review

Cove Restaurant - Dinner

This was my second time to Cove for dinner. Hubby and I went in August last year for our wedding anniversary, and this time I was with two girlfriends for a girls night out. We rushed in 15 minutes late for our reservation, only to find we probably didn’t need a reservation – there were only two other tables occupied! The last time I came here, hubby and I sat outside over-looking the lagoon, which, although providing a creepy view into people’s hotel rooms – is actually quite nice and tropical. No such luck this time. There was no option to sit outside, and the lights weren’t even on out there. So, in the cold, bare, mostly-empty restaurant we sat. The space itself is quite attractive, but I did comment to my girlfriends that it felt kind of sterile; like you would come here in the morning for a resort-style buffet breakfast. It took 10 minutes for the waitress to come and take our drinks order, by which time we had also decided on our food. None of us were drinking, so I can’t tell you too much about the wine list, but I can tell you about the menu. I would describe Cove’s dinner menu as fusion of the eras. There are some modern dishes on there, including Spanish Mackeral Carpaccio, Twice Cooked Pork Cheek Ravioli, and Smoked Peri Salted Barramundi, and then there are some super daggy 70s style dishes, including Garlic Prawn Cutlets in a Pastry Box, Local Prawn Cocktail and Sea & Earth (Surf & Turf, Reef & Beef – whatever you want to call it!). Just about everything on the Entree menu is also on the Mains menu.

cove ciabatta

My mates decided they would share the Cove Seafood Platter For 2 for main, so they ordered the Ciabatta ($12) for entree. Toasted ciabatta chunks spread with olive tapenade, crumbled feta and prusciutto crisps. It looked quite lovely on the plate, and the ladies did mention more than once that the tapenade was lovely. And they were convinced the feta was actually goat’s cheese (no complaints there). All in all, they were quite pleased with it as a light starter.

Pork Cheek Ravioli

I ordered the Twice Cooked Pork Cheek Ravioli in pork consommé with vanilla and liquorice foam ($18) for entree. Presentation of the dish was faultless – absolutely stunning. Very on-trend with the use of micro herbs, but I would have liked the foam to be more prominent. What I could taste of it was good, and definitely had a sweet, aniseed taste to it. The consommé, although rich and full-bodied was not technically a consommé at all. It was cloudy, but it was really yummy and full of flavour. The twice cooked pork cheek filling was divine and heavily-laden with wholegrain mustard seeds – there was no escaping the mustard taste, but the meat was melt in the mouth and perfectly seasoned. The pasta was the only letdown of this dish - it was very thick, heavy and dry in places. I was hoping to have a much more delicate, soft, silky pasta on the plate.

Pork Cheek Ravioli

No further offers of a drink and half an hour later, our mains come out. I ordered the Beetroot Risotto ($28) with goat’s cheese spheres, baby vegetables, beet crisps, smoked bell peppers and pecorino melt. The colours and smell were sensational! I’ll start from the top down. The mixture of the pecorino cheese with the “baby vegetables” (read: normal-sized vegetables cut small) was absolutely gorgeous. The veggies were perfectly cooked, fresh and sweet. I could have eaten a whole bowl of this. Sadly, the beetroot crisps were a bit misplaced on this dish. They were super sweet (I would almost say candied) and very difficult to chew without breaking a tooth. Would love to see a dessert featuring these babies. The risotto was delightful – perfectly seasoned, with loads of cheese and al dente rice. The smoked bell peppers were stirred through and were a wonderful sweet surprise in every second mouthful, especially with the lovely little goat’s cheese spheres. The risotto was let down by the little cubes of beetroot stirred through it. I love fresh beetroot, and I love barely-cooked crunchy veg, but these were almost raw. Because they hadn’t been cooked enough, they didn’t bring that juicy sweetness that fresh beetroot should. I ended up eating around them. A generous portion with some fantastic elements and some not-so-great.

Beetroot Risotto

The Cove Seafood Platter for 2 ($110) came out in two parts: the main attraction of the seafood, followed by the sides. Taking a deep breath, this is what is on the platter: half lobster thermidor, bay bugs sautéed in garlic butter, soft shell crab with chili glaze, tempura barramundi, prawn skewers in peanut oil, salt and pepper calamari, grilled fresh fish fillets, mornay scallops, kilpatrick oysters, saffron rice, sautéed vegetables, lemon and herb butter and mixed aiolis. And breathe! I am a big believer in letting fresh seafood speak for itself. Most of the creatures on that list have been well and truly silenced by overpowering flavours, creamy sauces and flashbacks to 70s dinner parties.

Seafood Platter for 2

The highlights were the grilled salmon and barramundi (with crispy skin), salt and pepper calamari, the bugs sautéed in garlic butter, and the scallops (though, these weren’t actually mornay on the plate – they were plainly and simply seared). Confusion reigned supreme when the sautéed Asian greens were served with a warm cheese sauce on the side. One of my friends is Asian and couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. The other is Australian-English and thought they made a nice pairing. Make of that what you will. Lowlights were the lobster thermidor, oysters kilpatrick and the tempura barramundi. The chef must’ve been feeling generous and added an extra item to the plate. We couldn’t identify it (even after eating it) and had to ask two different waitresses, who gave us two different answers. Whatever it was, it was covered in a thick and heavy batter and cooked to death. As a whole, this dish was a bit of a letdown. Despite paying $110, the girls still had their senses of humour and surmised that it was a very confusing dish with modern and vintage styles of cooking, Asian greens with cheese sauce, saffron rice and an unidentifiable freebie. Verdict: overpriced con-fusion. It could have been amazing.

Floating Pavlova

Funnily enough, the girls were still hungry, so we ordered dessert. Having had the dessert tasting plate last time I was here, and not being overly impressed with anything, I ordered the Floating Pavlova with white sangria syrup, fruit chunks, lychee jelly spheres, basil & lime sorbet. One of my companions ordered the same. When it came out, it looked quite impressive, and the lime and basil sorbet was very fragrant and inviting. Immediately my friend and I were hunting for the lychee jelly spheres, only to be disappointed. They were nowhere to be found! Long story cut short – the pavlova was a miss. The pavlova balls were missing the all important soft fluffy marshmallow characteristic of a good pav. Essentially, all we got was the crisp crust. And boy was it crisp! Not a good flavour. The sangria syrup was overpowering and the fruit chunks tasted like the overripe leftovers from a buffet breakfast! The sorbet was the best part of the dish in my opinion – the worst in the opinion of my friend. The flavours were very strong and fresh. I scooped most of it out of the middle of my pavlova shells (trying to get my money’s worth), but really, it would probably be best as a palate cleanser. You know when two foodies leave their plates largely untouched it is a sign of a below-par dessert.

Sticky Prune Pudding

The third of our trio of diners ordered the Warm Sticky Prune Pudding with Roasted Macadamia Nuts, Butterscotch Sauce and Eggnog Cream. Apparently the pudding itself and the butterscotch sauce were tasty and moist, but my friend was left scratching her head over the roasted macadamia nuts. The part of the dish she was most looking forward to, they were stuck down with a lick of chocolate ganache – something that was missing from the menu description. She tried in vain to pick the crushed nuts out of the sticky slick of chocolate. Misplaced indeed. The staff cleared our plates and glasses and asked if there was anything else we wanted. We said no, indicating that we were ready for the bill. 15 minutes later, after trying to catch the eye of the staff (was there a game of hide and seek I didn’t know about?), I had to go an interrupt the re-stocking of the fridge to ask for our bill. Not the worst meal I’ve ever had, but certainly not the best, and the service was aloof at best. It seems the kitchen has got the goods and the skills, and they get some things very, very right - but they have some weird choices on the menu, which results in a whole lot of misses. If you’re going to go to Cove, maybe check out Tuan’s review and go for breakfast. Contact details Address: SKYCITY Darwin, Gilruth Avenue, The Gardens, Darwin Phone: 8943 8940 Open: Breakfast: Sat & Sun 7:30am - 10:30am, Lunch: Sat & Sun 12pm-3pm, Dinner: Daily 6pm-10pm Alcohol: Licensed