Tarte Tea Garden

Tarte Tea Garden is the garden sibling of the Tarte Beach House bakery, sitting on Currumbin Creek at Shop 1, 2-4 Thrower Drive. It runs its own hours, separate from the beachside cafe next door: closed Monday and Tuesday, 9am to 2pm Wednesday to Friday, and 7:30am to 2pm on weekends. This is the southern Gold Coast's high tea address, a floral, European-styled tea garden where the scones come out warm and the pastry bench is the same one that made the Burleigh original famous.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome across the large open-air, covered courtyard beside the street and the creek; the indoor area is people only, but the outdoor space is generous enough that it rarely feels like a compromise. Water bowls tend to appear from staff or regulars, though a collapsible bowl is the dependable option on weekends. The garden gets genuinely busy, and walk-ins queue on Saturdays and Sundays, so a weekday visit is the calm version of the same experience. If the high tea itself is the mission, book ahead, because general walk-in seating and guaranteed high-tea placement are different things.

What to order

The pull is the bakery counter: warm house-made scones with jam and cream, mini signature pastries, and a serious tea list, with whimsical matcha creations alongside. Bagels and sandwiches carry the savoury side, and the coffee holds its own in a suburb that takes it seriously. For dog people the honest play is a weekday garden table, a scone tower for the humans and a water bowl for the dog, before the weekend crowds find the car park.

Getting there and parking

Two small off-street parking areas sit directly beside the venue, one on each side, and they go quickly, particularly on sunny mornings. The overflow move is free public parking at Winders Park across the bridge, an easy couple of minutes along the path under it. The whole precinct is flat and stroller-friendly, which also makes it easy with a dog.

Close by with the dogs

The Currumbin Creek walkway runs right alongside the cafe for an on-lead stroll either side of your table, and Currumbin Beach is a short walk on. Note that Currumbin's patrolled beach and the Alley are not designated dog areas under City of Gold Coast rules, so keep the lead on there. For off-lead time, the Tallebudgera off-leash dog beach at Palm Beach is the closest designated sand, a short drive north, and the Melaleuca Dog Park is nearby for a fenced run. If you want a second dog-friendly stop on the creek, the Cafe by the Bridge sits further up Currumbin.

Make it a creek morning: walk the path, take the courtyard table, and let the scones do the rest. Just remember the Monday-Tuesday closure before you build the day around it.

Max: Warm scones, a creek view and a bowl of water that arrived before I even sat down. Take notes, other cafes.