Public Dining Room - Balmoral Beach

Before Christmas, we took my parents to Public Dining Room at Balmoral Beach. I love this beach and I love all the eating places around this beach but I have never actually dined at Public Dining Room before. Having flicked through the menu, I was full of anticipation.

It was an awesome summer's day and so, a table by the window gave us a fabulous view of the beach and all the beachgoers. And as the sun doesn't set until after 8pm, we had this amazing view for a while.

The four of us ordered two starters to share - the scallops and the smoked ocean trout. The scallops were seared to perfection and served with sweetcorn puree and chorizo. Did you know that scallops are perfect pairs with corn and chorizo? Cos this was absolutely deliciousness!!! The cured ocean trout was also refreshing, really fresh tasting with flavours balanced well.

scallops with sweet corn puree and chorizo

cured ocean trout

Perhaps they had too many customers and were understaffed but our mains took seemingly forever to come... Luckily, when they did come, it was really good! Hubby had the Brodetto, which was an Italian seafood soup. This was really seafoody and flavoursome. The prawns were massive and the broth was rich. My only qualm with this was that the bread came in the soup, making it soggy an mushy... I would have wanted the bread on the side so that I could choose when I want to soak up the juices.

Brodetto

Mum had a really awesome pasta. Short strozzapreti pasta was served with massive king prawns, nz clams, zucchini, bottarga and a hint of chilli. I have to say, I actually really liked this slightly creamy concoction. Tasty! Dad's 'fish of the day' being wild caught barramundi was possibly my least favourite of the night. Not that the fish wasn't cooked well... it just lacked the 'wow factor' that the other dishes had. The fish got served with clams, cuttlefish, and chorizo, all cooked perfectly.

strozzapreti with king prawns

wild caught barramundi

My dish was the 'melting' huon tasmanian salmon. It was gorgeous! Sous-vide to perfection, flaky and melt-in-your-mouth. Sooo good. Atop of the amazing salmon was crispy salmon skin. Perfect pairing! Moreover, there was a little salad of purple potato, asparagus, quinoa and watercress puree. Loved it!

Sous-vide Huon Salmon

The sides that we ordered, baked broken potatoes and brocollini were both good but not as awesome as our main dishes.

We were all super full but I couldn't resist but some dessert - or at least, I couldn't. I ordered the 'four tastes of valrhona, aero style, which the waitress had lots of trouble explaning to us what it comprised of. I believe that they melt various flavours of valrhona chocolate (milk, white, dark, sweet) then pump air into it, reform the chocolate, then chop it up in various shapes. It did taste a lot like Nestle's "aero". And I'm super thankful that the waitress bought out four plates and forks cos there was no way I could have finished this on my own!!! Definitely one for sharing!!!

Valrhona chocolate, aero style

I loved the food at this place. It's a great dining venue with really yummy food. Maybe I'll try to book this place again when it's less busy as I didn't like waiting 45mins for my mains... but I guess that my food was so delicious that I could overlook it... a little.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

Public Dining Room
2A The Esplanade
Balmoral Beach
NSW 2088
Tel: (02) 9968 4880

Watermark - Balmoral Beach

To begin this post, I must give credit to my sleep-loving, not-always-full-of-patience, yet willing-to-put-up-with-me partner for he was woken up before 8am to listen to the long list of things I wanted to eat that day. The list included eggs and toast (maybe from Bills or Dank St Depot), huge chicken schnitzel (maybe from Una's), huge pork knuckle (maybe from Löwenbräu Keller), sausage + egg + my fav brand of 2-min noodles (aka "doll son noodles"), mashed potatos, siu mai, etc etc. When my partner finally couldn't take it anymore, he decided - Ryo's ramen it was! And by this time, it was past 11.30am (ie. no longer breakfast time).

With anticipation, my mind was filled with yummy tonkotsu-based thick-souped ramen and soft-shell crab during our drive to Ryo's - only to be overcome by disappointment as they were closed. Why do Jap people enjoy holidays when I most crave their food?!?!?!?!!

Anyway, thanks to my partner's quick thinking, we landed at our lunch destination before 1pm. Although I was hesitant to walk further than the lovely-smelling kiosk selling chips and hotdogs at Balmoral beach (I was absolutely starving!!!), we eventually made it to Watermark. And boy was I glad I didn't opt for the kiosk.

Watermark

Presented with a nice looking menu, I was indecisive (again) and wanted the beef, the chicken and the salmon. Even though I was hungry, I still don't think I could have managed three mains. To help me out, my partner ordered the beef, whilst I settled for the salmon.

Menu

Complementary bread came first. It was warm-ish and soft and yummy. But the crust was definitely hard to break off - and yes, I did make a nice little mess on my table.

Complementary bread

When our mains came out, I was all awe and amazement. WOW!
I love it when food is asthetically-pleasing and a work of art, more so when it smells deliciousness, and even more so when it gets placed in front of me! mmm... yum.

Roasted eye fillet of beef - cooked medium rare - $39

My partner's steak, roasted eye-fillet, cooked medium-rare, and surrounded by fondant potatoes, vine tomatoes, bone marrow, and topped with horseradish butter ($39) ... absolutely wonderfulness! Smelt great, looked great, and most importantly, tasted great!

Salmon - cooked medium rare - $38

And my dish ($38) - the photo does NOT do it justice! The black stroke on the right-hand side... looks so artistically like a stroke of black paint - only edible (ie. black squid ink). The pan fried salmon was super crispy-skinned yet awesomely soft and tender below. Cooked to a perfect medium rare. Accompanied with a small toss of calamari and crispy eschallot salad, it was deliciousness when eaten with the squid-ink sauce. And pea-sauce was dribbled-on just right to complete the artistic-quality of the dish.

We also ordered two sides. The green salad ($9), and the potato puree ($8). The green salad was just tossed so perfectly - not drenched in vinigarette, yet tastey on every fresh leafy component. And the potato puree... words can not describe the buttery creaminess.

Green Salad with an Italian style vinigarette - $9

Potato Puree - $8

Overall, food wins out. Such an awesomeness lunch that my partner will never have to pull me away from the yummy-tasting kiosk and convince me to eat at Watermark again - as I would be all hands up for Watermark! The service was nice and friendly. And view-wise? Balmoral is my favourite beach, so how can a restaurant which overlooks this beach have a bad view? :)

Would I come here again?
Well, how can I resist asthetically-pleasing dishes?

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 35/40

Watermark
2A The Esplanade
Balmoral Beach
NSW 2088
Tel: (02) 9968 3433