Jack
Salmon (Jack Salmon Fish House - to give it its full and slightly odd title)
has been open in Durban for a year now, and is already making major waves,
winning rave reviews, full bookings and Eat Out 2014's stamp of approval as
'Durban's best seafood only restaurant'.
In
the kitchen is Australian seafood chef John Porcelli. I first heard of Porcelli
back in 2008 when I was living in Hilton. His eponymous restaurant there sadly
closed soon after we moved to the Midlands and before we had a chance to try it out. Some
years later, he opened a pop up restaurant in Pietermaritzburg that operated on
weekends out of a coffee shop. We went along very excitedly to see what all the
fuss was about, and ran straight into one of my pet peeves (read it on the bio:
The Hungry Hedonist) – overdone tuna steak.
Based,
rather unfairly, on this one poor experience, I had been wary of visiting Jack
Salmon until now (I’m like a culinary elephant, I never forget).
On
arrival at the restaurant you will immediately see that the venue is a delight
- Durban has a surprising lack of venues that take advantage of our coastal
views, but Jack Salmon gets a good piece of sea view in from its second story
position in a small centre in Glenashley. Part of the view is obscured by the
coastal scrub that grows between the Ruth First highway and the beach, but the ribbon
of blue that you can see unfolds over 180 degrees and sets the scene
beautifully.
Inside,
the restaurant is pretty tastefully decorated, with a large sepia wallpaper
print of a fishing boat on one wall, and large mirrors on the other. If the
weather is good (and this is Durban, after all) the balcony is the best place
to be to enjoy the fresh air and the sea views. A word of warning, however, an
onshore breeze will carry with it a haze of cigarette smoke from those last
desperate individuals that are yet to shake the habit and who congregate on the
stairs for a quick puff.
The
wine list (look carefully and you'll find it hidden on the back of the menu) is
a very short one, with 9 whites and 3 reds - we went with the Tokara Chardonnay
which Platter's describes as easy-going but firm with 'invisibly supportive
oak', whatever that means. It went well with the view, anyway.
Starter
options include calamari in its various forms; mussels; prawns; oysters, and
even a seafood soup. We wanted a bit of everything, so opted for the mezze
platter (calamari tubes and tentacles as well as olives and grilled halloumi).
Annoyingly, the waiter returned to our table 20 minutes after taking our order
to let us know that there was no halloumi. This is a(nother) pet peeve of mine
for two reasons: one - that you shouldn't be running out of basics, and two -
how did it take 20 minutes for awareness of this sad state of affairs to sink
in?
Having
agreed grudgingly to substitute extra calamari for the absent halloumi, the
platter then arrived cold. The calamari was delicious, tender and sea-salty,
but would have been markedly better warm. The marinated olives were plump and
ripe and pips were soon flying merrily into the hedges below us.
In
Jack Salmon’s defence, it was an unusually cold afternoon, with a chilly breeze
blowing in from the Drakensberg. However, I was wary of receiving another cold
dish (cold fish - not good), so we took a tactical decision to go for sushi
(already cold), and the 'scrumptious prawn and fish cakes' which would stand up
better to the weather than a delicate dish like the (apparently excellent)
grilled and poached Norwegian salmon.
The
scrumptious fish cakes lived up to their name admirably. The dish was made up
of two good sized, grilled cakes that were a lovely blend of subtle fish
flavours and prawn pieces, served on a bed of mash playfully studded with a
scattering of peas and sweetcorn. The lemon, pineapple and sweet chilli sauce
was a particularly pleasant surprise, the sweet pineapple marrying well with
the hint of prawn in the fishcakes.
The
sushi was also very good, with a couple of nice finds, particularly the crunchy
California rolls (the crunch comes courtesy of Panko crumbs inside the roll)
and the rice paper rolls, which substitute the usual nori wrap for a delicate
rice paper cover. Happily we discovered that sushi is half-priced most
afternoons: Tuesday to Saturday 12 to 6 p.m. One quibble for the sushi - the
rice was not sufficiently sticky, and so the rolls tended to fall apart a
little under enthusiastic soy-dunking.
On
the dessert front, there was a novel take on the classic chocolate brownie
which has to be recommended: two spheres of brownie each surrounding a caramel
centre and carefully coated in Panko crumbs! A fantastic idea and a winning
combination. The brownies were served with vanilla ice cream, however, which I
have recently decided needs to be banned from all restaurants nicer than a Spur
(homemade ice cream with real vanilla excluded). Let’s get serious and have
some salted caramel ice cream or pistachio and honeycomb, or butter pecan.
Vanilla is so done.
Jack Salmon's is not a cheap and cheerful spot (they consider themselves ‘semi-fine dining’ and most of the main courses will set you back around R140), so you do go expecting a lot. I did have a couple of criticisms, but that won’t stop me from coming back for more at some point - even if only for sundowners and half price sushi.
