Dining Out on the Lottery

With Robert's 64th birthday approaching, Gen took him off for a magical mystery weekend on the South Coast. Rain and floods were no hindrance to arriving at the mystery destination of Mollymook.

Spotting a sign in a newsagency window that three major multimillion lottery wins had been won there, we popped inside for a lucky dip lottery ticket.

We stayed at a decent motel where I sang the first lines of 'When I'm 64, will you still need me, will you still love me' to let the receptionist know why we were there.

The real reason was to visit the British top chef, Rick Stein's seafood restaurant, Bannisters, on the peninsula beside Mollymook. Rick pops in once or twice a year, whilst his Irish mega bucks mate owns the luxury hotel that goes with the large buildings set back from the cliffs. Business appears to be brisk: we just squeaked in for a 6pm sitting, the rest of the sittings were booked out months ahead.

What a topnotch dinner we had! What is interesting is that the menu and the chefs manage to combine lots of different international tastes under one roof.

First we ordered a great South Australian red wine blend of Shiraz, Cabernet and Grenache; then had an interesting nori seaweed butter with our bread.

The entree for Gen was coconut and chilli prawns, bursting with spice and decorative vegetable trimmings.

Robert had a sashimi fish assortment, fired up with wasabi.

For mains, he was wowed by a beautifully velvety fish pie and chat potatoes - a simple dish done to perfection.

Gen continued on spice street and had salmon Masala curry, another cloudburst of flavours and aromas.

Still in the running for dessert, Robert maxed out on chocolate fondant with crushed roasted hazelnuts and salted caramel ice cream, so naughty, so yummy, washed down with the last of the wine.

Back at the hotel, we checked on the internet that the lottery was drawn and, yes, 64 is a lucky number, we had won $25.80 which we splurged next day on breakfast at a cafe by the beach.