{"id":856,"date":"2013-04-01T00:49:30","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T00:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/?p=856"},"modified":"2013-04-01T00:53:55","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T00:53:55","slug":"two-meals-at-the-fish-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/two-meals-at-the-fish-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Meals at the Fish House"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After months of working both lunch and dinner service 5 days a week (basically 9 in the morning until closing, 11 PM or so), two weeks ago life in the Fish House (http:\/\/thefishhouse.com.au\/<\/a>) kitchen became sufficiently organized that Taylor could train someone to cover for her during service, thus allowing her to take one or two services off each week. One of them was Thursday night, and we used this opportunity to have dinner at the restaurant with her. While she was doing the lunch service, Taylor arranged a feast for us with the chef: this was an augmented version of their usual multi-course tasting menu. Although we were stuffed when we were done, everything was spectacular and we had no trouble eating it all. It was great fun because we were treated like royalty, seated at the best table in the house and, unbeknownst to us, Taylor had also arranged to pay for this feast.<\/p>\n

As you read the description of this meal, keep in mind that, true to its name, the Fish House focuses on fish that is prepared simply, so that its individual character and uncompromising quality, rather than sauces or imaginative plating, are what impresses. (That a similar philosophy applies to the desserts is a source of some frustration for Taylor who would prefer more artistic plates that combine flavors and textures.) As you can see in the picture, the atmosphere is casually elegant \u2013 uncluttered dark wood tables with rectangles of white linen down the center \u2013 the service is attentive without being fussy.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0We began with oysters on the half shell. Taylor often oversees the person working cold apps and so has become quite proficient opening these oysters. This was followed by a plate of raw Hiramasa Kingfish \u2013 these are not the king mackerel that I used to fish for with my father and others in the family when we went \u201cdeep sea\u201d fishing in Port Aransas \u2013 and then one of raw Petuna Ocean Trout. The photo is not actually of these fish \u2013 we did not take photos of our meal \u2013 but it should give the impression of what these sashimi-style fish were like. Next we were served a plate of grilled octopus. Although squid is a fairly common dish at fish restaurants, we found the octapus quite flavorful and just slightly chewy. The last of our starters was perhaps the best, a plate of exquisite sliced, raw scallops.<\/p>\n

As something of an intermezzo, Taylor arranged next for us to have cups of the Simple Lemony Fish Soup followed by a plate of Black Ink Orzo w Zucchini & Squid. Both were simple and perfectly prepared.<\/p>\n

As a fish restaurant, the Fish House of course serves filleted fish. For our feast, Taylor had picked something unusual in this category, skate, aka stingray. This was filleted and the fillets, still attached at one end to the backbone, were each rolled up to the backbone. This was an unusual presentation for a fish that was totally new to us and quite good. (In fact, this was so good that, when we came back for lunch a week later, with Taylor working in the kitchen, it was the skate that Nina chose.)<\/p>\n

\"\"The filleted fish is excellent; however, the crown jewels are the whole fish. The sizeable selection of these that the restaurant has available on any given day is proudly displayed on ice in a specially installed cooler that has a window opening into the dining room; when one of these fish is ordered it is brought to the table for inspection before it is cooked. When we returned for lunch a week later, we chose a Snapper and a King George Whiting \u2013 the second of these is the fish that you can see in the first picture. However, for this feast, Taylor chose two of the Fish House\u2019s unusual but spectacularly good offerings: Sardines in Mirin and a Hiramasa Kingfish \u00a0Collar & Head. You can see a photo of the second of these to the right. I guess technically this is not a whole fish, but there was a surprisingly large amount of meat, and the meat that came from the different parts of the head was interestingly different. This is also just an incredibly impressive presentation; when it was brought to our table there was a noticeable lull in the conversation throughout the restaurant, and we overheard other diners asking about this and then ordering it themselves.<\/p>\n

This was a great meal, but, since it was the restaurant where Taylor works, the meal could not be over until we had sampled her desserts. (I apologize that I could find no photos of these.) The first of these was one that Taylor organized but does not really make herself: a selection of four Dark Chocolates made by a local artisan from cocoa beans imported from around the world. The point of this tasting is to illustrate how different dark chocolates can be. Taylor serves these with a Pastis Sorbet. Pastis (I had to look it up) is an anise flavored liqueur from France. I have not been mentioning the wine pairings that we were served with this meal, but I must mention the sherry that was served with the chocolate. It was a XXX. I thought that it was amazingly good with the richer, more bittersweet of these chocolates. Taylor also had the kitchen send out three of her creations: Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumble w Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Lemon Tart & Mascarpone, and Chocolate Fondant with Smoked Ice Cream.<\/p>\n

In our family, the strawberry and rhubarb combination, in whatever variation, has always been a favorite. And I believe that this dish was Haywood\u2019s favorite this night. The lemon tart is simple, but intensely flavored. The mascarpone provides the ideal foil, adding a creaminess that cuts what would otherwise be the cloying sweetness of the tart. The simplicity of this dish actually drives Taylor crazy. Originally, it was at least served with several fresh figs quarters, but she had to take these off because they became the centerpiece to another dish. The chocolate fondant is a perfectly executed version of this ubiquitous dessert. A flourless chocolate cake about three inches in diameter and over an inch tall from which flows a stream of molten, dark chocolate, when it is pierced with a fork; the smoked ice cream is an unusual and surprisingly good accompaniment.<\/p>\n

To finish the meal, the kitchen sent out a bowl of Coconut Milk, Chocolate Ice Cream. Simon, the owner of the restaurant, is lactose intolerant. He had Taylor taste his favorite, premium, chocolate ice cream and asked her to reproduce it. The result is magnificent chocolaty, rich, smooth, and lactose free.<\/p>\n

When we returned for lunch a week later, we completed our exploration of the Taylor-made dessert menu, by trying the Grilled Figs with Fromage Frais and Sherry Syrup, and a Rhubarb Spyder. \u201cSpyder\u201d is the Australian term for a float. This one was a combination of a ginger beer, which was unusual because it was not sweet at all, and rhubarb sorbet that Taylor makes from the juice that she extracts from the rhubarb that she uses in the strawberry-rhubarb crumble (this keeps the crumble from having too much liquid). This struck me as an exquisite ending for a meal on a hot summer night: light, bubbly, not overly sweet, with a gingery bite. In fact, since it is now fall in Australia, it was meant to have been taken off the menu, but we were mistakenly given older dessert menus. Because of this, Aaron, the executive chef was both surprised and perturbed when he saw the order, but with a few minutes of extra time, Taylor was able to make the dish magically appear. The grilled figs dish was what bumped the figs off of the lemon tart plate \u2013 clearly it would not be good form to reuse an ingredient like this. Although I think that the figs would have been great with the lemon tart, I was glad to have them here because this may have been my favorite of the desserts \u2013 my family knows that this is a type of dessert that I always love. To complete the tour, Taylor also sent out a cheese plate with a selection of three great cheeses. I believe that they were a St. Andre Triple Cream Brie, a Corcuera Manchego w Mustard Fruits, and a La Casearia Basajo Wine soaked Blue cheese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After months of working both lunch and dinner service 5 days a week (basically 9 in the morning until closing, 11 PM or so), two weeks ago life in the Fish House (http:\/\/thefishhouse.com.au\/) kitchen became sufficiently organized that Taylor could train someone to cover for her during service, thus allowing her to take one or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","tag-fish-house-restaurant-burleigh-heads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wright-macdonald.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}