Pittwater Life November 2020 Issue

Tasty Morsels
Pearl's a cracker of a Thai
on the Bayview waterfront
Blue Pearl
17/1714 Pittwater Rd, Bayview
Open: Tues-Sun, lunch and
dinner
P: 9997 8918
with Beverley Hudec
Tiny Morsels…
Curtain goes up on
renovated Forest Hotel
After 12 months of renovations, dated
Parkway Hotel on Frenchs Forest Road
East has been redeveloped as The Forest
Hotel. The design brief for the venue
includes an indoor-outdoors use of
natural materials, greenery, light-filled
interiors, a beer garden and dining
terraces (below). The Forest is scheduled
to open mid-November.
Tasty Dining Morsels Guide
Blue Pearl is one of those
restaurants you’d blithely
drive past if you didn’t
know it was there. The
location in Bayview Anchorage
keeps it well hidden from the
road, but from the water it’s a
different story.
Every table in this light and
airy upstairs restaurant is
blessed with a Pittwater view,
whatever the weather. And, as
you’d expect, the best ones
straddle the floor-to-ceiling
glass windows. For pure table
envy, the ultimate dining
experience is al fresco at one of
the tables on the small balcony.
Book a table and Blue Pearl
still offers BYO wine – corkage
is currently three bucks a
head. And perchance the wine
fridge happens to be empty
when you order a Friday
night takeaway, there’s home
delivery too on a selection of
beer, cider, wine and bubbles.
The restaurant is quiet
when we turn up, so any of
the window tables are up for
grabs. It’s a lovely day, so
there’s plenty of weekend
action in the marina below
and out on the water.
Service follows Pittwater
time and is unhurried and
friendly. Staffer Phillip
knowledgeably runs through
the menu, picking out a
few favourites. In true
Thai restaurant style,
it’s an extensive list
covering off familiar
stir fries and curries,
as well as signature
dishes. Every table
picks at least one
of these, we’re told. Chef
specials include Dancing Go
Go, a spiced wagyu beef and
green bean dish, not a latenight
table-top activity; Sailing
on Pittwater, which is a deepfried
whole
fish served
with a choice
of one of three
homemade
sauces; and Ruby
of Oriental, a
deboned duck
dish topped with
red curry paste,
pineapple and
cherry tomatoes.
While they sound
delicious as part
of a larger shared
banquet, they’re
perhaps a bit heavy
for a light lunch.
Instead, Thai-style
nibbles, Nar-Tang (above),
moves away from popular
appetisers like money bags, fish
cakes and satay sticks. Small
pieces of chicken, prawn and
crab meat in a coconut sauce
turn it into a chip and dip with
a Thai twist. Chilli provides
a blip of heat and the puffed
crackers are bitter, balancing
the sweetness and the heat.
The secret of any good Thai
dish are those classic flavour
balances – sweet, spicy, sour
and salty.
Blue Pearl’s sweet and
creamy Penang vegetable curry
is made with a homemade
curry paste, cooked with
coconut cream, roasted ground
peanuts and Thai seasoning.
It’s a mild curry with a thick,
rich gravy. It is rather sweet;
however it is a dish that sits
nicely alongside another classic
Thai salad – larb gai (left).
Minced chicken breast is
cooked with a lemon dressing,
dried chilli, fish sauce, roasted
rice for texture and served
with a herb, lettuce and cherry
tomato garnish. It’s light,
fresh and tangy with a hint of
sour and heat and perfect to
offset a sweet, creamy curry.
Blue Pearl has kept a
generation of young Bayview
sailors and their families
happy with spring rolls and
Pad Thai for 18 years. Here’s
to another generation.
72 NOVEMBER 2020
The Local Voice Since 1991
Cultural melting pot
is Three Doors Down
One laneway Mona Vale cafe is a
melting pot of Middle Eastern and
Japanese flavours. Three Doors Down
has goodies like shakshuka, or Isreali
baked eggs, and Japanese pancakes
– okonomiyaki – on the menu. These
are topped with kale, poached
eggs and served with house-made
fermented chilli sauce (above). Three
Doors Down is in Waratah St. Open
from 7am. Closed Sunday.
Three of a kind: local brews
The beer week at Trust
Tree Brewing Co
begins on Monday and
Tuesday with brewing.
Wednesday is reserved
for canning 100 cartons
of lager and pale ale and
Thursday is delivery day.
You’ll find the Avalon
micro brewery tucked
behind the butcher on
Avalon Pde. Doors open
to the public on Friday
from 4-9pm.
The Local Voice Since 1991
Modus Operandi has
jumped on the nonboozy
beer wagon with
its own brew. Rather
than producing a lager,
the Mona Vale indie
brewery is making
a fruity golden pale
ale called Nort. The
Harkeith St venue also
has 16 tap beers, a
menu with Americanstyle
eats and live music
on Sundays.
Newport is home to
4 Pines’ aged-beer
collection where beers
are cellared and infused
in barrels and foeders
(large timber tanks) to
develop their flavours.
The Public House
(right) currently has 12
beers bubbling away.
Squamish Sunset is a
light-bodied, complex
flavoured beer that is
perfect for summer.
New Coastal vibe
for Palm Beach
A new cafe has popped up in Palmy.
Coast Palm Beach has moved into
the spot vacated by the Greedy Goat
on Barrenjoey Road. Just like sister
cafe Coast 175 in Ettalong, the cafe
channels a Mediterranean-meetscoastal
vibe and a mod cafe menu
with a Greek twist. Dishes include corn
fritters (above), all-day breakfast and
slow-cooked lamb gyros. Coast Palm
Beach is closed on Tuesdays.
What's brewing
up at Avalon
David Trevena is a man with
a van. To be more precise,
Classic Coffee is a 1958
split-screen Kombi, which
he’s painstakingly converted
into a mobile coffee station.
Popular choices to order
alongside Single O coffee
include breakfast burritos
and vegan raspberry and
almond slices. The van is
parked bright and early on
South Avalon headland from
6am every day (left).
NOVEMBER 2020 73
Tasty Dining Morsels Guide