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Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Three

offshore breeze and subtle aromas of lemon and salt. So, cast a line and relax. Unlike a number of overtly casual restaurants in the vicinity, there are no checks with the kitchen, no menu ambiguity. Simply knowledge. Waiter Brody delivers a fluent recital of the evening’s produce that sparks the appetite without leaving us floundering in options and fishing terminology. Details and ingredients are explained and recommended with an attitude as professional as the uniform. The service is both proficient and friendly and sees waiters setting down the correct dish to diner whilst informally talking fish with the locals. Wine and water topped, fish filleted on the table, more olive oil madam? (Or mate, depending). The team moves effortlessly around the room like a freshwater current and is a focal ingredient to this venerable dining experience. The Fish Board is subject to change, which is a good thing. A great thing in fact, when the produce is caught off the South Australian coast before dawn, bought, filleted, cleaned and packeted in Melbourne, flown to Coolangatta by 10.30am and sprawled on the menu just in time for lunch. “A heavy process,” as Simon calls it. But one you won’t find anywhere else in Gold Coast, or even Queensland. The menu speaks Australian with a Mediterranean accent, wholesome Greek-inspired home recipes with outstanding national produce. The menu endeavours to simply satisfy rather than overwhelm diners with plated theatrics. And in true healthconscious Gold Coast fashion, the kitchen prefers olive oils and lemon juice to cream and butter. Well in that case, we’ll have both. The Simple Lemony Fish Soup, and this wouldn’t be the first you’ve heard of it, has gathered a cult following and enough social media stardom to give acai bowls a run for their money. From the first spoon-dip erupts an intoxicating aroma of fresh lemon, dill and olive oil, which only improves on the palette with its velvety texture and fleshy chunks of Snapper. The Daily Fried Selection, which depends on the day’s catch, of cuttlefish, school prawn and whiting was treated light and fried fast, each mouthful crisp, salty and moreish like Pacific Ocean popcorn, electrified with a squirt of fresh lemon juice. The Pan-Seared Scallops arrived cuddled together in a deep white dish, glistening like an oversized pearl bracelet in citrusy golden butter. Their toasted skin bursts to flesh as sweet and DINING 104 Pindara Magazine Summer | 2014/15


Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Three
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