C Blu Restaurant

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

The restaurant sits glorious across the road from the magnificent blue oceans coasting Cottesloe’s shores. Its name reflects fully the sight guests behold as they comfortably sit along the lengthy window panelled front wall. It is night time so there is no much to see and I begin to focus on the inside. The lighting is just perfect, bright enough to emphasize the shiny bits enough dimmed for your eyes to relax.

Concrete, floorboards, shiny wall, tiles and industrial ceiling provide an interesting but pleasant mixed mash of style and décor alternated by unusual water baths that work as half water fountains and half fish tanks.
Overall the atmosphere is there, the place certainly exudes sophistication on a simplicity scale.

So far so good. The waitress arrives and you can see she’s done this before and definitely her last job wasn’t in a pub. She allows me enough time to inspect the restaurant menu and swiftly slips through today’s specials. I set for an entrée and a main – too many sweets of late.

Entrée: Sicilian Rice Balls - crumbed pumpkin, spinach and feta rice balls served with a rocket and pesto dressing.

Main: Dukkah dusted Makerel served with poached beetroot, asparagus and prosciutto finished off with gingered butternut puree.


The entrée arrives. Four small arancini are neatly arranged in a pyramid, the crumb still glistening from the scorching oil. A roasted capsicum coulis is offered on the side which, whilst unmentioned in the description on the menu, works its magic in becoming the highlight of the dish. The creamy pesto and rocket dressing is a mild and somehow bland accompaniment to the other elements and its dairy contents fights a loosing battle against the feta found in the rice balls.

The latter in all honesty provide a surprising crunch on the outside. ‘Good crumbing’ I mumble. The inside is soft but not mushy and flavours are well balanced except for the feta that backfires as too pungent. Overall the dish is pleasantly arranged and quite colourful with the orange splash from the capsicum. Not a prize fighter but definitely sits well in the context and makes you wonder on what’s next.

I am anxious and not sure why. I usually go for the fish but tonight I have a strange feeling. The kitchen door opens and my mackerel is on its way. It’s stacked. Of course, everything has been so for the last ten years. With a smile I rush the lovely waitress away, not sure what I am staring at. The mackerel is there and rests like a king surrounded by the poached beetroots in a perfect circle. Over the top the mini asparagi are three-quarters enveloped by a tight prosciutto dress and honestly quite inviting. My attention however is stolen by the butternut puree or lack of thereof.

Hum…The puree is there, indeed, cleverly trapped in two perfectly cooked fritters samosas-style serving as soft spring for the over imposing fish. What a surprise. Calling them delicious wouldn’t provide enough justice and yet, they were not included in the description. At this stage I wonder whether the chef is improvising. He is either adding items to his dishes last minute or he just forgot to put them on the menu. The funny thing is, in both cases, they complemented well the rest of the dish and somehow saved the latter from an unnecessary monotony.

The mackerel. First of all it is not dusted, it is encased, encrusted by the dukkah spices and its seeds. The fish is cooked well if not a minute too much. Nonetheless it flakes away under the forks pressure offering very little resistance. As I begin eating, I notice there is something bothering me. It’s the size. Mind you, I am not into miniature food. It is just too chunky. The cubic mackerel reminds me somehow of a multigrain and seeds bread loaf, same colour, same shape and unfortunately same consistency. Its flesh turns out to be quite flavourless and textually boring, the dukkah theme does something but not enough. It would sit better on a chermoula. I feel like changing channel. I drift away a bit, looking out imagining the view in daytime.

My attention goes back on the plate shifting by default to something definitely more lively and communicative. The beetroots provide a pleasant escape to the endless tackling of the fish and the fritters are a joy to eat and a pain to see them go. I would happily order a platter of those alone. I can’t finish the fish though. It needs something, maybe a sauce. Definitely the dish needs a sauce. That’s the missing link. Even something as plain as the rocket and pesto sauce from the entrée would do now. I guess it’s too late, I am ready for coffee.

The place looks good and enjoys an enviable location. For a beachfront restaurant it is not too pricey either. The service is good enough and the ambience will relax you. Food wise don’t expect the top but for the prize asked it is fair dinkum as some surfers across the road would say. Some effort has been made into the menu to provide a sense of sophistication and style and you can see that in the attempt made in presenting the dishes. If you are after a nice looking place, atmosphere at a location you can afford, go and C Blu.

Oct 02, 2011