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The Atlantic: Crown, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, 9698 8888
My score:3.5/5
In the months after The Atlantic opened in March 2011, I thought it was panicky and expensive. The prices are still high but the restaurant experience now justifies them. It’s settled and seamless, the service is classy, and the food is subtle, clever and frequently outstanding. If you ever feel like splashing out on seafood in a fancy restaurant, this is the place.
The Atlantic is enormous but is cleverly carved into zones that feel reasonably intimate. Nautical detailing is subtle but evident in the loopy rope light fittings, net-like curtains and swirly oceanic carpet. The private dining rooms are among Melbourne’s best, offering both atmosphere and seclusion – you don’t feel like you’ve been shoved into an ante-room.
There’s a classicism to chef Donovan Cooke’s menu, which is divided into cold and hot starters, fish whole and filleted, and a ‘from the land’ section that lists warm-blooded animals and a token vegetarian dish. Calamari is one of many ingredients to benefit from wood firing. Tender curls are grilled and tossed with fennel and a suggestion of chilli and garlic in a restrained but delicious salad. Beef carpaccio plays soft, juicy tenderloin against crisp watercress and pickled mushrooms. A peppery truffle vinaigrette adds extra dimension to an extremely satisfying dish. Among the filleted fish, king salmon is gently poached in olive oil so that it flakes away into iridescent slivers; jammy tomato confit is an intense and inspired contrast. Roasted baby barramundi is a perfect pleasure, rendering redundant a bitter blood orange aioli. Desserts are ostentatious and technically impressive. The dense, intense, multi-layered peanut butter and jelly sandwich is so dreamy I swear I saw Elvis enjoying one at the next table.
There are venues within this massive venue. I like the downstairs Den bar with its waiter service, naughty cocktails, great glassware and library tropes. There’s no food down there though: if you want a drink and a bite, perch at the Oyster bar for a bit of shuck and shicker. The Atlantic is one of many restaurants touting its sustainable credentials. A statement on the menu states that seafood is sourced from ‘quota driven areas as set by the authorities’. It’s a fairly meaningless statement, akin to saying you buy your carrots using legal tender, or your pigs from registered butchers. The question isn’t whether the authorities approve but whether the regulations are adequate. A restaurant that voraciously plunders the waters could do better.
More splurge:
Cutler & Co, 55-57 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 9419 4888
Every meal is memorable in this contemporary fine dining room but to really make an occasion of it, consider a shared suckling pig or monumental rib eye.
Vue de monde, Level 55, Rialto, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne, 9691 3838
Plan a few months ahead for a special weekend dinner (bookings are taken four months out). Spontaneous special occasions are possible at the restaurant’s Lui Bar where the menu is simple but the cocktails rock.
Lake House, King Street, Daylesford, 5348 3329
Few Australian dining rooms are as skilled at creating an atmosphere of tranquillity and joy, experienced through seasonal food, good wine and an expansive, hospitable spirit.
First published in The Age, April 29, 2012
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