At last, my first dinner visit to Saint Peter. I really really loved the brunch that I had, so I was eager to have some of the other seafood delights only available on the night menu.
Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a picture of the menu, which means much of the detail – especially the fish type and where it comes from – has been lost to time. Oh well, I still have pretty pictures and descriptions of the food!
I took a friend along, and instead of the usual 2 oysters each, I figured we needed 3 each, especially as I won’t have access to delicious, super fresh oysters for another six months. We asked the waiter which we should pick – though there was one condition – we had to have the Wapengo oysters because we loved them so much at Embla. He recommended the Petit Clair for its creaminess, then the Shoalhaven as an in between, and then gave us the Wapengos. Wow, I could actually taste the difference between all three! Amazing! And it was exactly as the waiter described, too! I have an even higher level of appreciation for oysters now!
Next up, barbecued blue mackerel with witlof. Oh yeah, look at that fish. It’s so gorgeous! We were told to eat it from the tail up, to allow the thickest part to continue cooking. For an oily fish, this was quite mild for me. Probably because usually my mackerel comes from a sushi restaurant and has been marinated heavily in vinegar. So this was really nice and delicious, plus the witlof leaves weren’t bitter and in fact, were deliciously sweet! Really good stuff.
Another barbecue dish, this time pippies in house made XO sauce and donuts. Oh yeah, those were some super plump pippies! That XO sauce was house made and deliciously tangy and spicy! I’ve not had anything like it and I think it tasted amazing. If only they bottled that stuff and sold it! Not only did it go well with the pippies, but the donuts tasted great as sauce mops.
Yum, fish and chips! What a classic, and to think I haven’t had any in years! So I had to get it. I can’t remember what the fish was though, all I know is that it was cooked really nicely. And those chips were amazing, what tasty potatoes! This came with an assortment of condiments including gherkin, tartare sauce, lemon, and tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was so good, none of that supermarket stuff. It went so well with the chips!!
These are no ordinary onion rings. My friend wanted to order them, so here they were – salt and vinegar onion rings. But as soon as I bit into one, I realised this was like nothing I’d ever had before. Yes, it was salty and crispy on the outside, but that’t not where the vinegar was. The vinegar was on the inside; those were pickled onion rings!! How cool! I love the concept, though it got a bit too vinegary for me.
I really wanted to order the self saucing potato scallops too, but the waiter advised us against it since we already had the chips and onion rings, and he suggested a green salad instead. I didn’t particularly want leaves, so instead we went for the tomato, white peach and vanilla salad. How beautifully presented! And I like the tomato and peach combination, and the aromatic olive oil really worked too. However, the vanilla really messed with my mind and I felt it didn’t really belong. I think this would have been delicious without it.
And lucky last, the super famous lemon tart. Oh yeah. I love the simplicity of this. I also had to wobble this around since there are heaps of videos depicting its wobbliness. So much fun! And look at that thin base. SO THIN. Quite amazing. and the actual lemon curd is super soft! It’s got a lovely lemony punch, and it’s just so melt in the mouth, it’s amazing that it even keeps its shape! So impressive! And a nice dollop of cream to offset the acidity.
Oh yeah, this is a really nice restaurant. When it comes to cooking fish, I’d say Cirrus and Saint Peter are on par with one another (I still love Cirrus’ flathead fish and chips too). In my eyes, what sets Saint Peter apart is the ageing of fish, and the offal. But I didn’t get a chance to try either of those this time round, so I reckon a revisit would be fantastic. The 2 hour limit for a table is pretty tight though, we just made the time! And we had over ordered, since the chips and the onion rings were both pretty heavy. But we had to try them!!! So maybe next time we’ll get one dish less. And more oysters. Hopefully with tasty supplements!
And I got to see Mr Niland in action! Yay!