A new Coast restaurant is promising a distinctive dining experience with its Fijian- and Indian-inspired dishes.
Maroochydore’s newest restaurant, Pataka, is a melting pot of flavours and cultures, offering vibrant plant-focused cuisine from its wood-fired kitchen in the heart of the CBD.
Biodynamic, natural, organic and lo-fi wines as well as signiture cocktails can also be found in the newly-fitted out bar.
The restaurant is a three-year vision that co-owner and chef Kunal Mani began to bring to fruition when he realised the region needed something new in terms of plant-based dining.
“Maroochydore’s restaurant and bar scene have had some massive changes over the years,” he said.
“There are a few vegetarian and vegan options obviously, but something was missing and I believe this was it.”
Plans began to ramp-up after the long-term local realised how good an opportunity opening a restaurant in the new CBD would be.
“It was pretty much a no-brainer” he said.
“We’ve got great neighbours in terms of Market Bistro, Giddy Geisha and Bottarga Italian restaurants – who are all seasoned and experienced restaurateurs.
“So for me to be amongst these guys in the new CBD area is amazing.”
Pataka, which means fireworks in Hindi as well as a sign of celebration and something new, threw open its doors last weekend to a fully booked-out grand opening.
“The turnout was absolutely amazing and we had really good feedback,” he said.
“It is unreal, overwhelming and exciting – all of it at the same time.
“Our food is something different for people to try out as well.”
But the project was a long-time coming, with widespread construction delays meaning the fit-out in the Market Lane residential project would take nine to 12 months to complete.
“Our space is in the new habitat development group building, so we built the new space from scratch” he said.
“The Sunshine Coast Council was supportive but there were a few hurdles. We had to navigate around being a wood-fired restaurant on the Sunshine Coast – and probably the first of which the council has seen as well.
“The council are obviously looking forward to new venues opening up in the CBD because their new buildings are literally across the road from our restaurant as well.”
After landing in Maroochydore 13 years ago from Auckland, New Zealand, Mr Mani said he fell in love with the Coast.
“It just felt like home,” he said,
“We ran a café in Maroochydore and I worked a few different places around the Coast. But naturally being a vegetarian myself -I just thought would needed a more unique offering, so I started just researching and putting together this concept – and here we are.”
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Having a mixture of Indian heritage and background as well as Fijian meant Mr Mandi began cooking from an early age.
“I was born and bread and grew up in Fiji, then I moved to New Zealand when I was 12 years-old.
“Our cuisine is different to the Indian food that people are used too.
“We like to make that ingredient the hero of the dish, rather than overpowering it with spices so much that you can’t actually taste what the vegetable is.
“There’s a lot of tropical flavors, a lot of citrus in there and a lot of fresh herbs.
“That’s how Fijian food is cooked in general, and even the Indians in Fiji cook like that.”
He said the signature dish was a woodfired smoked eggplant dish that both pair well; with the signature flatbread with a 48 hour- fermented dough.
“The most popular dish so far is a jackfruit kofta curry we’ve quickly realised,” he said.
He said for now the team was just focusing on helping people realise there is a new kid in on the block.
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“But we don’t want to classify ourselves as a plant-based restaurant or vegetarian vegan restaurant,” he said.
“We’re just a restaurant doing good food full of flavour and providing people with great food great drinks and even better service.
“We’ve got a great wine list as well which is focusing on mostly Australian small batch wineries and we are working with some local wineries too.”
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