Sydney’s New Beachside Playground
By Jackie McMillan
jackie@alternativemediagroup.com
If you’re looking for somewhere by the beach to lap up this luscious warm weather, look no further than the newly refurbished seaside playground at The Coogee Bay Hotel. Launching earlier this month, this new-look signature beer garden is aimed at Sydneysiders and their families. It also has a firm focus on food. General Manager Tony Williams tells me that they have ‘a new food strategy, based on fresh seasonal produce and affordable, healthy contemporary Australian cuisine; a brand new state-of-the-art kitchen, along with a fifteen strong kitchen team headed by our Executive Chef Adam Wood – poached from Japan where he headed up kitchens for the Swissotel, Osaka and Foreign Correspondent’s Press Club of Japan in Tokyo.’
I’m popping down in the next few weeks to check out their distinctly Australian menus, which of course showcase fresh Australian seafood and meats. I’m particularly excited by their imported Montague Radiglo Overfired Broiler (which is also used in the New York Steakhouse). It certainly is making me crave a good piece of Wagyu rump, after some oysters with Thai-lime shallot dressing perhaps’ It will be enjoyable to dine on a range of dishes that reflect Australia’s diverse cultural heritage in one place.
If you need an additional reason to get down there quickly, after paying for their multi-millon dollar renovations, the kind people at the Coogee Bay Hotel are putting on a festival of FREE food, entertainment and fun for all ages this month. Pop in on Saturday 25th or Sunday 26th October between 3pm and 4pm to do some free tasting of the new brasserie menu including Pacific Oysters topped with chilli Thai dressing; paprika calamari pieces with basil mayonnaise; and pork and fennel sausage with red onion confit. Throughout the weekend there are also coffee making classes, cocktail making classes, a kid’s ice-cream table where children can decorate and eat their creations, and a beer appreciation session. More information is available at their website www.coogeebayhotel.com.au or you can just pop into The Coogee Bay Hotel at the corner of Coogee Bay Rd and Arden St, Coogee to find out more.
