Believe it or not I had never visited Port Stephens despite living in the Hunter for almost ten years. I had no idea what I was missing until one recent Sunday when I ventured down to the beautiful Little Beach Boathouse for lunch.
The Little Beach Boathouse has to be one the most special places to sit back and enjoy a fantastic lunch. How it’s taken me this long to discover this little gem of a place I don’t know. Even the carpark has views that any restaurant in the world would kill for.
I wasn’t planning to do a review as we were just out for lunch with the better half’s Mum, but it didn’t take long to realise we were in for something special beyond the view and I knew I had to share it with you.
From the moment we arrived the crew convinced us we had made a wise choice. Not only professional and beyond friendly, they all seem to genuinely like each other and working together. It’s infectious and immediately puts you at ease for a lazy Sunday session and a great feed.
With a lovely beachy feel inside and located on the old Little Beach Marina overlooking Little Beach, it doesn’t get any more picturesque then this. The food is fresh modern Australian cuisine with a slight bias toward fresh seafood cooked with local produce. Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of meat to keep the carnivores happy too.
Local Hunter wines and craft beers will stop you ever getting thirsty. On that note, the great wait staff had drinks on our table before that could happen and kept them coming before we ever got to the bottom of our glass. I like that kind of service.
Ordering from the lunch menu we took in a selection from the menu including Hervey Bay Scallops, Japanese Togarashi & lime butter with peach & fennel salad, the Boathouse Prawn Cocktail and Spring Bay Mussels with tomato & chilli for entrée. All were brilliant and we could have stopped there very satisfied.
Mains were to come though, and we got stuck into the Fried Squid with wadashi seasoning, pickled fennel, & black sesame aioli, what seemed to be the signature dish Miso Glazed Atlantic Salmon with red papaya, Chinese cabbage, mint & coriander salad, avocado salsa & Japanese black pepper sauce and also Lemon Thyme Chicken Breast with roast potato, Binnorie feta, garlic field mushroom and basil pesto and rocket.
There was honestly nothing we didn’t love.
For dessert we got a tasting plate with a few of the best from the menu including Chocolate Pavé, milk chocolate ganache, dark chocolate torte, crystalized rose nibs & strawberry and few others – we left nothing and left very happy indeed!
If you haven’t done it…do it now!
