Delicious.100: Best seafood restaurants in Victoria
If your obsession with seafood runs as deep as the ocean, here are the best Victorian restaurants to get hooked on.
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ANCHOVY
Take the row of squeaky-fresh raw scallops and tangy persimmon slices anointed with caviar pops and garlic hits, or the wagyu carpaccio, slices so meltingly tender concealing a leek and beansprout salad.
Every flavour works.
The pared-back dining room lets the food and service shine, and the fact that it’s so fabulously priced is a bonus. You’ll be back for more once this Anchovy hooks you.
SARDINE
It’s a cliché, but order the sardines at Sardine. Fresh off the trawler from nearby Lakes Entrance, what chef Mark Briggs serves them with depends on the season, but in winter they could be barbecued and topped with a medley of smoked tomato, broad beans and sage, or in summer expect a simple Med vibe with chilli and garlic.
Ask for a quick lesson on filleting and you’ll quickly discover these delicate white-fleshed beauties are the highlight of a menu that champions Victoria’s best seafood in a quintessential East Gippsland setting.
MINAMISHIMA
Watch as rare and wonderful seafood is sliced, rolled and torched before your eyes at Richmond’s Japanese fine diner Minamishima.
Renowned sushi chef Koichi Minamishima’s tasting menu of 15 or so courses of melt-in-your-mouth nigiri is worth the months-long wait for a ringside pew.
IKI JIME
At Iki-Jime, the Vue crew reels in the best sustainable seafood they can lay their hands on, cooks it over cherrywood and charcoal, and presents it beautifully.
You pay a high price, of course, for premium produce but this ‘sister’ venue to Vue de Monde delivers on every front.
The wine list is ocean deep.
And the aquarium-dark dining room puts the open kitchen’s Josper grill front and centre.
KISUME
Part chablis bar, sushi counter, basement restaurant, exclusive private dining and 12-seat Chef’s Table, Kisume is a modern Japanese restaurant that’s unmistakably Melbourne but with added New York sass.
On the entry level, a quietly industrious counter is the place for flappingly fresh sushi served as part of the multi-course omakase (chef’s selection) that’s less austere and more creative than strictly traditional versions offered elsewhere.
CAPTAIN MOONLITE
Who knew a little-loved fish could beat the view from the Anglesea Surf Club’s dining room in the spectacular stakes?
But there they are, a half dozen whole sardines fresh from Port Phillip and straight into the pan, nowt but a dusting of flour to help them to crunchy perfection. Teamed with the sweet earthiness of beetroots in yoghurt with a hit of horseradish heat, it’s surf and turf for a new generation.
SUPERNORMAL
The Chinese/Japanese/Korean cuisine by chef Andrew McConnell, who’s created an expansive menu, home to new favourites and old hits.
The buttery, bite-sized New England Lobster roll flies out of the hardworking kitchen.
Whatever the occasion, queue early to snare a spot (there’s no small group bookings after 5.30pm daily), and let the good times roll.
PASTUSO
Peruvian ceviche is a must, the classic red snapper bathing in a spicy-sharp “tiger’s milk” and served with crunchy corn is as traditional as you’d find in Lima but with arguably better fish, while a fillet of Baw Baw trout served with a blitzed coriander, parsley and onion “pachamanca sauce” is simply perfect.
THE BATHS MIDDLE BRIGHTON
Its glass elevation takes in those unimpeded bay and city views, and with a new chef installed, menu tweaks have enlivened the seafood-skewed mod Oz menu that’s full of Euro technique.
Take the cod cheek starter, the firm flesh teamed with deboned confit chicken wings.
Seared scallops with prosciutto, and classic beer-battered fish and chips fly the flag for comfort as well as value compared with other eateries along the St Kilda to Brighton stretch of sand.
SUN KITCHEN
Unashamedly pitched at the pointiest end of Melbourne dining, Sun Kitchen is the new Sichuan/Cantonese rebrand of what was Albert Park’s fancy fine diner, The Point.
Now it’s two levels of hotpots and dumplings and tanks full of snow crabs and crays, abalone and coral trout, with high-end seafood a focus across the large menu.
Don’t miss the “sauteed milk”, a puffy cloud of whipped milky egg whites in which chunky crabmeat is strewn.
KAZUKI’S
Kazuki’s – Daylesford’s delightful high-end Japanese – has relocated to the gingham-clad heart of Lygon Street.
A plump Goolwa pipi might come uncooked, untouched save a sliver of pickled ginger to highlight its sweet sea saltiness.
A long crisp nori canoe smeared with terrific whipped cod roe and topped with pearls of Yarra Valley salmon roe for a few mouthfuls of swoon-worthy salty creamy crunch might follow.
READ MORE:
VICTORIAN RESTAURANTS WITH THE BEST VIEWS