My wife and I visited for the first time for our 5th anniversary, a special occasion and we had heard good reviews of this restaurant, not far from our home. We aren't that flush but both love seafood so unfortunately the $200 Seafood platter for...2 was out of reach. We opted for the $90 Adriatic platter for two. We first shared an entree from the blackboard menu, a Prawn Risotto. I found 5 prawns in this $38 dish. Although not generous it was very tasty though a tad heavily salted. The plate had not long disappeared before the Adriatic platter arrived; at this rate they will ushering us out within half an hour! I'd expect this at a Sammy's restaurant but not a quiet suburban spot with maximum seating of approx 30.
We perused the platter, no stream rising here; maybe the draught coming from the front door directly in front of us was negating it? For such a cosy place it wasn't exactly warm, we left our coats on the whole time.
6 oysters, well presented and tasty though small. 4 x King prawns, hmmm, even with their crowns still attached these were scrawny to say the least, though tasty. Fried potatoes dominated the platter and though inconsistently seasoned were light and tasty. When the fries are the highlight of a seafood platter, the warning lights come on!
The two biggest disappointments were the char-grilled fish fillets and the fried calamari. Neither of these were cooked satisfactorily! The fish was tasteless; so much so I asked the waitress (who I suspect is the chef's daughter) what the fish was? She went away to check and described it as Blue Grenadier from NZ. Maybe she checked the box it came from ? I could not finish even half of my fillet. Then there was the fried calamari! The crumbs on it were cold and not crisp (box suspected again) and the calamari itself, just above room temperature, hardly cooked, gooey and almost inedible.
Trying to contain myself so not as to spoil our special occasion, I though traditional Croatian desserts may be a redeeming feature and extend our time so as to make t seem like a special occasion. I ordered a latte with these. The handmade 'warm' pitta @ $16 was below par. I sent a search party out to find the apple and cherries that were meant to reside in this dish; missing in action. The Croatian palacinke @$14, a standard crepe was barely warm though cooked properly and with a nice Croatian jam that we chose to accompany it. I habitually ordered a latte to finish up, and like most items of the evening, was not warm enough and by now I had run out of patience so I said nothing other than to ask if I could have a raw sugar in lieu of the white sugar satchel."No we don't have raw sugar" was the response I got. OMG.
So, to summarise, this was a very disappointing meal indeed, especially as the bill reached $170 which for us is way out there. The effort in the kitchen came across as lazy, lacking pride and finesse and pedestrian at best. When one looks around this establishment, the demograph of clientele is 'post-pension' at a conservative estimate though the denture-friendly food with its lack of taste would barely be noticed i'm sure.
I was asked by the chef's daughter "how was it" after paying my bill to which I simply replied 'disappointing'. No follow up questions were asked and we exited quietly. (never to return!). To end on a positive note, the service given by another waitress named 'Christine/Christina?" was warm and professional, oh, and the corkage @ $2.50 is very good. We had two bottles of wine but as we had finished within the hour the second was not opened. It was a Clare valley Riesling, what one would drink with fine seafood...need I say more!?More
