With a beach, a boat ramp, and a Norfolk Island pine, Haven Beach Kiosk summons lazy summer days. Slide in on noon to snaffle a table on the weatherboard verandah like a sandy-footed king. Order from the roll-down brown paper menu boards and head back to your table take in the view. This is the good life, and you’re close enough to hear ‘em holler when your food is up.
Popping the shells back on the Sydney rocks ($20/6) kept ‘em briny and moist. The lobster and prawn roll ($25) teams local lobster and Coffs Harbour king prawns (still too early for the local ones) with iceberg lettuce and sauce Marie Rose on a soft, rumpled milk bun. Tearing into the protruding piece of tenderly-cooked tail meat prompted my visit to Seacoast Fishing for a take-home lobster later in the day.
While I tend to avoid the slow-maturing orange roughy ($25) teaming it grilled with a blood orange, roasted beetroot, hazelnut and fennel salad was too much for my willpower. While the flaky white fish and the summery pink salad were great, I’m straight back on the sustainable seafood bandwagon. Sitting separate from the crowds and traffic chaos of Terrigal with a generously-sized car park, Haven Beach Kiosk feels the way a Central Coast summer should.
