The Fish House - CLOSED

Overview

With the day's catch arriving at 11.45am and doors opening at noon, The Fish House has set itself the tough task of adapting the menu daily as to what's come in. You can't get fish much fresher than that. Baby sister to the beloved Hellenika, Simon Gloftis' second Gold Coast restaurant has made like its predecessor and given fine food and fine dining a relaxed feel with a mediterranean twist.

Step inside and say hello to a Hamptons-style atmosphere. Just 12 months old, the specially-built venue dwelling looks as though it was one of the first there and does a great job of taking advantage of beach views up to the Surfers Paradise skyline. Inside the recycled-brick square building is lined with dark wooden furniture, white brick fish-shop tiles, a dark grey feature wall with white fireplace. One side is completely open to take in views and catch a sea breeze.

While a stock standard fish and chips dinner is always a winner, sometimes it's nice to appreciate the robust and full flavours of fish before they gets slathered in batter and thrown in a deep fryer. More than that, The Fish House is more like a seafood appreciation society where you can order the day's whole fish, dishes from the menu, or go all out with an eight-course degustation for $70pp.

One guess what we went for. Ranging from sardines and oysters to three types of sashimi, lemony fish soup and the flash-fried baby calamari dish followed (served with the most amazing homemade tartar sauce) before a fresh and simple black ink orzo pasta with baby zucchini and squid.

The degustation menu gives you smaller serves of dishes all found on the menu.  One dish you mustn't miss trying, degustation or not, is the char-grilled octopus. The good news is we hear it is quite a mainstay on the ever-changing menu. The main and final dish is, of course, fish. Our catch was the Petuna Ocean Trout, baked in an oil, lemon and mustard dressing. All mains are served with a crisp potato gratin, steamed seasonal vegetables and a side salad.