setting chilli margarita or passionfruit mojito, to an array of celebratory Champagnes, to an expansive global wine selection.

Must-eat dish: Sri Lankan snapper curry
Instagram: @noosabeachhouse