The Boathouse Shelly Beach

Location 

The beautiful Boathouse Shelly Beach is located (as its name suggests) on shores of Shelly Beach. This is another installment from the beloved beachside dining experts which brought you the Boathouse Palm Beach and the Boathouse Balmoral beach. Their casual dining “beach style” themes certainly are a favourite of mine. The difference with Shelly Beach is that these guys to dinner, take reservations and its table service at night (I so don’t like the whole scramble for a table thing). The view at night of the lights of the city, the sand of the beach and the soft splashes of the waters of Shelly Beach make for the perfect dinner location.

The interior is reflective of its casual beachside theme!

KNAPPSTEIN Shiraz Malbec

I have a lovely wine to start (pictured on the first photo above). The beautiful aromas of raspberry and cherry flow immediately with some light floral hints at the end. The wine has juicy red fruit flavours intermingled with plum jam like flavour with some hints of wild berries later on as the wine displays its lovely muscle. Some nice savoury spice notes and a mild acid bite provides for a beautiful finish.

BOATHOUSE APEROL SPRITZ (Aperol, Prosecco, Soda, Orange + Mint)

I decide to switch to an Aperol Spritz to re-create my Italian adventure in May (check out some reviews from the trip here) and plus it goes pretty well the next dish. The fruity and citrus streak of the aperol and oranges dances with the refreshing nature of the prosecco and mint to provide an elegant overture to throw my mind back to my apertivos against the European sunset.

I start with the following:

Sardine, Chilli, Tomato and Basil Flatbread

This is a Mediterranean delight. The rich oily taste of the sardines, the fresh juicy tomatoes, the tang and smokiness of the eggplant, herby fresh flavours with a hint of garlic on a super crispy flatbread. A beautiful light snack to start the evening. It is fresh flavours and simplicity at its best…. It is oh so rustic in its approach and I just love it. When combined with the fresh refreshing aperol spritz, I almost feel like I am back in Portofino or Camogli.

For the main course, I choose the:

Aged Beef: Rib eye on the bone with a herb sauce and mashed potato

A lovely crisp outer crust of the beef with a caramelised salt which has infused against the skin for a perfect flavour introduces this dish to the tongue. The beautiful succulent juicy beef stands on its own, showcasing its natural flavours. The herby sauce (kinda like a salsa verde) provides a rich pungent herby and tangy streak to mix it up a little, but the dish is minimalistic with the beef being the centre of attention.

The mash potato is a rich, moist, fluffy and buttery flavoured experience which pairs nicely with the rib eye. There are these fried stringy vegatables (couldn’t exactly identify them) on top which adds a crunchy texture to provide a wonderful contrast.

FLETCHER ‘ALTA PETE’ Barolo

A lovely Italian wine is next on the cards. The wine has a lovely aroma of musk, raspberries and floral notes on the nose. It follows with a silky texture on the palate with fantastic flavours of red fruits with some dusty earthiness, and finally some well developed tannins round-out in the finish. It is a lovely wine to pair with the beef and I don’t think I could ask for a better pairing.

Coffee

I finish with a coffee, even though I don’t feel like one but just because I love the little anchor designs on the cappuccino from the Boathouse crew! It such a beautiful sight.

The Boathouse in Shelly Beach is a welcome addition to the dining scene, with the usual lunch and breakfast favourites of its other venues along with a unique and exciting dinner menu. The location is perfect and it would even be better in summer. There were some teething problems given they were only opened for a week, but the staff are enthusiastic and friendly enough to make-up for those minor hiccups.