dining silky as summer lychee, with a subtle bite of shallot and lemon. There is something so enjoyably quirky about meeting your fish at the table. The waiter delivers the raw, chilled whole fish on a silver platter straight to the table for customers to inspect its size, appearance and give the green flag before it’s returned to the kitchen. They’ll even bring two fish for the indecisive. A little surprising for those unacquainted with their food origins, but perfect for demonstrating their fresh-is-best attitude. The Rainbow Trout of 350 grams is an ideal share size for two, and filleted before your eyes, leaving the parcels of steaming pink flesh swimming in a puddle of olive and lemon juice. Particularly special occasions call for the one-kilogram Snapper baked in white wine and oregano, a whopper of a fish that truly melts in your mouth - ideal for two or more people. NB: Excellence doesn’t come at corner shop prices, so be prepared to splash out a little more for the cause of quality. All the Whole Fish options are accompanied with a neat little slab of potato gratin, seasonal greens and a cos lettuce salad dressed in vinaigrette and fine slivers of spring onion. The whole dish arguably rests on the house-made tartare sauce, which is all but medicinal; creamy, tangy and nary a bottle in sight. They say Sunday nights are quiet nights. Not quite. By 6.30pm the contemporary jazz mood music begins to soften against the jovial rumor of local conversation and tomorrow’s surf forecast. The whir of waiters continues to keep glasses glistening with the principally European wine list. This being a mindful and award-winning selection of Old Worlds by the bottle, and both fresh aromatic whites and light to mediumbodied reds by the glass, half and full bottle, all which compliment the Mediterranean character of the food. Before you know it, the sun slips away beneath a veil of winter violet and steel blue, embossing the stately elevation of Surfers Paradise in the distance, and leaves you in the hands of a pleasant evening and the whispering roll of the waves. And as you start to forget the hefty batter and the ring-ring of pokie machines that signify the iconic surf club experience, you know The Fish House has you caught - hook, line and sinker. pm pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 105
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Three
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