Sea-side speciality at Boardwalk

Thanks to a long distance drive, we had the chance to try Boardwalk twice in the space of a few days, and the constrasts were interesting.

First, the food. Boardwalk describes its offerings as Tapas, and they have several dishes that meet exactly that description - various prawn, chorizo and other dishes that all had firm grounding in the Spanish style. I’d say they were more tapas-style, as many of the dishes are asian influenced, and in the Spanish tradition, their servings are generous enough to qualify as “ración” :-). We tasted some great dishes - notably the Tempura Dory fillets and Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes. Everything was tasty, and on our first night the specials included an excellent Jewfish in beurre blanc sauce, and a wonderful roast vegetable and fetta salad. We washed all this down with the award-winning Wicked Elf Pilsner from The Little Brewing Company, who are locals to the area.

More interesting was the difference in experience on the two nights. The first night we were there coincided with the Maître d’ being absent - the birth of his first child being a far more important event demanding his presence. So we were met by a friendly, affable chap who turned out to be the owner. We found this out as we shared a large (10+ person) table with him, and got to know how he’d got into the business. Without derailing a post about fine food and beer, the proprietor had been a publican for 38 years, and was a veritable small business mogul in Port Macquarie: not only running Boardwalk, but several penthouse apartments. He also hinted at an interest in The Little Brewing Company, though I’m informed that this may be in reality just as a satisfied customer and drinker. Without his entertaining anecdotes on the second night, we felt we were missing out. Oh well.

Lastly, if you get a chance to dine here around sunset, there’s one additional piece of entertainment that is well worth catching. Just as the sun goes down, the local fruit bats wake for their evening’s feast. They launch in an enormous sky-blackening cloud … at one point, we figured there were literally millions of them overhead. It was a fantastic sight, though I think the local farmers might not appreciate them as much.