As we were strolling down the Esplanade in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia, we saw a restaurant called Sodafish on a boat and had a look at the menu. We were surprised to see a degustation menu with wine pairing. The menu looked good, so we booked a table for dinner that evening, rather than cooking in the camper.

The restaurant is right next to the Lakes Entrance fishing fleet, and acquires the freshest seafood directly from them. Besides à la carte there are two tasting menus: 3 courses for AU$ 59 or 6 courses for AU$ 95 with wine pairing (AU$ 45 for 6 half glasses). We opted for the latter.

The first coarse was a Broadwater oyster with a classic mignonette of shallots and vinegar, scallop tartare with kimchi and toasted grains of buckwheat, and focaccia with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The buckwheat was slightly chewy, but the scallop tartare with what was called kimchi was delicious and the focaccia was excellent. I personally would have preferred good extra virgin olive oil without the (white) balsamic. This was paired well with a 2021 Rob Dolan Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine from Warrandyte South, Victoria (Australia), 100% Chardonnay, charmat method.

The second course was raw kingfish with walnut, cumin, and marigold. The combination of walnut and cumin with the kingfish was delicious and the kingfish impeccably fresh. This was paired well with a 2022 Match Point Rosé from Rylestone, New South Wales, Australia, blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The wine was very elegant, but the texture worked well with the nuts.

Next was a fish finger with herb salad, pickled onions, and hollandaise with herbs. The fish finger was filled with a mixture of fish and potato to give it a more tender and fluffy texture. This was paired very well with a 2023 Vickery Riesling from Eden Valley, South Australia. The herb salad and hollandaise gave a very nice tart contrast to the crispy and fluffy fish finger and the wine brought it all together.

The menu continued with BBQ’ed octopus with capocollo (Italian charcuterie), harissa, and olive. The flavor of the condiment was terrific, but unfortunately the octopus was rather bland and very chewy. It seemed like the octopus had been BBQ’ed raw, while parcooking octopus to tenderize it first is absolutely necessary. With the sauce the flavor of the dish was still very nice, and an excellent pairing with the 2022 Narkoojee Pinot Noir from Glengarry, Victoria (Australia). Even though the wine was served slightly too warm, it was a great wine with velvety tannins and ripe fruit, and a surprisingly good pairing for the dish.

The final savory course was pink ling (some kind of white fleshy fish) with a sea lettuce curry, deep fried samphire, and crème fraîche with herbs. The fish had a very nice sear but was still juicy and worked very well with the other components on the plate. It was paired with an excellent 2022 Merrill Chardonnay from a winery very close to the restaurant, Tambo Winery. I would have liked a full glass with this wine with the dish.

The dessert was a nice crispy madeleine with wild coast honey, mascarpone, granny smith apple, and mountain pepper. It was not paired with a vermut from Spain, Fot-li 31 botanicos. The wine is macerated for 3 weeks with 31 different herbs and spices, and aged in a solera system for 40 years. Although the vermut wasn’t sweet enough for the dessert, it was still a nice pairing.

The food was excellent and of an unexpected high level that for me certainly classifies as ‘fine dining’. Everything was delicious with original and balanced flavors, excellent fresh ingredients, and perfect technical execution (except for the toughness of the octopus). The portions were adequate, but a bit more bread would have been nice to prevent leaving hungry. The wines and wine pairings were also excellent. Sodafish offers great value for money.

The service was certainly not at the level of fine dining. The service was friendly and they were doing their best, but clearly did not have a lot of experience. The wines were poured at the bar; we never saw any bottles, and the glasses were carried by the glass rather than by the stems. With the main course, the food arrived before the cutlery , as well as the wine. Kees did not eat the octopus at all and sent it back to the kitchen, but nothing was done about that. When we asked for some more bread, the waitress asked whether we would like the dessert wine with the bread or with the dessert (?!) and said it would be extra. This was after we had asked her whether she was going to do anything about the inedible octopus (she said she had mentioned it to the kitchen, as if that would be sufficient). When the manager came to our table at the end and we mentioned this, she was very apologetic and offered us a cocktail to make up for the octopus. As we are not cocktail people, we said it would be sufficient if the additional bread would be on the house. To my great surprise she said the octopus had been parcooked sous vide! Must have been too short. I wonder if it was a mistake in the kitchen pulling the octopus from the sous vide sooner than usual? Because one of the benefits of sous vide is consistency, and I sure hope they are not consistently serving tough octopus.

Despite the glitches with the service, for the quality of food and wine, Sodafish is strongly recommended.