Any Rick Stein fans here?

[MDC]

So is anyone else a fan of Rick Stein's food? I haven't been lucky enough to eat at his restaurant in England but love his shows and his cookbooks.

I may be a bit slow, but I've just found out that he's opened a restaurant in Australia.

Rick Stein at Bannisters

I can't wait to get the opportunity to head that way and finally eat at one of his restaurants!

Edit: Thanks Mods for moving this to the right spot. I wasn't sure

 

[Homer]

I've never eaten at his restaurant in Cornwall but as we love great seafood cooked simply and it's only a three hour drive down to Mollymook Beach we were planning on heading down for a weekend in early December. If you get there in the meantime please let us know what you think!

 

[MissBurrill]

I live at Burrill Lake which is very close to Bannisters. I unfortunately haven't made it to the new restaurant yet but it is being very well received down here. Am thinking I should make a booking so I can accurately report on it.

If anyone is planning to head down this way please message me if you need sightseeing ideas or even want to catch up for a drink.

Karen

 

[MissBurrill]

I phoned Rick Steins and have a booking for tonight. Will report back.

Now to book a taxi and decide what to wear........

Karen

 

[MDC]

I phoned Rick Steins and have a booking for tonight. Will report back.

Now to book a taxi and decide what to wear........

Karen

Have you finished dinner yet?

I can't wait to hear what you thought.

 

[MissBurrill]

Here's my Rick Stein at Bannisters experience......

I caught a $30 taxi so I could have some drinks. I was seated in the far corner on the long bench seats. Bannisters also has a pizza and coughtail bar so I asked for my favourite Bannisters drink – ‘God’s Gin and Tonic’. Unfortunately Ricks doesn’t do coughtails so it was a look at the wine list.


Entree was the oysters which were superb. Only five of them but quite big and the instructions were to dip the oyster in the sauce, eat it, then have some sausage followed by a glass of muscat. Well, a drink of muscat. When I ordered the oysters I asked for a glass of muscat but it hasn’t arrived yet so they gave me an alternate. I highly recommend this dish. Living at the coast I get to eat lots of oysters but these were just wow.


I was undecided on my main so I asked the waiter who suggested the crab. The menu said the crab was for those who like to eat with their hands. It was a great feast of crab in a yum sauce. Although I was provided with a tool to crack the shells and another to scoop out the meat I made a delightful mess. The table cloth and the wall ended up wearing bits of crab. Luckily the couple sitting next to me had left so they didn’t wear any crab. It was a very fun meal. I don’t know if I would order it again but I definitely enjoyed it.


Next up was dessert. I chose my first dessert because it had Paris and Chocolate in its’ description. What came out was a croissant type pastry shaped like a donut. It had been sliced in half and inside were a chocolate sauce and a custard sauce. It was delicious. You can tell I’d had a few to drink because when asked by the waiter how the dessert was I said ‘sexy’.


I was still hungry so I ordered another dessert. This one reminded me of yoghurt with berries on top. Nice but completely different to my sexy first dessert. I followed this up with a coffee.


Bannisters drove me home in their town car which turned out to be a very nice and very big twin cab ute.


The man in charge (not Rick) spoke to the couple at the table next to me. He said it was their quietest night so far with 86 people.


The bill came to $166 plus I paid a tip.


I found it interesting that despite all the local job ads all the waiters seemed to be non –local. One was from England and the rest seemed to be from Sydney. The service was great.


The menu had the date on it and can be changed daily depending on what seafood is available. There was a steak on the menu but the restaurant is definitely seafood focused.


If anyone knows Logan Brown in Wellington it was on a par with it. Overall it was a great night and I recommend dinner at Rick Stein’s.

Karen

 

[QF WP]

Thanks karens for the "food" report. Sounds like a decent place to go.

Can't say that I'm a real foodie, but I like watching cooking shows on the telly (pity I can't cook :shock

Homer, your wish is granted. Time for you and Marge to head down there soon.

 

[MDC]

Thanks for the report Karen.

It's a shame that Rick isn't hands on in the kitchen. No surprise though. Most celeb chefs seems to be more executive chefs and only take part in the menu creation.

I'll definitely be making a special trip that way to go to the restaurant. Do you know what the accommodation is like?

Now I can start wishing that he'd start a cooking school, or cooking lessons as an activity at Bannisters.

 

[Homer]

Yeah thanks for the review karens.

It's a shame that Rick isn't hands on in the kitchen. No surprise though. Most celeb chefs seems to be more executive chefs and only take part in the menu creation.

Rick lives on the lower north shore so it would be a bit of a drive, but remember this was a mid-week booking - he might show up on Saturday nights. Some celebrity chefs should spend more time in the kitchen instead of taking care of "customer service"

Oh and Lindsay - we'll definitely be heading down there.

 

[MissBurrill]

I'll definitely be making a special trip that way to go to the restaurant. Do you know what the accommodation is like?

MDC

Bannisters is considered our top accommodation spot here but to be honest I've not had much feedback on it. I guess being a local* I've never had to book accommodation there. But I would recommend staying there when you visit. It has a spectacular ocean view.

Karen

*I call myself a local even though I'm not 5th generation born and bred which some seem to think is the qualifier for being a local down here.....

 

[drron]

Our TA here on the Sunny coast has a 2 day stop at Bannisters with dinner and a cooking class with Rick Stein.A little expensive but probably a once in a life time type occasion.I would go but will be in Tassie again.
"This two-night South Coast gourmet getaway includes:
* Two night's twin share accommodation in a Ocean Deluxe room at Bannisters
* Dinner with Rick on the first night with wines by Brian Croser's Tapanappa wines and Bollinger Champagne.
* Morning cooking demonstration with Rick Stein
* Afternoon wine class with Stuart Gregor and Tapanappa wines
* One Relaxation Massage at Bannister's Day Spa
Price from $990 per person"
Is on March 10,11.

 

[MDC]

Our TA here on the Sunny coast has a 2 day stop at Bannisters with dinner and a cooking class with Rick Stein.A little expensive but probably a once in a life time type occasion.I would go but will be in Tassie again.
"This two-night South Coast gourmet getaway includes:
* Two night's twin share accommodation in a Ocean Deluxe room at Bannisters
* Dinner with Rick on the first night with wines by Brian Croser's Tapanappa wines and Bollinger Champagne.
* Morning cooking demonstration with Rick Stein
* Afternoon wine class with Stuart Gregor and Tapanappa wines
* One Relaxation Massage at Bannister's Day Spa
Price from $990 per person"
Is on March 10,11.

Are you able to provide a link or PM the details to me?

 

[drron]

Well mrsdrron has had her 2 days with Rick Stein and declared it a fantastic experience.She sat across the table from Rick for the last 2 hours of the night and declared him a very nice fellow.Really liked the cooking class with him this morning.Declares Mr. Bannister a great fellow.The manager is Len Evans son-in another life in the Hunter we shared a cleaner with Len so he got told several stories from that time.
She rang me about midnight last night when the dinner finished and was obviously on a high.She tells me we will be staying there some time in the next year or two and if there is another such event there we will be going.