The Lobster Cave, Beaumaris

Friends are great - they answer the phone when you call, they listen to your whinging, they don't judge you and they get you what you like! Knowing how much of a foodie Gaz is, one of his friends gave him a $99 voucher to Lobster Cave Restaurant in Beaumaris. 

Lobster Cave was mentioned in several big news stories in the press last year as the venue for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy's meeting with an alleged Mafia boss. So I was half expecting to see some famous people there when we got there but was disappointed... not really. We were there to try out the food and was impressed with the quality and quantity of the food and the great service. 

Our waitperson was very good at explaining how it all works (our voucher did not entitle us to the Set Lunch Menu) and made sure our glasses were topped up and we were looked after. 

The thick carpets of the restaurant absorbed all noise, there was an aquarium running the length of the wall, it was dark, heavy and intimate within the restaurant. 

To start, we received complimentary corn fritters. I'm actually not sure how this whets the appetite for the large courses to come and the fritters stuck to our palate but it was nice of the restaurant to provide complimentary entrees for their diners. 

Complimentary Corn fritters

We ordered fried mushrooms in butter as a side. This is not a great picture as the button mushrooms and black fungus do not show nicely on the black plate but it was a nice dish.

Fried mushrooms

For mains, I ordered the fish while Gaz had ravioli with lobster tails. The  blue eye fillet was perfectly cooked. The skin was crispy and the flesh was still moist. It was a very generous serve of fish and asparagus and cherry tomatoes. The sauce was an anchovy butter which was very buttery but no real anchovy taste. Still, I thought this dish was well cooked and was probably enough for two meals for me!

Blue eye fillet with anchovy butter, cherry tomatoes and asparagus

Gaz ordered the pasta with lobster tails. It may seem like only five or six ravioli parcels but they were very filling. The butter sauce was rich and the mushrooms were fragrant. The lobster tails... mamamia! There were 5 lobster tail halves on the plate! We had a great time eating those lobster tails. It felt so luxurious eating this dish for lunch...

House made Beef Cheek Ravioli with Lobster Tails and Duxelle Mushrooms

Because we ordered a side dish, the restaurant also gave us some complimentary sweet potato chips. It was served with creamy aioli dipping sauce. I think sweet potato chips may be a healthier substitute for plain potato chips, but they are not my preferred choice of chips because it is very difficult to get them crispy on the outside and moist on the inside; and they get burnt, or look burnt easily because of the sugar content. 

There was so much sweet potato chips on that plate that as much as we loathe to waste food, we just had to leave some chips on the plate. 

Complimentary sweet potato chips

I hope they were put to good use, maybe it would make a healthy feast for the seagulls by the Beaumaris foreshore?