Reviewed by John Glennie, photos by Tony Polese
This new restaurant is located at 2 King William St at the site of the former Jamie Oliver’s Kitchen. Just walking in the door you appreciate the ambience of the venue. It wasn’t a busy day but it took 20 minutes before we were attended to despite being given menus as soon as we sat down. However, the service from then on was superb and could not be faulted.
We were given a couple of cocktails each to tease the palate – a refreshing Fishface Fizz (the house lemoncello, prosecco and soda with seaside succulents). Very nice but I preferred the Romp In The Sand they gave us to try (pisco, coconut, passionfruit, lime and seafoam)! Delicious – but pricey at $22!
Our host, Kylie Christie, provided us with 3 starters to try – all were excellent and featured awesome blending of flavours:
- Bigeye Tuna Bresaola – brined with aromatics and hung for 10-14 weeks and served with an espresso date and walnut dressing
- Swordfish Prosciutto – cured with salt and sugar, cold-smoked and hung for 3-4 weeks and served on peppered rockmelon and basil
- Mackerel Tartare with smoked yoghurt, horseradish and their crispy hand-cut chips – delicious!!

Our hosts said they were introducing a French “Chablis Tasting Flight” with three exquisite Chablis Premier Cru’s to sample – and we were fortunate to be the first to sample it. The tasting comprises Vaillons Domaine, Fourchaume Domaine and Monte de Tonnerre Domaine. The three wines will be displayed on a large placemat with a map of the Chablis region and showing the three districts represented.

To enjoy these wines we were provided two dishes from the ‘Little Fishes Dishes to share’ section of the menu:
- Prawn & Crab Welsh Rarebit – superb flavour (slightly burnt crust but didn’t detract from the dish)
- Goolwa Pipis with Nduja, tomato, parsley and fennel sauce with much-needed bread to oak up every drop of the sauce!
Last of the savoury dishes was a main course – flathead and eggplant curry – which was my pick of the day. Stunning yet delicate flavours.
Even though we were pretty stuffed by this stage they provided us with a dessert to share – a rye meringue with caramelised apricots cooked in Chardonnay with white chocolate. Again, another excellent dish.
Fishbank is a restaurant providing numerous dishes to choose from and you could probably return many times to sample all it has to offer. Note that it is very pricey. If you go as a couple and enjoy a starter, dishes to share and a main plus a cocktail and wine you would be lucky to get any change out of $200. If that doesn’t bother you for a special occasion then I am sure you are going to love Fishbank.
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