Meet The Aus Joint Providing Salvation From An Onslaught Of Wanky Eateries

Don’t get me wrong, I fucking love food. How could you not? You need it to, y’know, live. Given foods “imma keep you alive” qualities, it may as well be tasty shit you’re inhaling to keep limbs in working order. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of eating out. 

Culinary discovery inevitably turns into a shitshow. It’s almost as if we have a knack for ending up at the loudest, most packed and horrifically expensive joints. But it’s not those elements that frustrate us the most, because lets face it, loud / packed / often expensive kinda comes with the turf of having a meal outta home. No, it’s the wank. 

 

Every ~eatery~ oozes wank like it’s nobody’s business. Even the joints that position themselves are being markedly wank-less are wanky. Can’t we just eat something without someone offering a side of fries in a different language? Why is everything deconstructed? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE WORLD. 

Not too long ago, however, I was exposed to something that floored me. It was a shining beacon of hope in a world obsessed with whether or not their coffee beans had been passed through the bowels of an exotic breed of money. 

Yes, it brings me a great deal of pleasure to introduce you to Australia‘s least-wanky food locale, Miami Marketta. 

Located in the Gold Coast‘s south, the market-style space is a ~hub~ for all things creative. The GC is home to such a spot? Yep, the area’s having a surprisingly booming cultural revival. 

At Miami Marketta’s very core is its artist residencies. Lucky folks are granted an open studio space in the market where they produce their wares by day. Some examples include LoKoa (handmade leather bags and accessories), Reinvented Treasures (reworked furniture and homewares by artist Kelly Drake) and Rabbit Radio (the GC’s first independent radio station). 

What’s the art got to do with food? EVERYTHING. 

In order to get customers in the door to view these artisan products, it opens its doors on Friday and Saturday evenings to feed / entertain the masses. These weekly occasions operate under the mantle of Marketta Street Food. 

Mainstays, The Cargo Bar and Marketta Cafe, offer up boutique wines, locally brewed bevs and specialty cocktails. 

While it boasts great always-present places, the real hero of Marketta Street Food is the open air laneway where a rotation of food truck merchants set up for the evening. Some of them are there nearly every week, and others swing past whenever their in town – resulting in the sensation that you never really know what you’re about to go eat. 

Venezuelan, Japanese, Latin American, German, Hungarian, Spanish, Greek, American and Thai – you name it and there’ll be someone to buy it off. As for the quality of the dishes? Put it this way: the grub is so fucking good you’ll forget you’re eating it with plastic cutlery. 

Oh, and there’s a fucking dessert hall. Yep, a whole goddamn HALL dedicated to living your sweetest life.

Once you’ve got your meal, park yourself wherever’s available (the seating situation is communal, which only cements the venue’s whole vibe) and soak up decent bangers from emerging artists / groups like Client Liason who just recently performed there. 

You’ll be pretty woke by the food-related goodness that’s popping off on the Gold Coast. Places like Rick Shores (mind-blowing, high-end Asian dining located right on the beach) and local favourite Cafe DBar Restaurant & Gallery (chilled joint that’s a must for breakfast fiends who also enjoy a A+ view) are a testament to that. I’d 110% head back for the sole purpose of eating, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t love dining out in the slightest. Food for thought, ain’t it?

Get the 411 on Miami Marketta and all its fab offerings by heading HERE.