Mr & Mrs Smith

On arrival at Ohtel we asked Heidi to recommend a seafood restaurant nearby and she suggested either Shed 5 or the Ortega Fish Shack & Bar. We opted for Ortgea and she very kindly booked us a table; no mean feat in itself as it was a Saturday night and still in high season.

Oretga Fish Shack & Bar is a welcoming and intimate restaurant on Marjoribanks St, just around the corner from Ohtel. The place was a happy hubbub of eager diners, with a perfect pre-dinner bar area to the rear of the downstairs seating area. We were seated upstairs at a table in the window, overlooking the street. The menu was interesting, informative and obviously influenced by seasonal availability, which is always a good sign! Not being too proud, the menu included vegetarian options and also a steak - a lifesaver for that crazy moment when one of you realises that, having booked and arrived at a seafood restaurant, you now really fancy a juicy steak and a glass of red!!

We stuck to the fishy dishes and enjoyed a shared starter of pan-fried prawn tails, garlic butter sauce, lemon, Italian parsley and linguine; in a word, Divine. The waitress added the final touch by bringing us some fresh bread to mop up the last traces of the garlic butter sauce - perfect. For mains we had roasted alfonsino with parisienne potatoes and crayfish butter and kippered white warehou on pork and prawn kedgeree with nam prik relish. Again, each dish was melt-in-the-mouth delicious, an amazing variety and balance of flavors and perfectly presented without being fussy. Ortega's own house white was a great accompaniment and we finished up with 2 excellent decaf espressos. Not being able to fit in dessert, the waitress brought us 2 homemade truffles to go with the coffee, which unsurprisingly, were luxurious!

In company to the great food, the service at Ortega was faultless and the whole look and feel of the restaurant was superb. As for cost, considering the quality of the food and service, it was spot on and certainly not as much as you could pay elsewhere for less. In summary, a super restaurant and one of the best dining experiences we have had for a long time.