Bringing the dining experience back home, the legal group Christmas lunch was held just before Christmas at The Atlantic seafood restaurant in the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne. On its website, The Atlantic describes its philosophy as follows:
The Atlantic is inspired by the famous New York meat packing district and the hustle and bustle of the fish markets of years gone by, in New York and Chicago.
With an uncompromising focus on excellence – our seafood is sourced from Australia’s very best producers, it is this spirit that infuses every aspect of the restaurant, from its design and ambiance to service and of course its cuisine- all in this magnificent waterfront location.
The food was magnificent, and a lovely way to cap off my last day at work before Christmas.
I wasn't going to post about this meal originally, but my colleague, Lee, took photographs anyway, so this post is for Lee. I don't have any photographs of my entree, but after being banned from ordering the Beetroot Salad, I ordered the devine Atlantic Seafood Cocktail of spanner crab, Moreton Bay bug, prawn, iceberg lettuce, rockmelon, basil and (wait for it!), soft-boiled quails eggs. This was simply delicious! We also ordered one of each type of oyster each, fascinated as we were by the menu description that some of the oysters were salty (expected), while others were creamy (definitely unusual!). And much to my surprise, they were right - I have never tried an au naturel oyster that was creamy before, but now I have, and I am converted. (I believe the creamy ones were the Duck Bay oysters from Tasmania).
For main, I selected the pan roasted hapuka from New Zealand, which is pictured at the top of this post. It is bright yellow because the fish is coated in saffron before being roasted in the pan. The dish also featured capers and sherry vinegar essence. It was good, but not outstanding.
Mark ordered the Portalington whiting on the bone:
He was the only one brave enough to order a whole fish. It looks good though!
Lee and John ordered the Citrus-Marinated Olive Oil Confit Salmon (what a mouthful!). It features ragout of spring vegetables, confit lemon, blood orange chip and lemongrass foam:
Sitting next to it in Lee's photo is the mashed bintje potatoes with butter, cream and nutmeg. I preferred the thrice-cooked russet potatoes with rosemary, garlic and sea salt which we also ordered. Our other side dish was the sauteed green beans with garlic and parmesan:
As it was our last day, and we were in the partying mood, we also ordered dessert (my favourite course!). I ordered the raspberry tart, with vanilla custard and raspberry sorbet:
This tasted as good as it looks! John ordered the Strawberries and Cream - layers of shortbread, lemon marscapone and strawberry salad:
And Lee ordered the magnificent peanut butter and jelly sandwich:
This was amazing - a PBJ sandwich in a dessert! There really was jelly in the middle of a peanutty fudge layer.
This was a magnificent celebratory lunch - thanks to our benefactors Mark and John for taking us out to this grand repast to celebrate the end of the year.
Crown Entertainment Complex
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: +61 3 9698 8888
