Trevor Pepys reviews Mr Drifter
It’s not often that Trevor has the pleasure of the company of his youngest daughter over dinner, even if the real reason was to catch up with an old family friend who had come to stay with us via every hotspot and cluster on the Australian east coast. (It’s okay, we purified her in the river and made sure she’d tested negative before daring to dine out.)
So the only question was where to go. Trev had a couple of ideas, but daughter dear’s were better, she was quick to let us know, and they involved catching the Friday night live street music in the Junction while eating Asian street food with the cool cats at Mr Drifter, before progressing to a bar crawl bender which would inevitably end in tears at the Village Bicycle, which never shuts. This would be a very Noosa experience. At least she didn’t say “tr¨¦s Noosa” or I would have had to spank her.
And it’s not like Charlie Harrison’s eclectic bar and caf¨¦ was entirely unknown to Trevor, who had dropped by on several occasions to admire the exotic postcards on the walls, the touches of old East India – which recall fond memories of Grandfather Pepys who ran the last vestiges of the Company completely into the ground in a previous century – and a spicy cocktail or two. But he had never eaten there. A phone call from the connected one and we had secured a sunset hour streetside table between the live music and the fumes of passing Lambrettas, transporting Trev back to the glory days of Bugis Street, without the transvestites, or perhaps just not so many.
We kicked the show into gear (to mix a metaphor or three) with a round of Apple Express spiced rum thingies ($10), but you should know that in Noosa you can’t buy a cocktail that tastes vaguely of alcohol for ten bucks, so Trev quickly moved on to a Bloody Bangkok ($18), served with house Nam Jim and spices and damned fine.
The pleasant sound of Taylor Swift covers drowned out the scooter noise as we surveyed the small but interesting menu and opted to share some dishes off the starters list – duck spring rolls ($13) and pork sui mai ($9), both good value by portion, the fried pork dumplings dipped in spicy sambal very much to Trev’s taste.
The cocktails having been drained, we moved on to wine, finding the house South Australian pinot grigio ($38) a more or less adequate companion to our shared mains of beef rendang Drifter roll ($15), tender shredded beef with lemongrass, coconut and chilli on a delicious roti, roast sesame noodle salad ($14) with fresh vegetables and mango, and calamari salad ($17). Out of this lot the rendang was the clearcut winner, succulent, spicy and served in a crisp and crunchy roti. The salads provided good backup, without being outstanding, but overall, for a street food experience, it hit the mark.
The verdict: Mr Drifter is a jumping nightspot, so if you want to eat, go early. And you should. The food is fun and so is the vibe, while the service is friendly and efficient. It’s where Noosa meets Nusa Dua up The Junction, and since none of us will be getting to Asia anytime soon, lap it up.
Mr Drifter, 19 Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Junction. Phone 5324 2524.
