Back at work? Enjoy at bay-cation at new beach hot spot Elwood Bathers
Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside. And now you can do it in style at beachy newcomer Elwood Bathers, where classic dishes and booze will please the masses.
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St Kilda’s reinvention — the reopened Prince Dining Room, a refreshed Captain Baxter and queues around the block for The Espy — has trickled down the bay to Elwood.
The plum beachfront site known as Sails on the Bay for nearly 25 years is now Elwood Bathers, and its summer debut has been lapped up by the locals.
Dining here is an all-day affair — perhaps starting with 6.30am granola after a beach walk or lunchtime burgers with the kids and extending to an afternoon on the (no bookings) deck with cocktails by the litre or a date night as the sun goes down.
THE CHARMING FRANKSTON CAFE PUNCHING ABOVE ITS WEIGHT
THE PASCOE VALE SOUTH CAFE YOU WANT IN YOUR ‘HOOD
There are also private dining areas, function space for 130 and a coffee cart for beachgoers.
As for the menu, classic fare that doesn’t push the envelope will be manna to some, dullsville to others, but something is sure to hit the spot.
FOOD
Coffin Bay oysters ($4.50 each) are a great opener, as is the excellent (and free) Woodfrog Bakery bread and King Island butter.
Snacks and entrees skew mostly to seafood, with spaghetti vongole or kingfish dressed with pistachio, lemon and mint. We go the fried calamari ($22) but regret it — a gluggy, floury coating making it a flaccid facsimile of this favourite dish.
Mains lift the game. The ocean trout ($35) is crispy skinned and perfectly cooked to just past translucent, alongside roasted potatoes and olives slicked in a lemon herb oil.
Fish and chips ($32) are a steal given the pricier versions at nearby stalwarts Stokehouse and Donovans. The chips are good, and come with three flathead fillets, juicy and flaky fleshed in a decent beer batter, with a sharp house-made tartare sauce.
High-stacked burgers, housing either grilled black angus beef or flathead fillet, also do brisk business.
Desserts are textbook — tiramisu, pannacotta or an excellent chocolate fondant enlivened with raspberries and salted caramel ice cream.
Breakfast is health focused but not slavishly so, with buttermilk pancakes ($17) with maple syrup and whipped ricotta balancing out the egg white omelette ($19) with mushrooms, spinach and fetta.
DRINK
Green smoothies and coffee by Braeside's God’s Honest Truth roasters start the day, while mostly Victorian beer, wine and bubbles, plus classic cocktails like mojitos, will sate ’til late.
SERVICE
Floor staff are eager to please, though some need more drilling on the menu. And it was agonising/comical to watch the table vacated next to us being re-set piecemeal over 90-plus minutes by five different staff.
X FACTOR
Interiors rock a chic Hamptons vibe, and there’s a smart casual dress code, which seems to range from designer frocks, heels and TV make-up to straight-off-the-beach bedraggled. Things get loud, so ask for a window seat for best views and conversation making.
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Enjoying a view comes at a price, so most dishes being sub-$35 represents OK value.
VERDICT
Good to see this prime location swinging again. With some time to regauge after a busy summer, Elwood Bathers can firm up as more than just a hot-day hangout.
ELWOOD BATHERS
15 Elwood Foreshore, Elwood
HOURS Daily 6.30am-late
CHEF Philip Botes
BOOKINGS Yes
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