River Quay Fish - Southbank

Friday after work, wanting to relax and unwind before a busy weekend. Caught up with Queen V for dinner. Wanting to try somewhere new, we wandered around Southbank until we found ourselves around the Sidon Street strip of restaurants which we ever so rarely go to. Weighing up the options, we decided to try out River Quay Fish, which has been open in that area for a considerable period. 

  

Being given a seat with an excellent river view, menus were provided promptly, and we were provided menus very promptly. The selection was without a doubt modern Australian cuisine with a varied selection of small plates, salads, shared plates and dessert.

Kicked off our meal with two drinks. The cosmo was fresh and gave me a nice buzz to start off. Queen V ordered a lemon-y mocktail, and also quite enjoyed it.

Before long, food started arriving quite promptly.

Started off the meal with the twice cooked pork belly served with coleslaw and bourbon bbq sauce. The pork belly was a bit fatty, and quite chewy and rubbery. I would have liked the skin to be a bit crispier too. The sauce was also quite sweet, but I did like the crispy fresh coleslaw which balanced the dish a little.

Next we had the Poached Rhubarb Salad with beetroot leaves, goats cheese and walnuts. Compared to our usual salads, this was definitely more unique. beetroot leaves were surprisingly tasty, the goats cheese was tangy and the walnuts added texture and crunch to the dish.

For more protein, we ordered a serve of Salmon to share. For a main size, I consider the portion to be quite small, thankfully we ordered other dishes. The fish itself could have had crispier skin, rather it was a bit chewy instead. I liked that the fish was flaky and delightfully rare on the inside, but would have preferred a stronger marinate. 

Our last savory dish was the fried calamari. The battery was uneven and not too crunchy, but the calamari was tender and had a good texture to it. Coupled with the aioli, it made for a good snack sized portion.

After dinner, we opted for desserts, which also arrived very promptly, much to our delight.

Queen V opted for her favourite apple crumble. It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Trying some myself, I found there to be not too much apple compared to the amount of crumble in the dish. The crumble was quite coarse and crunchy in texture, but this was alleviated by the smoothness of vanilla ice cream.

I opted for one of my favorite desserts, the Eton mess. It also came with a side of ice cream. I really enjoyed the light richness of cream coupled with the sweetness of strawberry compote, it made for a deliciously well balanced dessert which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Price Range: $40 - $60pp

Taste: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10