Reef Seafood and Sushi

An upmarket fish & chip shop , sushi shop, oyster bar and fish monger all rolled into one--sounds ridiculous right? Somehow it makes sense when you see Reef Seafood and Sushi.

It makes sense when you think about it--walk past display of beautiful fresh produce 'yes that looks delicious i want to eat it' then the 'oh but how do you cook it/I can't be stuffed cooking it' comes into play and then you realise you don't have to cook it you can order it from the restaurant attached. Thirsty? There's a bar with a wine list attached too.

Two downsides to this though:
1) You will pay a premium
2) When there's one place doing everything, it's hard to do all of it very well.

Having the fresh seafood on display seems to project the idea that all the produce used for the restaurant is as fresh as the ones you see in the display cabinet. So naturally you'd be willing to pay a premium with both prices for the western style menu and Japanese menu on the higher side. The oysters however, are a reasonable deal especially when you add a glass of wine.

Both western and Japanese items come out of the kitchen -- when you're trying to do two things you end up either doing one very well and the other not so well, or both being so-so and a touch above mediocre. We've had both the Western and Japanese menus before and Reef falls to the side of doing a just above average job of both. Coming from a family that runs fish and chip shops I can tell you both the chips and how the fish is cooked would not survive in a suburban fish and chip shop. The mussels are not too bad but the chowder resembles watery seafood curry and appears to be the go to dish to dump any left over seafood.

Sushi set 

The Japanese side fares slightly better--mainly as its able to rely on the freshness of the fish of the majority of it's dishes being mostly sashimi. Portions could be more generous and for once I don't mind the side salad too much due to the generous dressing with a sesame oil base.

Personally there's a definite preference towards the Japanese menu, paired with a few oysters as the cooking of the fish and chips is just not great.

chirashi don set

Reef Seafood and Sushi drives home the message of eating 'farm to table' or in this case 'sea to table'--as close as you can get to this kid of idea in Brisbane anyway. If only the cooking part can be as strong as this intended or unintended subliminal message.