By Franz Scheurer
Location, location, location! Right on the water, next to the jetty, overlooking the bay you find the funky, corrugated iron shed housing a restaurant serving great fresh seafood. Jason Habel, the executive chef, knows where his produce comes from and knows how to prepare it.
Thanks to the generosity of local friends, we tried to drown ourselves in freshly shucked Streaky Bay oysters, eating them natural with a few drops of lemon, lightly crumbed with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce (it wasn’t overkill – really) and Kilpatrick. The natural oysters were wonderfully plump and briny and I think it would be very hard to top them served this way.
An entrée of ‘Local Abalone stir fry with pad Thai noodles and coriander’ showed us just how good baby abalone can be and the ‘Pan-fried Squid tossed in hazelnut and coriander butter’ was soft, unctuous and perfectly seasoned.
The ‘Sautéed Scallops with mesclun tomato and snow pea salad with lime and balsamic dressing’ was interesting although the flavour of the balsamic overpowered the delicate scallops in my opinion.
‘Battered goujons of King George whiting with tartar, chunky fries and a salad’ made us realize that King George whiting this fresh simply never is available in Sydney.
We only just managed to share the ‘Pavlova shell toped with tropical fruits and crème patissière’ and, although it looked a bit old-fashioned, it tasted great.
Service was very affable and nothing was too much trouble. We sat outside on the terrace, gazing over the moonlit wharf and enjoying the salty sea air. What a fantastic spot!
Score: 6.5/10
For more information:
Mocean
34b Alfred Terrace
Streaky Bay SA 5680
Tel.: 08 8626 1775