Richmond Seafood Tavern

Profiled by de Groots Media

It’s a stone’s throw from busy Punt Road, but the noise emanating from within this pub restaurant is the contented and barely muted roar of happy diners. The restaurant has its own entrance in the pub building and the dining room is nicely set up with white cloths on the tables and decent glasses and cutlery.

The menu, chalked onto a blackboard, isn’t actually a menu, but a long list of what’s available, which Australian waters it came from and how it might be cooked. Oysters, for example, may be served natural or cooked; prawns can be garlic or chilli or plain; scallops may be on the half-shell; and the fish grilled, crumbed or battered. The menu lists a seafood platter entree, but you are welcome to compose your own and the helpful staff will ensure that the numbers of scallops or prawns or bug tails will match the number of people at the table. Fish will usually include flathead, snapper and whiting and there’s crayfish in season – at a price. On busy nights the waiters dart around as quick as fish, but they don’t lose their good humour. Don’t forget your vegetables and salad. The wine list is pretty good and reasonably priced.

Rita Erlich