Quarterdeck — Restaurant in Narooma

Another lovely dining experience at The Quarterdeck. We made a reservation online for three people for lunch on the first Saturday in September. The staff looked after us again and allocated us to one of the tables by the back window. As an aside, it is nicer dining at The Quarterdeck outside of the main tourist season because the restaurant is not as busy so we are not rushing to get through our lunch to clear the table for the next sitting. On that Saturday we enjoyed the relaxed dining. We started with a dozen natural oysters, which were fresh from Wagonga Inlet, in fact from Oysters Farmers Daughter. We partnered those with an order of battered fish tacos that were also quite nice. For mains, all three of us went with the mussels. The mussels were sourced from South Australia and cooked in a delicious broth - I always take the option to add extra sourdough bread to dip into the broth. We finished with coffee and the beignets, which were served with dipping caramel and vanilla ice cream, and a chocolate sundae. Very decadent. I believe that the restaurant was an old boat shed so it sits on stilts above the sand flats and on a rising tide you can hear the water lapping below the floor boards. It had large glass windows on two sides that provided wonderful views of the beautiful Wagonga Inlet. At the end of the meal we watched Soldier Crabs, just below the window, running across the sand. The staff were also happy for people to access the wharf area out the back, so a great way to occupy children while waiting between courses, but best for adults to go with them. The Quarterdeck was a lovely venue to enjoy delicious food as well as to watch the tides change on Wagonga Inlet. I would add that it is best to make a reservation, especially in the...

We'd been to this restaurant under the previous owner and whilst the food was an improvement, (which is not all that hard as the food had slipped in the last two to three years) everything else was a disappointment. Upon arrival the staff seemed super stressed - not a smile in sight or a simple how are you doing when we were seated on our table. Service continued to be poor and quite unfriendly - a vibe I am sure comes down to the now transient nature of the clientele who looked to be mostly from Canberra or Sydney and a very different crowd to the locals who once packed out this place. Mains arrived separately, with no apology for the lengthy delay. I also had to go to the bar to order wine after two serving staff failed to alert someone who could take our drinks order. As for the food - the ceviche was delicious but the fish and chips were a major let down. The batter was greasy and the chips v average and way too salty. Our other mains were better but a side order of sweet potato with sour cream was stodgy and didn't go at all with what we had ordered', despite the recommendation of the waitress, so remained largely uneaten. No-one asked us if we had enjoyed our meal at any stage, even the manager when we paid. When I passed on my feedback he told me they had not expected to be that busy that night, that he had had real issues training staff and had not expected to still be down there from Sydney after so many months, and that it's not unexpected in hospitality to get your mains at different times (seriously what Merivale establishment does that?). V unprofessional to come up with a list of excuses - a simple apology would have been a lot better. I don't think I will be back and especially not on a...

As an early Xmas present, we got to leave the kids with grandparents and go out to dinner tonight. First time in forever. The Quarterdeck is a reimagined local hotspot, with a Tiki, Mexican kinda vibe, where the crowd is vocal, and it looks like the cocktails are popular.

We started off with a few oysters, given that they are grown here it was an easy a delicious creamy option. Then we had a snapper ceviche which was fresh, zingy and delicious. Was a little surprised how small the portion size was compared to the price, but the flavour was great. Perhaps a few more crispy tortillas would have helped?

For mains we had the Angus steak with pepper sauce and the swordfish. The steak itself was great with nice soft pieces of fat and a good medium rare middle. Unfortunately the pepper sauce tasted on the burnt side of "caramelised" and was, like the chips, too salty for my tastes. Likely goes very well with a cocktail in hand, but otherwise I'll leave the salty like the sea flavour for my pasta water.

On the other hand, the swordfish was juicy, creamy and delicious in all the right ways. A much better balanced dish. That said, having now been here once, I am guessing that the better move might well have been the tacos and other options on the menu. With a few drinks on board, I think that we mistakenly selected the mainstay items rather than the popular ones.

All up, it was a nice night out with super fast service (almost too fast), a great (if noisy) atmosphere, and some pretty delicious food. Nice to have had the opportunity to...