Land of the Long Weekend

What I love about Australia is our capacity to embrace the long weekend. We dig it. And the best part is that most of our long weekends are in the warmer part of the year, so that you don't have to write-off that 'extra Sunday' as a miserable, wet, teeth-chattering, freezingly frigid day. (So do you get the distinct impression now that I'm a summer person??)

This time of year is rife with these long weekends. Any excuse for one really. This time around it was the extra day for those of us to nurse the end of year hang-over... which I am proud to say I was not suffering from!! (See my last post: I had a very quiet transition from 2011 to 2012, thank you very much!) As such, The Wife and I were very much eager to try The Boatshed. This little gem is tucked away on the rocky shore of Hallett Cove Beach. I must admit my knowledge of the building and area is limited, however it looks to literally have been an old boatshed. The transformation into a cosy cafe-cum-restaurant is very impressive. There is al fresco dining, however as there were only a few umbrellas to stave off the radiating heat of the midday sun we chose to sit inside. It was unfortunate that the day was tipping the thermostat at 40 degrees celcius - and the airconditioner didn't seem to be able to keep up. However a cold beer and (possibly could've been colder) white wine helped to keep the creeping heat-rash at bay. I do feel that the addition of a shade sail or two would help to encourage customers to sit outside and take in some of the amazing sea-breeze that still managed to make itself apparent on such a blisteringly hot day. Regardless, the view of the coast is enough to cool you (along with that cooling beverage of course!).

The Wife was feeling that a health-giving salad was in order, and went for a roasted vegetable salad with cubes of fried haloumi cheese (the squeaky cheese!). The only criticism that The Wife had for this salad, was the slight overuse of olive oil. Although, she wasn't complaining... but could see this being a turn-off for those with more delicate constitutions.

The lure and aroma of the wood-fired pizzas were just too much for me to bare, and I decided to go for their margarita.

I'm a bit of an aficiendo when it comes to margarita pizzas... I'll gladly pass on any pizza which has more than 4 toppings. I think that the idea of the pizza has been basterised by modern cuisine - tandoori chicken pizzas INDEED! I'm pleased to say that at The Boatshed, the margarita is pretty darn close to perfection. Cheese and tomato which mingles well, set off by a hint of basil. The only downfall would be the heavy handedness again of some olive oil. But this can be forgiven by the taste explosion one receives when they bite into the gooey goodness.

There were many other delights on the menu that we are keen to try, and will be trying our best to return soon and sample these.


I'll finish off my post by showing off my simple yet effective dessert that I whipped up this evening. It sounds like it should rot the teeth in your head the minute you bite into it, however it works on some crazy sugar-infused level. It's a recipe that I found somewhere some years ago.... where I cannot remember. But it works incredibly well!

Dollop good quality whipped cream into some bought meringue nests.
Top with a swirl of Pashmak - Persian fairy floss (I went for strawberry flavoured).
Add half a strawberry, and voila! Instant fancy looking dessert!

Actually, it looks like some sort of Kawaii fascinator. What with the crazy weirdness of the fairy floss - which resembles some sort of creepy doll hair. But what delicious doll hair!! :O