Wild Rye's Bakery, Pambula 03-2015

The first stop enroute to Merimbula was Wild Rye's Bakery. For some reason (not surprisingly perhaps) I had no Vodafone reception and hence I was unable to look up exactly why I had marked this place on my Google maps.

All restaurants in the area seem to specifically state they use Wild Rye's bread so given it is a bakery that probably makes sense. Upon entering I was actually surprised at how few things are sold. Maybe they have a morning peak but the cake shelves were quite empty, pies were in the oven and there were a few breads out only.

From a snack/meal point of view, the specialty seems to be pies. All their beef ones use a combination of chunky and mince (they tell me). In the end I selected the Angus Beef & Caramelised Onions. The beef was fine and the onions added a definite sweetness to the mixture. The pastry was a little too thin and flaky for my liking as I prefer thicker with some chew to it. Reading again the seafood pie seems to be popular so perhaps that one next time.

Additionally I took away a loaf of spelt sourdough which is a little drier than the usual loaf but has some good tang to it. I look forward to testing it further.

They are advertising a kingfish and scallop pie at Eat Merimbula today so let's see how that turns out.

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Wheeler's Seafood Restaurant, Pambula 03-2015

The Sapphire Coast is meant to be known for seafood and particular oysters. All along this region, oysters from Tathra, Merimbula and Pambula are advertised as the best. Considering my favourite oysters (and clams) are far away at Richard Haward in Borough Market, I've been keen to find some others where the potency would live up to those I still dream of.

The oysters at Wheeler's are farmed across the road in the Merimbula Lake.

- Natural oysters - a mild flavour with a hint of metallic after taste which I don't mind. I'm not sure if they wash after opening these but the liquor wasn't present and it didn't have the potent ocean flavour I like;
- Hot Shanghai oysters (ginger, kaffir lime, soy, mild chilli & shallot) - quite a strong soy saltiness but left only a hint of oyster flavour at the end;
- Cold Japanese oysters (pickled ginger, cucumber, wasabi dressing) - served with a small dollop of mayonnaise, this was much better with lemon which brought out an additional sweetness;
- Cold Asian oysters (sweet & sour topped with flying fish roe) - didn't like this one. It tasted odd and had a fizzy character to it;
- Cold Thai oysters (nam jim, Spanish onion, chilli) - nice strong sauce but left only a hint of oyster flavour at the end.

Overall I found the oysters disappointing. It reinforced to me that I prefer them natural and freshly shucked with the strong liquor to drink with it.

- Tuscan Bug & Scallop Salad (Balmain bugs & scallops pan-seared in chilli, garlic & fresh herbs tossed with ciabatta croutons, goat's cheese, Kalamata olives, baby spinach & rocket) $23 - 2 bugs and a collection of small buttered scallops which were not overcooked. I prefer my scallops very rare so in these instances larger size really makes a difference;
- Seafood Chowder (creamy seafood soup with poached local fish, scallops, mussels, Morton Bay bugs & tiger prawns with garlic bread) $34 - the soup seemed more mild fish than shellfish base with potato or cauliflower to make it thicker. The scallops were quite small (6 overall), the tiger prawns (2) were mushy rather than crisp and the bug (1) was reasonable. There were no mussels unfortunately. Garlic bread was very crisp (one of the breads was slightly burnt) and it complimented well when soaked in the thick soup. The soup base was decent (underflavoured for me) but $34 for soup seemed high with those ingredients.

I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed overall, especially at the oysters but would try again and see if the natural ones grew on me more. The fish & chips looked and smelled delicious and since it is advertised on one of their welcome signs, perhaps this is the best thing to order. I would come back here to eat as the options for good seafood seem quite limited locally, although the caveats to know about are the price.

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