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Eating Melbourne – Sovereign Hill

Mar23

Restaurant: Sovereign Hill

Location: Bradshaw St, Golden Point VIC 3350, Australia

Date: December 31, 2017

Cuisine: Hard to tell

Rating: Better than it would have been in the US

For completeness in posting all the meals I photographed we have a lunch at the interesting reconstructed gold rush town of Sovereign Hill.

Here is the main pump for pumping water out of the mines. I hadn’t realized before coming to Australia that it also had a 19th century gold rush much like California.

Simple pasta.

Fish and Chips. Again!

Pumpkin salad. With feta and pomegranates. You wouldn’t see this at an American tourist place.
And catering to the Chinese tourist some kind of vaguely Asian chicken with rice. Not bad although not great either.

Decent for where it was.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Melbourne, Sovereign Hill

Eating Melbourne – Sarti

Mar09

Restaurant: Sarti

Location: 6 Russell Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Date: December 31, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Very good Italian

Our final dinner in Australia was New Years Eve and we went to this excellent Italian restaurant…

Pretty front hidden on a side street.

Inside, bar, etc.

Outside patio currently hosting a private party.

Italian all the way.

The special New Year’s menu.

I ordered this nice Australian chard.

Trota Marinata. Semi cured ocean trout, white radish, grapefruit, salmon roe.

Rotolo di Coniglio. Rolled rabbit, quinoa salad, walnuts, baby carrots.

Fiori di Zucca. Zucchini flowers filled with goat’s cheese and chives.

Insalata di Polipo. Octopus salad, avocado puree, pomegranate.

Zucchini and goat cheese foam.

Il Pesce. Pan seared Barramundi, baby cucumber, orange, caramelized witlof.

Risotto alle Verdure. Pea pisotto, sugar snap peas, mascarpone, mint.

Green salad with nuts.

Fries.

Spaghetti alla Chitarra. Black ink pasta, WA blue swimmer crab, fresh tomato, garlic, chili.

Chocolate ice cream.

Pietre di Frutta della Passione. Passion fruit stones, what chocolate sponge, basil.

The crew at the table.

Downtown Melbourne

Overall, a very nice Italian meal. Australia has a lot of Italians and quite good Italian food. This was in that modern Italian style.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Italian Cusine, Melbourne, Sarti

Eating Tasmania – Tasman

Mar08

Restaurant: Restaurant Tasman

Location: 1 Davey St, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia. +61 3 6235 4547

Date: December 29, 2017

Cuisine: Austalian

Rating: pretty good

Our last night in Tasmania we ate at the slight “fancy” hotel restaurant because it was convenient and looked pretty good.

Sadly, I didn’t really chronicle some of the more casual local fare that really stood out like the fresh oysters and scallops, or even better the scallop curry “pie” (I had at least 3 of these).

The menu.

Squash soup with a bit of curry and some considerable spice (cayenne?). I liked it. My wife did not because she doesn’t like spicy.

Rocket and parmesan salad with aged balsamic.

Curried scallops with date and tamarind chutney, hung yoghurt and coriander. Not bad but I preferred the aforementioned scallop curry pies.

Cheese pasta for the boy. He ordered 2 of them!

Pan roasted salmon fillet with beetroot gnocchi, golden beets, goat’s curd and baby chard leaves.

Roasted lamb rump with cannelloni beans, zucchini, asparagus, pistou and pickled white anchovies. The anchovies gave it a bit of an umami vibe.

Dessert menu.
Vanilla creme brulee with biscotti.

Overall, not a bad meal at all for upscale modern Australian.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

Tasmania is a dismal and unattractive place — nothing to look at here! (JK)

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Hobart, Tasman, Tasmania

Eating Tasmania – Cargo

Mar06

Restaurant: Cargo Bar Pizza Lounge

Location: 51 Salamanca Pl, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia

Date: December 27, 2017

Cuisine: Pizza

Rating: Ok

Our first night in the Tasmanian city of Hobart was the same night as the end of the big Sydney to Hobart sailing race so the city was packed.

Wandering around we found this pizza bar and lounge.

Odd format where you order food at one counter, drinks inside, then wait at a table for it.

So sort of fast casual bar.

The menu.

Garlic bread.

Lame caesar salad.

A sort of weird salad with various Italian deli meats in it. Described as Bresola, rocket, Spanish onion, cherry tomato, parmesan, fetta (spelled that way) & white truffle oil. This isn’t any bresola I’ve ever seen.

Kid’s cheese pizza.

Pizza with cherry tomatoes.
Hoi Sin Duck Pizza. Roasted duck, peanuts, cheese, hoi sin sauce, chili, spring onions & stir fry vegetables. Dough wasn’t the best but the toppings were actually pretty good. I love hoisin sauce.

Overall, a nice enough atmosphere, but a so-so dinner.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

People waiting on the harbor for the sailboats to head across the finish line

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Cargo, eating-australia, Hobart, Pizza, Tasmania

Eating Adelaide – 48 Flavors

Mar02

Restaurant: 48 Flavors

Location: 78 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. +61 8 8211 6180

Date: December 20, 2017

Cuisine: Gelato

Rating: Awesome gelato, if a tad brightly colored and stabilized

Right next to the Chinese restaurants and the Central Market is this award winning gelato place.

48 Flavors!

They have a lot of flavors, both fairly classic Italian and some more Asian slanted ones.
These brightly colored ones are mostly fruit flavors.

Over here are the more chocolate/vanilla type “heavier” flavors.

And a final shot.

This is Turkish Delight, a rosewater based flavor.

48 Flavors tasted great, has nice texture, and a lot of interesting and delicious flavors. The colors are pretty intense though and I asked them if they added coloring. The guy behind the counter said no, but I read the ingredients on their website and well… yes they do. My own Sweet Milk gelato style is pretty technical (2-3 sugars) but these are way more so with a host of stabilizers, emulsifiers, colors, oils, starches, etc in every flavor. It does help with the color, texture, and shelf life, but it’s well… more processed. I don’t really feel I need the artificial flavors or colors. Not sure why they need the oils either. Probably helps with the emulsification (and hence the texture) but dilutes the natural taste a bit.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.at

Toy factory in the Barossa Valley

By: agavin
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Tagged as: 48 Flavors, Adelaide, Australia, Dessert, eating-australia, Gelato

Eating Adelaide – Coopers

Mar01

Restaurant: Coopers Alehouse

Location: 316 Pulteney St, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. +61 8 8223 6433

Date: December 26, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: Decent pizza

Just a super simple pizza dinner at a local pub.

Cute old style Adelaide building. A lot of older Australia has a sort of “old west” style because it was built in a similar time period.

I love cider on tap. Local too.

Kid’s pizza.

Margarita pizza.

My weird pork, BBQ, and pita chip pizza. Not bad, if a little odd.

A pub with pizza, but decent pizza.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Adelaide, Australia, beer, cider, Coopers Alehouse, eating-australia, Pizza

Eating Barossa – Artisans

Feb26

Restaurant: Artisans of Barossa

Location: Light Pass Rd & Magnolia Rd, Vine Vale SA 5352, Australia. +61 8 8563 3935

Date: December 26, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: One of the best kitchens of the trip

On Boxing Day (the 26th of December) we traveled around the Barossa valley sampling giant Australian wines.

Our tour guide set us up at Artisans of Barossa and it turned out to be a lovely spot with great contemporary food.

The view in the middle of the vineyards with casual outside dining as well.

The menu.

The porch has a great view too.

As does the bustling modern interior.

Harvest sourdough with butter. Basic, but excellent!

Glass of Shiraz, of course.

Section 28 Monforte cheese and flat bread.

Fava and herb falafel with shanklish and roast pumpkin.

16 hour slow braised pork empanadas with house made relish. Meat in pastry is a classic and these were delicious!

Local heirloom tomato salad, Barossa Cheese Co feta and fresh herbs.

Fries.

Slow cooked pulled lamb with millet salad, yoghurt and barberries. Yum! Lamb is best this way, slow cooked, and with yougurt!
Salted caramel sundae with toffee popcorn. Several times in Australia I had a caramel ice cream thing with popcorn. Kinda works as this was excellent.

Overall, a great meal from a great kitchen. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a rush, but we slammed it in.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

Take in the local sites

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Artisans, Artisans of Barossa, Australia, Barossa, eating-australia

Eating Adelaide – Skyline

Feb24

Restaurant: Skyline

Location: 1 South Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. +61 8 8216 0388

Date: December 25, 2017

Cuisine: Australian Cuisine

Rating: Nice view

It was kinda hard to fine somewhere that was open on Christmas day (evening of the 25th). Most of the top places in Australia close for the holidays.
We settled on Skyline which did have a lovely view off the edge of the city. Funny too as it’s atop a tall building for Adelaide — but is perhaps only 5 or 6 stories!

The Christmas menu.The gang in the dining room.

And even a shot of me.

During dinner the sun went down right in front of us.

Goats Cheese Tart. Beetroot meringue, succulent salsa.

Seared Scallops. Coral emulsion, chorizo crumb.

Salad.

Side vegetables (kinda like the Nicoise minus the tuna).

Simple pasta for the boy.

Fish & chips.

SA Kingfish Nicoise Salad. Green beans, kipfler potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, sous vide egg.

Lamb Backstrap – Hay Valley Farms. Beetroot leather, burnt butter beans, roasted beets, goats cheese.

Ice cream.

Chocolate brownie. Honey caramel, toasted macadamia, burnt honey ice cream, egg nog foam, puffed black rice, candied muntries.
Vanilla Panna Cotta. Rosemary short bread, confit rhubarb, balsamic jelly, strawberry jell, native mint.

A fun enough meal — although the kitchen was more clued in than the servers. They had that super friendly Australian thing going, but they were pretty clueless and made a bunch of mistakes.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Adelaide, Australia, Christmas, eating-australia, Skyline

Eating Adelaide – Ding Hao

Feb22

Restaurant: Ding Hao

Location: 26 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. +61 8 8211 7036

Date: December 25, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Not bad

Christmas Day in Adelaide and what do you do, even when on the other side of the world? Eat Chinese Food!

Adelaide’s chinatown was just around the corner from our hotel so I picked the busiest looking dim sum parlor.

Inside it doesn’t look much — if any — different than it might in the states.

Chili sauce.

Sadly, since the rest of my party doesn’t like Chinese food I was ordering just for myself and so couldn’t get that much. Had to try the classics though.

Shu Mai. Fine version. Not too gigantic (I don’t like them huge).

Steamed pork bun. I would rather have had the baked type with the sweet glaze but the filling was very good.

Scallop and shrimp dumplings. Nice. Very fresh too.
I was full but I saw XLB (xao lao bao) pork soup dumplings on the menu and had to order some up. Took 20 minutes to steam too but totally worth it.

Not bad at all from the couple dishes I had. Considerably better than the place I ate at in New York’s Chinatown last summer.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, Ding Hao, eating-australia

Eating Sydney – Ibis Hotel

Feb18

Restaurant: Ibis Hotel Sydney Airport

Location: Sydney, Australia

Date: December 24, 2017

Cuisine: Weird blend

Rating: interesting, but not a lot of flavor

A mechanical problem with our plane caused us to spend an extra night in Sydney — at the exciting Ibis Hotel near the airport. We went down to their restaurant and discovered to my pleasure and everyone else’s that it was vaguely Asian. Sort of Indian/Indonesian maybe.

Cider.

Salt and pepper squid. Pretty tasty actually. Best thing. VERY salty though.

Creamy mushroom pasta.

Pasta pomodoro.

Steamed veggies.

Boring salmon.

Chicken curry. I wanted to like it but it was super salty without much flavor.

Ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Seeing as it was Christmas Eve they gave us some eggnog!

And I ordered this yummy-sounding caramel shake, but it basically tasted like milk and caramel not ice cream.

Not the best meal at all, but kinda interesting. The hotel had nice staff, but I can’t say I will be booking at another Ibis again soon — accommodations and service were minimal to say the least!

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Ibis, Sydney

Eating Uluru – Sails in the Desert

Feb15

Restaurant: Sails in the Desert

Location: Uluru

Date: December 23, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: Not bad for in the middle of nowhere

Sails in the Desert is a hotel (one of just a few) near Uluru.

Uluru used to be known as Ayers rock — regardless, it’s far more impressive in person than any name can do justice to!

Fruity mocktail.

Salad with grilled cheese — notice the rocket again.

Veggie Club and fries.

The ubiquitous fish and chips.

Curry in the middle of nowhere!And kangaroo — which was a little tough and not good enough to overcome the cuteness factor of the bouncy marsupials, so I feel sad.

Sails wasn’t bad for such a remote destination — and one with virtually no other choices unless you want to go all aboriginal and eat some monitor lizard.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Sails in the Desert, Uluru

Eating Cairns – Tamarind

Feb09

Restaurant: Tamarind

Location: 35-41 Wharf St, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia. +61 7 4030 8897

Date: December 22, 2017

Cuisine: Thai Fine Dining

Rating: Very good

Tamarind is a casino restaurant in Cairns that is high end Thai-fusion fine dining.

Only that particular combination and the fact that they also had regular pasta (for our son) convinced my family to go — lucky for me.

Long menu.

An amuse of tomato soup.

Fruity cocktail.

A kind of alcoholic “ice tea.”

Tamarind Taster Plate with, left to right:

Pan Seared Scallops. Butternut anglaise, dried wakame, bacon crumb and pickled fig.

Tempura Zucchini Flowers. Pernod gel, ricotta emulsion, macerated currents, and salsa verde.

Gin and tonic Salmon. Blueberry, cucumber gel, feta cream, squid ink glass.

Watermelon Salad. Pink-ginger, watermelon, snow pea, and ponzu dressing.

Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese.

Beetroot Risotto. Goats chese croquette, roof top greens.

Penang Duck Curry. Caramelized pumpkin, roasted peanuts, chili, coriander, with scented rice.

A close up of the curry. This was actually a fabulous curry. Sweet rather than spicy but intensely flavored, rich, and sumptuous.

Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Above the great barrier reef

I’m glad we managed to get to Tamarind. It was one of my favorite dinners, particularly because the duck curry was so good and I love even a bad Thai curry — and this was a delicious one.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Cairns, eating-australia, Tamarind, Thai cuisine

Eating Cairns – Fusion Art

Feb07

Restaurant: Fusion Art Bar & Tapas

Location: 5/12 Spence St, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia. +61 7 4051 3888

Date: December 21, 2017

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Excellent

Our Australian trip brings us along to Cairns, near the Great Barrier Reef.

And with it a more tropical feel and a well recommended tapas bar.

Attractive interior, but it was a nice night and we sat outside.

The menu.

Bar snacks.

Some kind of typical aperitif.

A glass of rose.

Coffin Bay South Australian Oysters.

Condiments include mignonette spheres!

Kingfisher Creek Camembert and bread.

Sardines with tomato chili relish and orange segments.

Pan fried Haloumi with strawberry salsa and fig balsamic.

Wild Mushroom Arancini with saffron aioli.

Prawn Beignets with grapefruit aioli.

Baked Aubergine stuffed with pumpkin, parmesan and roasted tomato dressing.

Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry with cassava chips and basmati rice. There is a lot of curry in Australia, lucky for me!

Mango passionfruit dessert.

Chocolate ice cream dessert.

Waterfall on the skyride outside of town

This was one of our better dinners in Australia. It’s not fancy, and we didn’t tend to go to very elaborate places, but they had a solid kitchen and bright and interesting flavors.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Cairns, eating-australia, Fusion Art, Tapas

Eating Sydney – Quay & Co

Feb03

Restaurant: Quay & Co

Location: Gateway, 2 Alfred St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Date: December 20, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: okay

Another quick meal in Sydney.

Right across from the Gelato Messina.

The menu.

Fish & Chips are everywhere in Australia.

Salmon Benedict “sandwich.”

Lamb shoulder with fries, pita, and yogurt.

Sydney docks

Not the greatest meal ever, but certainly fine.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Quay & Co, Sydney

Eating Sydney – Gelato Messina

Feb02

Restaurant: Gelato Messina

Location: Alfred St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia. +61 2 9252 4480

Date: December, 2017

Cuisine: Gelato

Rating: Better than I’ve had in the states

Gelato Messina has been a big inspiration to me as a Gelato-maker because they have the best English professional gelato book.

Anyway I was psyched to find one right next to my hotel in Sydney! Had to eat there 4 times in 2 days — Italian style (gelato twice a day).

It’s a little corner spot at the entrance to a food mall at Circular Quay.

Crowded most of the day.

Various specials.

Juicy looking over piled cabinets.

Milk based.

Sorbet.

More.

And even more.

Here is a strawberry sorbetto. Not quite as good as mine (with the strawberries from Avignon), but very very good.

Old-town Sydney

Overall, some fabulous gelato. Very interesting flavors and a bunch of nice Christmas flavors. Not quite as intense as mine. I even tried two flavors that I have made from their recipes and they are slightly less intense. I probably use more expensive ingredients because at home I use the best possible regardless.

Great place!

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Dessert, eating-australia, Gelato, Gelato Messina, Messina, Sydney

Eating Sydney – Salt Meats Cheese

Jan31

Restaurant: Salt Meats Cheese

Location: Gateway Sydney, L201 Alfred St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia. +61 2 9247 6446

Date: December 19, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Solid causual Italian

There was a fairly extensive food mall right next to our hotel in Sydney.

And this was the Italian option — after I was outvoted on the Thai!

The menu.

A nice glass of rose for a late afternoon pizza.

Fig salad. Fresh figs, rocket, mozzarella, balsamic. Australians LOVE rocket (arugula).

Beef crudo. Chopped wagyu, truffle pecorino, fried crumbled egg. The fried (soft boiled) egg was a unique and excellent touch.

Pizza Margherita.
Pizza Fresh Fig. Pancetta, tomato, mozzarella, gorgonzola, fresh fig, balsamic. Nice enough pizza.

View of Sydney from the harbor

Simple neo-Italian (aka pizza, apps, and pasta), but not bad at all.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, eating-australia, Italian cuisine, Salts Meats Cheese, Sydney

Eating Sydney – Leura Gourmet

Jan29

Restaurant: Leura Gourmet

Location: 179 The Mall | Blue Mountains, Leura, New South Wales 2780, Australia. +61 2 4784 3121

Date: December 19, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: Surprisingly good

One wouldn’t expect to find anything decent in a small (but cute) tourist town like Leura, deep in the Blue Mountains a few hours outside of Sydney.

But this little cafe and deli looked fairly appealing.

Lots of deli counter.

And goods.

And pastries. Savory pies are common in Australia — I happen to like them.

The interior had a nice view and was painted a lurid green that invaded all the photos.

The menu.

Mango lassi. Love these.

Apple juice — in Australia it’s usually cloudy. Mr. Picky didn’t like it.

Pappadum & Smoked Salmon Salad. Tasmanian smoked salmon, camenbert, avocado & pappadums with our special dressing. Interesting Indian/Australian fusion.

Caramelized onion & goat’s cheese tart.

Simple pasta.
Tandoori Chicken. Served with rice, pappadum, raita, & sweet mango chutney. More Indian fusion. Not bad actually.

Shot from the nearby Three Sisters rock formation

Given the Burger/Fish & Chip vibe of most of the other places in town these was some welcome sophistication. And very Australian somehow.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Deli, eating-australia, Leura

Eating Sydney – Oyster Bar

Jan27

Restaurant: Sydney Cove Oyster Bar

Location: 1 Circular Quay East, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia. +61 2 9247 2937

Date: December 20, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

For our first night in Australia we just rolled around Circular Quay to a well rated seafood place. This isn’t fancy or incredibly memorable, but it is fairly typical of modern Australian cuisine.

Great location right on the Quay.

The menu.

They had oyster shots on the menu so I figured I’d give them a try. I figured they’d be more like oyster shooters (i.e. more savory) and instead they are pretty serious shots of alcohol with oysters in them. So as such, I didn’t really enjoy them because they are mostly 80 proof!

Original. Spicy tomato juice, vodka, layered, celery, cracked pepper.

Margarita. Salt rim glass, tequila, cointreau, lemon juice.

Tokyo Ginger. Wasabi, citrus vodka, and a dash of soy.

Mojito. Brown sugar rim, lime juice, dark rum and mint.

Bread.

Rocket and parmesan salad. They LOVE rocket (arugula to us Americans) in Australia. I happen to like it myself too.

Scallops, yuzu, togarashi chili, chives. Crudo of scallops with a strong Japanese powdered spice sauce. I liked these a lot. Used the bread on the oil.
T

San Coy Bau, Wagyu beef, tiger prawns, peanuts, chili and witlof. Endive basically with a slightly Szechuan (broad bean) mean and prawn chop. Quite nice.

Simple pasta for my son.
Grilled king salmon, roasted carrots, green harissa. The sauce was sweetish not spicy and my wife really liked this dish (she’s a connoisseur of salmon preps).

Overall, a fine meal. Nothing earth shattering, but great atmosphere and solid local food.