Pelagic Bar & Dining - Dinner

As i mentioned previously, i would be back again to try their a la carte menu. So here i am again, but this time for dinner. For some reason, the decor seems a lot more dramatic at night than during the day.I especially liked the brightly-lit shelves full of upside down wine glasses and the colourful school of fish painted on the walls. We got some Lemon, Lime and Bitters to satisfy our thrist while we chose the entrees and the mains.

For entrees, we've ordered the Conchinglie pasta with king prawn, spanish onions & soft herbs and the Seared scallops with crispy pigs ear & shaved radish salad. Conchinglie pasta resemble little seashells and for some bizarre reason i find them quite fun to eat. For this dish, i was perhaps a bit disappointed with the presentation as i was expecting to find some visible king prawns instead of tiny diced pieces of such. Taste wise it was alright (quite light) but having whole pieces of prawn would have probably made it tastier and better. The scallop entree was lovely; generous sized succulent scallops were nicely seared and paired with crispy pigs' ear to add the much needed saltiness and the crunchy texture to the dish.

Conchinglie pasta with king prawn, spanish onions & soft herbs

 Seared scallops with crispy pigs ear & shaved radish salad

Next up were the mains, which we ordered the Eye fillet with yorkshire pudding, horseradish cream & red wine jus and the Grilled yellowfin tuna with warm spanish onion, cherry tomato & balsamic salsa. The eye fillet was cooked to medium rare and it was gorgeously tender. There wasn't really a need for the yorkshire pudding to be there but it was nice nonetheless. 

The grilled tuna was lovely too. The tuna was cooked perfectly and all the components tasted good as well. However, i felt like there was something missing, something (sweet?) that would bring all the components together to make it a beautiful dish. Nicely executed but fell short taste wise.

Here is the bowl of fries that we ordered to accompany our mains. It came out pipping hot! *nom

Last to come up was, of course, the dessert. We decided to share one as we were already too full to get a dessert each. Sadly they didn't have the Strawberry Festival (the dessert which i ordered on my previous visit) on this occasion, thus we decided to go for the Classic Creme Brulee. 'Crack' is the sound i heard when i gently hit it with my spoon and i was happy to find a luscious custard underneath eagerly waiting to be devoured. The custard itself tasted nice but it was a tad too rich for my taste. I am glad that we shared as i am almost certain that i wouldn't be able to finish one by myself =P

Even though the night was gloomy and rainy, the overall dinner experience was good and it lifted our moods up. The ambience was good and the waitress was very knowledgeable and attentive. The food was nice with just a few misses here and there. Coming back? Certainly, but not sure when...unless you tell me that the Strawberry Festival is back!

Pelagic Bar & Dining

Decided to have lunch at Pelagic Bar & Dining (Shop 2, 131 London Circuit, Civic (02) 6162 0752) and try their special lunch menu for $15 which has options of pasta, risotto and fish. We both decided to get fish as seafood is their specialty and they get it fresh everyday. Pelagic Bar & Dining has a simple and contemporary ambience with a cool feature wall fully decorated with fish. The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable which is always nice when you can't decide on what to order. 

I can't recall each dish's exact names but this is what we ordered: Crispy Snapper with salsa vinaigrette and Char-grilled salmon, asparagus and salsa verde. Both fish were cooked quite nicely but i particularly liked the crispy snapper as the salmon was a bit salty for my liking. Fortunately the salsa verde helped to neutralize the saltiness from the salmon and the arparagus were superb! Our mains were accompanied by Mixed leaves salad with balsamic dressing which was ordinary.

Crispy Snapper with Salsa Vinaigrette

Char-grilled salmon, asparagus and salsa verde

Mixed leaves with balsamic dressing

After having our mains we ordered a Strawberry Festival to share. It's a dessert that presents strawberries in seven different ways; the dish contained strawberry bavarois, strawberry sorbet, strawberry granita, fresh strawberries, dried strawberries, strawberry chips and a strawberry dust to finish off the presentation. Although it was all strawberries, there was a nice balance of sweetness and sourness in the dish. It not only looked pretty (in shades of pink and red) but it tasted delicious too, definitely the highlight of our lunch! *recommended

Lunch was satisfying and the lunch specials were quite good. The highlight was definitely the Strawberry Festival dessert which i don't mind going back for. Their a la carte menu looks nice too, so i might give it a go sometime! 

The Starfish Deli

I was in Bateman's Bay a few weeks ago and decided to try The Starfish Deli Restaurant (Promenade Plaza Shop 1, Clyde St, Batemans Bay 2536 - (02) 4472 4880) instead of going to The Boatshed for fish & chips (like most times). The weather was beautiful and gladly, we ended up getting a table by the window which allowed us to enjoy the view to the sea while eating.

We decided to order a dish each and we ended up getting Fishwich (it's basically fish & chips on a baguette), Eden Mussels (garlic, chilli and ginger spiced tomato, white wine and herbs, with pane di casa), Kilpatrick Wood Fire Pizza (crispy bacon, clyde river rock oysters, leicester cheese and worcestershire sauce) and the Garlic Prawn Pasta (in a garlic and parmesan cream sauce with tagliatelle and wild rocket).

Fishwich

The mussels were quite fresh and plump and they went well with the tomato sauce. The amount of king prawns in the pasta was quite generous and overall the dish was nice but lacked a bit of saltiness. I think the pizza was probably my least favourite dish (though i chose it) because there weren't many oysters on the pizza and some of the bacon pieces were hard and burnt. On top of that, all i could really taste was bacon and cheese *disappointed.

Eden Mussels

Kilpatrick Wood Fire Pizza

Garlic Prawn Pasta

Although the food wasn't spetacular, the lunch was still enjoyable. Heard that they make really good Crème brulée, maybe next time?

On The Pier - Bateman's Bay

It's been a while since i've been to On the Pier but why not blog about it? This restaurant has been awarded the best seafood restaurant in the lower coast since 2004 and i decided to check it out. The restaurant looks very nice from the outside and i particularly liked the front entrance door which resembles to a wooden 'ship door'. There were a few safety rings hanging on the walls that looked quite adorable too! On the inside, the restaurant looks quite classic with bar facilities and outdoor dining space overlooking the waters of Clyde River. I ordered a Seafood Platter for two and finished the meal with a Creme Brulee. The Seafood Platter consisted of a lobster, 12 oysters natural, 12 Crystal Bay Prawns, 6 tempura prawns, five spiced squid, coconut & coriander scallops, smoked salmon, tempura fish fillets, scallops wrapped with prosciutto skewer, crumbled calamari, seasonal fruits and dipping sauces. It was really filling and i particularly liked the fresh and juicy scallops and the smoked salmon! The Creme Brulee wasn't overly sweet (the way i like it) and the orange & strawberry sauce matched it well.

Outside View from the inside of the restaurant

Seafood Platter: Front & Back

Creme Brulee with orange & strawberry sauce

Call me weird, but i actually scooped out all the rockmelon flesh and ate it. I know it was used to hold the prawn and scallop skewers but it was too much of a waste to chuck half of a rockmelon out =P

Pelican Rocks Seafood Restaurant + Oysters

If you happen to be around the Jervis' Bay area, you should go and visit Greenwell Point. Firstly because it has some awesome oyster farms that serves VERY fresh oysters (including the famous Greenwell Point Oysters) and secondly, it's where the much-loved-by-the-locals Pelican Rocks Restaurant (115 Greenwell Point Road) is.

Going back to the oysters business...with quite a few farms to visit, i would probably recommend 'Kingtide Oysters' because their oysters are awesome! It's fresh and has the nicest texture that leaves you craving for more, and the awesome thing is that it costs only $10/dozen (i ended up buying 3 dozens)! So if you are definately going to Greenwell Point, don't forget to bring an esky.

Second attraction in Greenwell Point? The Pelican Rocks Seafood Restaurant. Ask the locals and they will tell you about it! It's recommended that you make a booking beforehand to avoid disappointment, especially if you are going for a day trip. It's not fine dining but more like a family dining place. It's nicely decorated with a marine theme and has a few pelican statues around the restaurant, and if you are lucky enough, you get to sit with a pelican statue! The menu is a mix of traditional and modern cuisine that uses fresh seafood and it also has a variety of chicken and steak dishes.

Entrees:

• 
  
  Smoked Salmon, semi-sundried tomato & avocado lettuce wraps - loved the smoked salmon and it didn't taste artificial.
• 
  
  Prawns and Scallops with a Thai chilli & lime sauce served with rice - seafood was very fresh but the sauce was perhaps a bit overpowering (a bit too sweet) for the prawns and scallop

Mains

• 
  
  Grilled Steak with Prawns and Chilli Salsa - nice steak!
• 
  
  Seafood Basket - apart from the salty prawns, it was lovely! Unlike the traditional seafood basket, it is not 100% fried food! It had prawn skewers, mussels, oysters, crumbled calamari, scallops and fish and seasonal fruits! It was a lot of food!

Bateman's Bay - The Boatshed

Went there on the last day of M&M Retreat for lunch. It's a humble looking place with a balcony (at the back of the restaurant) filled with tables and chairs overlooking the waters - perfect for enjoying your lunch! I am not too fond of Fish & Chips because i don't like my fish fried (at all), i prefer it to be grilled or steamed. Well...unfortunately they only make the fried version, but the good thing is that you can choose what kind of fish fillet you want. I tried the Grenadier and the Albacore fish fillets ($8/$12 with chips & salad), and my favorite was the Albacore! It's softer and not too flaky. I also tried some oysters ($15/dozen) and they were alright.

Overall, lunch was quite nice and relaxing...if only they had the grilled option...

Fish & Chips & Salad ($12)

Dozen Oysters ($15)