Romance at Rockpool - A food noob review

It has taken me some time to get back to blogging... The new year brought with it some challenges; a bout of depression, feelings of doubt and anxiety over career choices, the overwhelming reality sinking in of my life as a single mum. But I met these challenges with a brand new attitude and a determination to face the world with a positivity and a smile. I also committed myself to continue my journal writing  as this has been arguably the most cathartic and healing exercise that I have maintained over the last three years. Three years which have seen me go through my lowest period ever to successfully emerge on the other side of a heartbreaking separation, ready to forge myself a new and positive life.

And so here I am in June 2014 looking back over the last couple of months and smiling at how quickly things can change. So in the middle of March I met a really lovely guy, Cameron, and on the 31st March he took me out for our first date. It was an incredible night out at a beautiful restaurant in the Crown Complex, Southbank in Melbourne. I am not going to talk about the date itself other than to say I was swept off my feet by a charming, intelligent, funny and incredibly generous man. What I am going to talk about is the food experience which was made all the more enjoyable and interesting due to the knowledgeable choices and commentary provided by Cameron who just happens to be an exceptionally talented chef who is very passionate about food on all levels. (Don't be disrespectful to food is his mantra).

As a self confessed unadventurous eater I made a deal with myself on this night to be open to try anything and everything that Cameron suggested and I am so glad that I was. Cameron was very considerate of me in his menu choices (I asked him to choose on my behalf after discussing some of my food preferences) and as the evening progressed I learned things about foods that I had never even thought of.  I hope you enjoy my review of the night that is embellished with my recollections of Cameron's explanations of the way each dish is designed to be balanced and complex.  A truly wonderous evening with a truly wonderful 'gentle'man.


Date: 31st March 2014
Location: Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne
Occaision: First Date

So here we were at Rockpool. Our first dish was Four raw tastes of the sea  It consisted of 4 different raw slivers of fish, each carefully combined with various flavours. The first was King fish which I didn't eat - because as I explained to Cameron, the King fish is the totem of the Aborginal clan that adopted me when I was staying in Dhalinybuy in North East Arnhem land in 2010. You should not eat your own totem. He was fine with that and happy to eat my King fish. :-)

The next one was Salmon. It was so yummy. I am not going to even try and explain it in food terms but it was one of my favourite stand out flavours of the night. Then came Tuna and then Scampi which was a gorgeous morsel - I can say now that I would never have expected that dish to be so yum.

Cameron explained to me that the fact that the dish is designed to 'ascend in flavour' with each fish type. It was just beautiful and it looked great too.

Next we had Alaskan Crab with Avocado, cherry tomatoes and Jalepenos with coriander - WOW!!!

It was creamy and crunchy at the same time. the flavours were spectacular. This was my favourite dish of the evening. It was delectable.


Then came an unpronounceable prosciutto platter - full of a selection of various prosciutto's and a scrumptious salami from different areas of Italy and Spain. Whilst we were eating these amazing dishes we were drinking an exceptional red wine - OMG! What a night.

After this we had more -

A zucchini and basil soup (my choice) I loved it.  

Then  we had a dish that Cameron has been wanting to have for a very long time and he finally had it. It was a tortellini with raisins and pinenuts and prawn with the most amazing cheese center. It was truly divine. Cameron was very happy as the dish lived up to his long lived expectations.


The final dish was duck and an endive and some other red salad leaf and a vinegarette. Here was me that normally asks for 'dressing on the side thanks' trying even the salad. The duck was for me not the most pleasant of flavours. The texture did not do much for me nor the flavours. I felt bad but Cameron was adamant that I should not feel bad. He did not want me to eat anything that I didn't like. Bless him.

All in all it was an amazing evening with remarkable company.

I would highly recommend Rockpool Bar and Grill Melbourne as a classy, non pretentious restaurant that serves incredible food and magnificent wines.

Thank you Cameron for introducing me to a delectable food experience, that of which I have never had before.  

If you want to see some great images of the food along with another review check out this blog : There's something about me