Bombora at Goolwa Beach
Beach Road
Goolwa
South Australia 5214
t +61 8 8555 5396
open Friday to Monday, 8.00 am till 5.00 pm, 7 days during school holidays 8.00 am till 5.00 pm
special information the South Australian cockle season runs from November 1 until May 30
FOOD
In the past four years I have been part of an estage system that brings two young Chinese hospitality professionals from Shanghai to stay in Adelaide for a month each year. They stay with me and we visit most of the South Australian wineries on their restaurant’s wine list, meet the families and faces behind the labels and they work in Adelaide restaurants learning more about wine service and western food. “Mummy taxi” gets a very good run around and the legendary generosity of the wine industry is rewarded with keeping their wines on two of Shanghai’s finest wine lists. Our second estage Liang Tang from T8 Shanghai was one of just three our of 30 contenders to recently pass level one of the internationally accredited sommeliers course conducted in Shanghai for the first time this year. The ongoing relationships with South Australia are enormously rewarding, but nothing of their visits gives me more pleasure than showing these lovely kids the ocean for the first time. Their joy is my reward because I cannot imagine not having an ocean close by or never having seen or touched one.
We have been to Aquacaf for its water proximity and gorgeous food, D’Arry’s Verandah for excellent food and the splendid Fleurieu view and then rushed along the beach walking for miles to work off the pleasure of our indulgence in their very good desserts. Our other southern favourite is The Kitchen Door where we stuff ourselves with just shucked oysters and then drive to the beach at Silver Sands at sunset to talk to boys with a perfectly restored combi with wheels that probably cost more than my whole car. A good oyster in Shanghai costs at least $10 AUD each so the opportunity to eat 12 in a single sitting is not something a young Chinese hospitality person could dream of affording. Add to that they are nowhere near as good as South Australian oysters in the peak of the season. The common observation of all these kids has been “Where are the restaurants on the beach?” Where are they indeed, given the pristine beauty of our beaches and close proximity to our wine regions? Sadly the two establishments that do have magnificent beachside locations have failed to deliver a consistent dining experience that could be confidently recommended.
There had been quite a few emails about Bombora, all stressing the simplicity (but generosity) of the food and the beauty of the venue but none reinforced its uniqueness. We come over the hill looking for a restaurant well back from the beach, to a spectacular view of rolling ocean and crashing waves and a tiny hut at the edge of the beach. Where’s the restaurant we thought, couldn’t possibly be the hut because sadly, most councils don’t go in for this sort of straightforwardness when it comes to beachside establishments. Well it seems that the Alexandrina Council are more enlightened than most and Bombora was indeed this brightly painted shed and timber hut at the edge of the sand. Surf art is not peculiar to Australia but it is common anywhere the waves run high and long and is often the way young surfers travel the world, paying for their keep working in surf shops and restaurants and painting the walls of business premises with the unique style of primitive surf art. The kitchen and servery of Bombora is colourful with just that style of art and the hut, located immediately at the front is warmed in winter with gas heaters and in summer the clear blinds roll up to let the fresh sea breeze flow through. It is right on the beach with an unrestricted 180°C glorious ocean view.
The food must be put in context simple fish and chips, salt and pepper squid, burgers and breakfast. Most of their savoury food items are under $18 and are generous and tasty. My fish and chips were much better than many of the ’posh pub’ fish and chips we have risked our lives on in the last 12 months and at least $8 cheaper. The tartare sauce was house made and the salad, although simple and a bit old fashioned to look at was delicious, with mignonette lettuce, grated carrot and cucumber, lots of parsley and risoni and the dressing (praise the lord) had been mixed through rather than sloshed over top. My companion chose the fish burger, which was equally generous and only a small complaint there was way too much mayonnaise, which made the bun instantly soggy with the heat of the fish. Should we complain about too much mayonnaise, probably not given that in most instances the quantity of mayonnaise is so mingy there is never enough to go round. Anyway, for under $20 and the marvellous view who’s complaining, certainly not us!
Breakfast items include Beached Benedict smoked salmon, poached eggs, sauce hollandaise on toast $13.50 and Pot of beans homemade baked beans topped with and egg served with bacon sticks and toast $12.50. Given that you can add at least another $5 to the price of most breakfasts in South Australian and none come with the same spectacular ocean view this makes us think Bombora is a very good deal indeed.
They also usually have a couple of house-made cakes and the coffee according to my companion, who admittedly drinks it with milk, was excellent and are open to just having coffee and cake.
There is something wonderfully Australian about an ice cream and a long walk on the beach and Bombora also happily accommodates soft drinks and ice creams. Despite all of these good things this is not what makes Bombora so completely unique. The Goolwa region is famous for it’s cockles (pippies if you are European) and they feature on the menu at Bombora during the season, which is from November 1 until May 30. They call their signature dish the Goolwa Super Bowl, a bouillabaisse style tomato based fish soup with cockles, prawns and local fish. Young chef Joel Cousins was pretty enthusiastic when talking about their cockle dish and many people have emailed us recommending it. So, unless the season is delayed for some reason we’ll be going back at the beginning of November to try and this time instead of the blustering freezing cold we’ll hopefully be enjoying a walk along the beach in brilliant sunshine with our feet in the water.
If you drive home via the Goolwa to Victor road and see a sign on the road ’Coorong Mullet’ drive in. They are spanking fresh, usually caught that morning. EV olive oil, salt and pepper and a lemon and a hot pan or oven and the opportunity to understand what fresh and local really means.
WINE Bombora is fully licensed with mainly local choices and prices are modest.
Owner — Olaf Hansen
Chef — Joel Cousins
Bombora incidentally is the local indigenous word for large breaking waves and was also the name of a recent ABC documentary about the history of surfing in Australia bombora
