Does eating food for a bargain price somehow make it taste better?

If that’s the case, Sparrow Eating House at Nobby Beach could have the most delicious food on the Gold Coast.

This lunch and dinner sibling to Broadbeach breakfast hotspot Elk Espresso serves a five-course long lunch on weekends for just $35 per person, including a glass of wine or beer.

With prices this keen you could expect quality to suffer, but not here. Owner Andrew Whiting delivers the best ingredients money can buy in unique and interesting ways, while keeping things affordable – and the share-style, mod-Oz menu is proof.

Dishes are simple, light and fresh, echoing the clean, industrial dining space with pops of turquoise and blue.

Take Moreton Bay bugs, for example, simply grilled, split and slathered with a mild jalapeno and lime butter so the seafood is the hero. Or think pan-fried scallops floating in a luminescent pea puree with pink grapefruit for acidity and hazelnut praline for nutty crunch.

Bigger plates move from buttermilk fried chicken to a bright and elegant fillet of salmon with remarkably crisp skin on a lightly dressed salad of celery, orange, beetroot and macadamia, garnished with a quenelle of wasabi creme fraiche for subtle heat.

There’s also its take on roast pork – the shoulder cut cooked overnight until tender and topped with a jumble of green veg, goat’s cheese, roast potatoes and crisp strips of bubbly crackling.

The wholesome menu allows for a little wickedness with dessert and the Oreo creme brulee is a sweet tooth’s dream – the silken custard suspending melted bites of chocolate biscuit.

Clever cocktails and an affordable wine list make Sparrow a place you’d happily take your time over lunch.