Trevor Pepys reviews Harbour Wine Bar, Noosa Marina
Look, the Harbour Wine Bar is mostly and justly famous as the Friday night residency of The Sandflys, the only rock band in the world that makes the Rolling Stones look positively youthful.
Having said that, Trevor would like it noted that The SandFlys are young at heart and play some damn fine music, and they are not even Noosa’s oldest band, that honour belonging to the Jazz Factory (average age 73.5), and they regularly draw a large crowd that often includes such local cultural icons as the world’s tallest playwright and the world’s least-informed restaurant reviewer. Which brings me back to my point, which is that while the live music is the thing, the Harbour Wine Bar does have other stuff going on, namely good honest pub grub and a decent wine list.
The night that Trev popped in to see and be seen, and line the stomach before wending his way back to Munna Point via a long list of bars, the owners were popping the champagne corks having just completed a sale, so one (as Trevor sometimes refers to himself) can only hope that the new regime matches the old, and keeps it simple, stupid!
And so to the fare. Well, it’s not that complex. Trevor always has two orders of the fish tacos (flathead on this occasion and $12 each) and a big bowl of fries with aioli ($8), so the only question is, what would Mrs Trev like? Well, she’d like the fish tacos too, but let’s just dust the first two serves and see how we go. But in the meantime, let’s savour the duck spring rolls ($10) while the Thompson’s Estate Rose ($34) whets our whistles.
Guess what? This is the perfect low maintenance meal to eat on your lap (if you’ve come late and can’t get a table) while tapping your feet to Jimmy Buffett, Neil Young and The Eagles, just a few of the multitude of covers the Flys sprinkle in with their cool instrumental originals. And with practice, you can even sing along while you eat, particularly with the tacos that have a propensity to stick to the lining of the mouth, and won’t spray forth when you break into, “There’s booze in the blender, and soon it will render, that frozen concoction that helps me hang on, hang on, hang on … ”
Now Trevor knows that there are those among you who will be appalled that a triple-Pirelli-hatted restaurant critic of world renown can actually be enthusiastic about unsprayable fish tacos that you can eat off your lap, but you haven’t been to a Friday night sesh at the Harbour Wine Bar, have you? I rest my case.
As for the food options, well there aren’t that many, but if every now and then your heart and your gut cry out for pizza, burgers, fries and fish tacos, then you’re in the right place. And among its many other pluses, the Harbour Wine Bar is right on the marina, so if you drop a few chips, you’ll be making a seagull’s night.
The verdict: If you’re interested in observing old people behaving badly, you’ll love this joint. So leave any foodie pretensions at the door and you’ll have a ball, particularly if The SandFlys are playing, and if Bob the drummer starts one of his 10-minute Ginger Baker solos, that’s the time for a dunny run.
