The beginnings: Garfish Kirribilli

The afternoons are sunny, the evenings are balmy and the shadows are long. You don’t feel like cooking and a great way of celebrating the Australian summer is by enjoying a meal of well-cooked seafood. Of course, it’s even better when you can eschew the cooking process and have the food presented to you, quite literally, on a platter.

Some months ago when the weather was similarly warm, we enjoyed dinner with Weirdo and Ms Sourdough at Garfish Kirribilli. They had heard good things about it from a friend, while Monsieur Poisson and I had already had a pleasant experience at Garfish Crows Nest. Garfish Kirribilli is where the trio of restaurants started and, with Ms Sourdough in tow, how could we not but start the meal with her namesake.

Served with extra virgin olive oil and za'atar for dipping, the bread is chewy and crusty and great to share whilst chatting. Monsieur Poisson and I are rather full from a late lunch that day and choose to share an entrée and main dish between us for the evening. We start with ‘Scallops with spinach, lime butter and matchstick potatoes’. Plump and golden seared scallops lay alongside wilted spinach in a pool of creamy lime butter adorned with crunchy straws of potato which remind me of pre-packaged foil packs of French fries.

This is followed by ‘Crumbed red spot whiting with chips and tartare’ which Weirdo has also ordered. I’ve always preferred fish being crumbed over battered as it always seems less greasy (or perhaps I could just be fooling myself here) and reminds me of childhood frozen fish fingers. With whiting fillets being quite small and narrow in shape, this is a dish of fish fingers of a more refined kind served with a tangy tartare.

Ms Sourdough has the ‘Barramundi with beurre fondue, kipfler potatoes, iceberg lettuce, lardons and chives’. The mention of beurre fondue and lardons has me completely sold but the lettuce is the surprising star, along with the crispy skinned fish of course, being only slightly wilted while still retaining plenty of crunch.

Dessert sees the ordering of several Belgian waffles, a permanent fixture on Garfish’s menu – with hokey pokey ice-cream, caramel and almonds; a special with strawberries and white chocolate ice-cream; and with chocolate ice-cream, mocha sauce and peanut brittle. Monsieur Poisson, however, has the ‘Pear tarte tartin [sic] with cinnamon ice-cream’ which is not quite as flaky as we’d like.

The waffles are thick and doughy and generously sprinkled with various toppings for textural interest, with the peanut brittle being particularly good. They make for an aptly sweet ending to a meal which, perhaps due to being seafood, leaves us full and satisfied but not clutching our bellies in discomfort.

Garfish Kirribilli

2/21 Broughton St (entrance around corner on Burton St), Kirribilli NSW

Tel: (02) 9922 4322

Opening Hours:  Mon-Sat  7:30am-11am (breakfast)

  12pm-3pm (lunch)

  6pm-9:30pm (dinner)

                        Sun  9am-11am (breakfast)

                                12pm-3pm (lunch)

                                6pm-8:30pm (dinner)

happy eating!