SMH Good Food Guide Awards 2010 – Three Hats and Best Seafood

SMH Good Food Guide Awards 2010 – Three Hats and Best Seafood

As Canute reminded his acolytes, you can’t hold back the tide. The long glass jetty has gone with the flow. The casual tasting room evaporated (alas), while the fine dining room’s menu has been paired back to make room for a degustation. Of late, the service has opted for cool efficiency over its previous vibrant personality, but remains smooth. The decor goes for slick, cool minimalism in white and blue, and the dozen-dish menu presents seafood in elaborate, nuanced and gorgeous ways, such as jewel-like coral trout carpaccio, carefully adorned with tomato and herb leaves. Spanner crab tian on scallop cerviche with a moat of green jus and tangle of pea shoots was more of a triumph of texture than taste. Tuna, seared only on one side, is a translucent base for a crisp filigree of fennel, slivers of Sicilian olive and seared calamari, while Katrina Kanetani’s desserts reveal a vivid imagination, especially whimsical, tangy blueberry cheesecake ice-cream with goat’s curd and chestnut crumble.