Best Restaurants Australia gift card
The forgetful buyer, and a foodie dad who would rather pick his own restaurant than be booked into yours.
Give dad something that is about him, not the baby.
24 gifts, from $15 to $118, every price read off an Australian retailer’s page and checked since 15 September 2026. And twelve we tell you to skip.

From 12 Australian retailers · 2 arrive by email today · every price checked since 15 September 2026
Filtered to things that need no assembly, no booking, no night out and no spare weekend, then ordered by how quickly they arrive. Heavy gear, long projects and anything over $200 is left off this page, because it is the wrong ask of someone running on four hours’ sleep.
The forgetful buyer, and a foodie dad who would rather pick his own restaurant than be booked into yours.
A dad who bought an espresso machine and has been quietly disappointed with his own results ever since.
The dad whose first LAN party was Halo on a borrowed Xbox and a borrowed television
The dad whose Rainbow Road record is still a contested matter of family record
The dad who can still describe the first time he saw the Halo ring curve up into the sky
The dad who will explain the Kingdom Hearts timeline to anyone who asks and to several who did not
The dad who still calls the Mega Drive the Sega and corrects anyone who does not
The dad who just bought a new bat and is about to ruin it by taking it straight to the nets
The dad who was Sega in a street full of Nintendo kids and has never once conceded the argument
The dad who still argues that GoldenEye split-screen has never been bettered
The dad who still knows which ghost chases you and which one cuts you off at the corner
The dad who wants the idea of vinyl on his desk without another thing to dust
A dad who fishes or camps and has a sense of humour about his gear.
Has a cutting edge. CoolThings Australia sells it to over-18s only and verifies age at checkout.
The dad who runs a few times a week and whose running gear has been exiled to its own basket on the back step
The dad taking the kids to a Test or a Shield game where players sign at the fence
The dad training for a half marathon who still runs in cotton socks he got free in a race pack
The Melbourne or Essendon supporter who does the Big Freeze every year and will not discuss why
The dad running Sunday morning training for an under-9s side out of his own pocket
The dad who wants a ball he can leave in the car boot all summer without guilt
The dad who still hums the underworld theme and currently keeps his shrapnel in a coffee mug
The NSW-born dad who has lived in Queensland for twenty years and has not changed sides
The dad on a mid-length or foamie who rewaxes every second surf and still slides off the front foot on the takeoff
The footy dad who reads serious non-fiction and is bored by player autobiographies
The dad who ground out the Super Licence tests instead of doing his homework and would do it again
The mistake almost everyone makes here is buying for the baby. The new dad has been handed muslin wraps and tiny shoes for months and none of it was for him. A gift that treats him as a person who still exists is the whole brief.
The second thing worth knowing is that his capacity for effort is currently zero. Anything that needs assembly, a free Saturday, or a decision he has to make later will sit in a cupboard. The gifts that land are the ones that work on the day they arrive.
What actually helps a new dad · 4 min read
A page of two hundred gifts is a catalogue, not a recommendation. Start from what Dad actually does, or from what you want to spend.
Nobody plans a gift in advance because nobody remembers the date until it is too late to post anything. We will email you before Father’s Day and before Christmas, with the shortlist already narrowed and the delivery window still open.
Two or three emails a year. Not a newsletter.