Atlantic Restaurant. Crown Casino Melbourne

Last week I was unfortunately stuck in Melbourne due to the ash cloud, so whilst I was there one of my customers called and invited me to dinner. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said let's go to Atlantic if you haven't been. This had also been recommended to me by my son a wonderful chef.

I knew where it was because it had taken over from a previous seafood place near Rockpool etc. So on arrival the waiter took us through the restaurant which I must say is well laid out, modern with an open kitchen and quite lively. So far the experience was very good. The menu is interesting and has a variety of different seafood options which should satisfy everyone.

The waiter came over to advise of their specials and went to great length to tell us about the risotto with scampi and black truffle making sure we liked truffle before we ordered. 2 of us ordered the risotto which sounded wonderful and one had soft-shell crab. That is where the experience came to a holt. The risotto came out without the scampi on top of the dish but rather a few small pieces buried in the rice. And as for the black truffle you could hardly taste it let alone see it.

The waiter took the orders for the main and convinced one to have the salmon special and one person had the kingfish and I had the ironbark smoked steamed baby Barramundi. However when the meals came out I was given a salmon as well which I kindly said that is not what I ordered. The waiter started to argue with me that he had convinced me to have the salmon, so you can imagine how I felt, no apology just an argument, eventually he said ok and my fish came out about 10 minutes later. Now for the review, the salmon came out in a broth and was excellent as was my smoked fish however the kingfish was so overcooked it was like carving a well done steak. Overall my fish was very very good and worth the wait.

Unusual as it may sound I also had desert which was a beautiful lemon tart with basil ice-cream again there was one desert not available and the other guest had a panacotta which was served in a glass with a berry granita. Very inventive and tasty.

Overall it is very hard to judge this place as the food was excellent but the service very ordinary and inappropriate. THerefore i have decided to give this place 2 scores. 8.5/10 for their food and 4/10 for service. I big question is would I go back and the answer is no.

You can find this restaurant in the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne and you should go and try for yourself.