Food Reviews

"River Belle"

Consistently good fare lends itself to a pleasurable dining experience at Trio's on the River, enthuses Helen Flanagan.

The welcome mat was out and it was big smiles all around from owners Geoff Cohen and David Stellon and their teams including the maestro of the kitchen Warren "Wazza" Laidlaw. It was a chilly afternoon, however sighting the special lunch menu warmed the cockles of our tastebuds and wallets.

We sipped Salinger sparkling and our friends from Sydney dilly-dallied about the choices before hoeing into a hearty tomato, bacon and leek soup. From the regular menu I chose grilled oysters and was knocked out by the size and the taste. Six huge darlings from Coffin Bay, all dressed up in a chilli plum jam and covered in bacon slivers were scooped and sucked from their shells. Sensational.

Deciding on the main course was another difficult decision. However, when snapper was prounounced fish of the day, the boys were happy. The freshest of fillets were covered in a black pepper and chive empura batter, accompanied by chips and salad and were delicious.

Valda didn't utter a word until she'd worked her way through a delish warm Vietnamese chicken salad. My five plump tassie scallops in half shells with roe on, had been brushed with chermoula, mixed with coriander yoghurt and grilled.

Each one was heaven in a shell.

Desserts were out of the question, however a butterscotch schnapps and cream was a fitting finale.