The Boathouse Restaurant, Lakes Entrance VIC

"A grand disappointment"

The previous night I was extremely impressed with my dinner at the hotel in Canberra, that I felt the urge again to venture out in search of some fine cuisine. I was staying in a cheap motel, but Belevue on the Lakes was just down the road, boasting luxury accommodation and their own restaurant adjoined to the hotel, so I thought I would check it out.

I had never eaten Oysters before, and surrounded by water in Lakes Entrance, I felt compelled to pluck up the courage to order an Oyster starter. I order just half a dozen of the Oysters with Camembert- not the best decision on my behalf, nor was it the best decision on the chefs behalf to place 2 ingredients of 'gooey' consistency together. The flavours just didn't really work together- I felt they needed something with a stronger flavour and consistency to contrast the Oysters. The whole dish was bland.

As this restaurant was hideously over priced, after the Oysters I had another entree rather than a main. Being the only real 'restaurant' surrounded by Fish and Chips shops, punts and an RSL gives them the licence to charge as much as they please for what they are labelling as 'fine dining'- as there is no competition. They will always have a market there without having to try or to build their reputation- thousands of tourists will go there purely because it is there, rather than upon recommendations from others- as there are so many tourist flowing through the Lakes that they can continue to over price and under deliver.

For my main (which was an entree), I tried the Crab meat and Saffron Tart- which was a glorified Quiche with a hint of seawater- the saffron on top was the most exciting part of this dish. It was bland. I wouldn't want to pay more than $7 for it.

For desert, I stuck with the tart theme and ordered the Chocolate Tart. The best part of the entire meal was the 2 chocolate toffee bits sticking out the top of the tart for presentation. These were delicious. The rest of the tart, again like this whole experience was bland. The chocolate was not nearly rich enough, you could barely tell it was chocolate. Even the big bit of chocolate used as presentation between the toffee bits tasted like watered down chocolate. The scoop of vanilla bean icecream tasted like cream with little brown dots through it- again it was bland.

I found this whole restaurant experience bland and underwhelming. The service was awkward, and the music was too quiet- I could hear everyone's conversations in the whole restaurant. 

THE VERDICT

FOOD & FLAVOUR- thumbs down

EXECUTION & PRESENTATION- thumbs up

SERVICE & ATMOSPHERE- thumbs down

OVERALL: thumbs down 

BG Skyline Restaurant- Canberra ACT

"The best food and service yet experienced in 2009."

After a long day, arriving in Canberra after 8pm, I wanted nothing more than a shower and a good meal. Out of pure laziness, I opted to dine at the restaurant on the top floor of Rydges Lakeside Hotel in Canberra where I was staying- and I must say that I was exceedingly impressed.

The lift doors opened to a gorgeous skyline and a friendly greeting from the restaurant manager. I was seated along side the window, and the services from the word go was friendly and attentive, without being overbearing. From the atmosphere already created in those first few minutes, I was inspired to order a $20 glass of Moet & Chandon, and it only got better from there.

For starters- flat bread, lightly dusted with sea salt, served with a saucer of extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic. The middle eastern style flat bread was a nice twist on the seemingly traditional bread & balsamic combination.

Main Meal- King Fish with piquillo peppers and olives in a salsa verde. This was simply amazing. The salsa verde was bursting with so many rich aromatic flavours, and was the perfect accompaniment for the King Fish, which was cooked to complete perfection, simply 'falling' apart the moment my knife made contact with the fish.

Dessert- Pine Nut and honey tart with cinnamon semifreddo. Now this was definitely an experience. I had never thought of pine nuts and their possible place in desserts before. The tart was simply remarkable and incredibly innovative. It wasn't too sweet, and allowed for the natural flavour of the pine nuts to shine through. Flavour wise, it wasn't the best dessert I've ever had, but I was simply in awe and appreciation of such a novel idea for a dessert. I didn't go much on the cinnamon semifreddo- having said that I'm not really much of a cinnamon or semifreddo fan however.

THE VERDICT

FOOD & FLAVOUR- thumbs up

EXECUTION & PRESENTATION- thumbs up

SERVICE & ATMOSPHERE- thumbs up

OVERALL: thumbs up