Regatta

I really should invite a bright eight-year-old with me to every review; it certainly makes the job easier. So, would you like some oysters to begin with, Max? "No thanks." Why not? "They're a bit salty." It's true, oysters are a bit salty. Out of the mouths of babes.

Instead, we kick off our weekend lunch with natty little cones of sprightly, lightly dressed kingfish tartare ($7 each), which Max likes because it reminds him of sushi. He also likes eating on a pier. After a bit of a management reshuffle, what was Pier, then Sailor's Club, and is now Regatta, has settled down somewhat under former Bistro Moncur restaurant manager, Peter Nield, and Chilean-born, ex-Ucello chef, Claudio Morales.

The dining room remains the beautifully enclosed pier it has always been, freshened up and coloured blue; the tables washed with light, and water, water, everywhere you look. 

But what are those curious scalloped felt rounds layered along the ceilings? "I think they're clouds," says Max's mum, helpfully. "No, they're not," he says. "They're like scales, from a fish." He's right. And the narrow carpet of gradating blues, he says, is "the colours of the ocean, changing as you walk along".

The grown-ups order confit calamari with squid ink ($26), a sashimi selection ($24), and mushroom soup with Moreton Bay bug and pork belly butter toast ($27) but Max is having none of that. He's starving, having come directly from morning soccer, so he goes straight for the cheeseburger with ketchup and chips ($16) from the kids' menu.  Sometimes I wish I could do that.

The four dishes on the table look as if they have come from four different, perfectly good, restaurants. Sashimi of ocean trout belly, kingfish, tuna and seared bonito is elegantly presented without any surprises, while the confit calamari is a shockingly contemporary composition in dramatically contrasting blacks and whites. Poured at the table over sweet little bug tails, the mushroom soup is rich and creamy, although a heavy hand with cayenne or pepper cancels out any comfort factor.

Max's burger is beautifully done, not in any way dumbed down for kids. He works his way steadily through it, pausing only to dip chips in tomato ketchup. Sometimes, I wish I could do that, too.

A lovely, thick fillet of crisp-skinned, roasted blue-eye trevalla is like a postcard from Pier, wintrily accessorised with burnt onion cups of pearl barley and a meaty jus ($38); and saucy, hand-cut linguine marinara ($26) loaded with scallop, Moreton Bay bug, snapper and octopus makes good I'm-on-holidays tucker.

A bright and zesty 2011 Denis Pommier Chablis ($18/$90) from the seafood-friendly list is a natural fit, as is a crisp, juicy 2013 Gaia Thalassitis Assyrtiko ($16/$80) from Santorini.  

For dessert, Max sniffs at the kiddy-time ice-cream, and orders a very adult "Bahibe chocolate cremeux" ($17), a riot of curling chocolate ribbons, mushroom-like blobs of banana jam parfait, peanut butter mousse and more chocolate. It's a joy to watch him demolish it. 

While the something-for-everyone menu might send out mixed messages, everything on it is well done, and the setting is the thrill it always is. But don't listen to me. I asked Max to write the review this week; so kindly ignore everything you have read up to now, and read this instead. 

"I sure am full now when I write this. That chocolate cremeux was terrific! Also my cheeseburger and chips were delicious and the ketchup was great! Even the lemonade was awesome! The End."

THE LOWDOWN

Best bit: Intelligent fish dishes.

Worst bit: Can get a bit fancy.

Go-to dish: Roasted blue-eye trevalla, pearl barley, brussels sprouts and onions, $38.