Water St Kitchen: my daughter told me their pasta is better than mine

A CHEF'S NIGHT OUT  ·  WALKERVALE, BUNDABERG  ·  5 MIN READ

Friday night, 5:30 booking, cold enough that I nearly asked to sit inside. Glad I did not.

Me, my wife Sarah, and Violet. And I will get the embarrassing part out of the way early, because a full run of snacks, entrees, mains and dessert got upstaged by a bowl of buttered spaghetti off the kids menu.

THE VIBE

Greeted the second we walked in and taken straight out to the courtyard. Lit up, heaters running, and genuinely cosy on a cold night. Inside is cosy and chic, but outside is something else.

The whole thing looked smart and organised, which is something you clock straight away when you have run a service yourself. Plenty of space between tables too, so you are not sitting in someone else's conversation all night.

There were about two tables in when we sat down at 5:30. By 8 it was full. Couples and groups of friends, and as far as I could tell we were the only ones there with a young kid.

THE FOOD

We started with the whipped goats cheese ricotta, Matt Barker's honey, pistachio and herb oil, with rosemary bread to spread it on. Best thing I ate all night, and the cheapest thing on the table. The bread is baked, properly crisp and salty. The cheese is creamy and sweet. Drag one through the other and that is the whole dish. Sweet against salty, soft against crunch.

Alongside it, boquerones. Cured Spanish white anchovies with parsley and dill.

Sarah had the Moreton Bay bug with nduja aioli, jamon and sourdough for entree. Best way I can put it is a posh prawn cocktail, and I mean that as a compliment. The bug was not overcooked, which matters, because a bug goes rubbery about thirty seconds after it is ready.

I had the mushroom arancini with truffled cauliflower, parsley oil and pecorino. Everything you would want in a fresh arancini.

For main I went the sand crab lasagne with crustacean sauce, herbs and a parmesan chip. This is a love it or hate it dish. I loved it. Sarah did not.

It is soft the whole way through, which is why that parmesan chip is not a garnish. It is the crunch the dish needs.

Crab sweet and fresh. Pasta sheets made in house. A seafood cream sauce that carries the whole thing.

I am glad I got to experience this one.

Sarah had the pork belly with charred leek and a cognac mustard jus. The crackling was crisp, and that jus is rich and sharp and properly intense, exactly what you want up against pork fat. They have judged the amount of it well too, because any more would have taken over the plate.

If I am forced to pick a fault, and I am only saying this because a write up where everything is perfect is worth nothing, the pork belly was slightly dry around the outside. That is it. That is the whole complaint.

Sides of broccolini with lemon butter and capers, and fried potatoes with creme fraiche, chive and pecorino.

I do not like dessert, so I was glad to see cheese on the list. Tete de Moine with poached pear, spiced rum currants, candied walnuts and charcoal lavosh, and the garnish was the best part of it. Sarah went the sticky date with butter semifreddo and candied walnuts. Everything you would want in a sticky date on a cold night.

Then the pasta.

Violet ordered the kids spaghetti with butter and cheese. Usually that dish is an afterthought. Dried pasta, a knob of butter, a handful of cheese, get it out the door and keep the kid quiet. This was fresh pasta, made in house, and seasoned exactly right. I stole a forkful and then I stole another one.

And I know I have been banging on about this pasta, but it is about so much more than a kids meal. A kitchen that puts that much care into the cheapest thing on the menu is telling you everything about how it runs.

Violet's verdict, delivered to my face at the table, was that it is better than mine. I might need to get the recipe.

THE STEAL

Their kids pasta. Not the recipe, the principle. Fresh pasta and proper seasoning on the cheapest dish you serve. That is going straight into my kitchen.

DRINKS AND SERVICE

We worked through a chardonnay, a pinot, a shiraz and finished on a whisky. The wine list is a proper one, brands from all over the world, and priced better than it has any right to be.

The service was some of the best I have had in a restaurant in a long time. Not fussy, just genuinely good. The owner came round and spoke to every table, which always tells you where the standard comes from.

WOULD I GO BACK

Around 150 a head, and I walked out feeling like we had got away with something.

That is not a cheap night out and I am not going to pretend it is. But the food, the wine and the service were the standard you would expect to pay considerably more for, and that gap is where the value sits.

I will be back. And I would happily go back just for a bowl of that pasta.