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A new restaurant on Devonshire Street turns Nick Dent onto the delights of fresh-smoked seafood.
Guess what? Smoking can be good for you, after all.
The Smokehouse has taken over the old Mohr & Mohr location in Devonshire Street. It’s a friendly place with a nice old-fashioned fitout. They don’t take bookings (of course), but the excellent floor staff seem genuinely delighted you dropped by; if it’s busy, they’ll find you a spot at the bar to wait it out.
The restaurant is the project of Bede Hunt, Adam de Launay, and Adam’s father Stephen. Hailing from Jervis Bay, De Launay senior has 35 years of seafood smoking under his belt and has helmed restaurants on the South Coast and overseas.
I know what you’re thinking. Smoking is just how you preserve fish, right? Well, get those images of shrink-wrapped mackerel and flat supermarket salmon out of your head. De Launay’s method burns South Coast hardwood in a purpose-built oven, infusing fish with a chemical-free, rich, smoky tang. It’s about adding an exciting new dimension to top-quality seafood dishes.
The tasting plate for two ($22) – six pairs of canapés – should come with a health disclaimer (warning: may cause excessive pleasure). A smoked salmon chunk on a biscuit explodes with flavour.
There’s a hearty, crumbed, smoked cod croquette topped with chilli aioli. A piece of smoked trout sashimi wrapped in seaweed sits on a disk of sweet rice (it looks like a hat that Cyndi Lauper used to wear in the ’80s). There’s a flat half-moon of smoked salmon roe served on a slice of lime; a little pie containing luscious smoked salmon and trout mousse; and a smoked garlic prawn wonton curled up in a spoon.
Dr Love hits the jackpot with his main: smoked crispy skin New Zealand king salmon belly with caramelised eschalots and creamed sweet potato ($22.50). The tastiness of a piece of salmon that has been both smoked and grilled is a revelation. The doc is worried that regular grilled salmon is not going to cut it for him any more.
It’s cold outside, so I choose the congee of smoked salmon, scallop and prawn. (Adam De Launay got the idea for this from breakfasting in Thailand.) I was expecting a small bowl of soup. What I got was a big, deep serving of flavoursome rice porridge, topped with crispy garlic and toasted croutons and packed with more delicious seafood than you could possibly hope for in a dish that only costs $18. It’s a winter must-eat.
We couldn’t resist ordering some hand-cut chips ($7), which were as square and squat as stevedores’ thumbs. Once inside my stomach they stacked themselves into the remaining corner space, so dessert was out of the question. We simply downed our Triple Point Sauvignon Blancs ($8.50 a glass) and departed, vowing to return ASAP.
No doubt about it. Smoking hasn’t seemed this glamorous since Sharon Stone blew cigarette fumes all over Michael Douglas and shagged his brains out.
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