Catalina
Oh, we do like to drink chardonnay by the seaside.
15.5/20
Contemporary$$$
If you were looking for a reason why Catalina is still immensely popular after three decades, it might be the kind of service that offers sunglasses if you forgot a pair of your own. There’s also that bay view, the sweeping room and bronze Brett Whiteley pelican, and a shiny new travertine entrance installed after a refurbishment last year.
Meanwhile, the cellar has plenty of fine options, whether it’s riesling to bring out the sea-sweet flavour of red emperor crudo with spot prawns, or grenache blanc for butterflied baby snapper – boned, deftly cooked and nudging a tumble of capers and green olives.
Chef Mark Axisa knows his way around meat, too, and blushing lamb rump with a ribbon of grassy fat is rested across potato dumplings, heirloom carrots and lip-sticking jus.
None of this comes cheap, but when lunch calls for linen napkins and good ol’ fashioned hospitality, Catalina routinely nails the brief.
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Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?
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Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/goodfood/nsw-good-food-guide/catalina-20240106-p5evjs.html