I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of this restaurant for months. The first to open on the Kingston Foreshore, C Dine Bar specialises in steak and seafood.
We went for dinner during opening week. The restaurant is near the water and will be popular in summer when it opens up its foldable glass doors.
You can tell the waitstaff are new and still learning as knowledge of the food and menu was limited.
The decor inside is elegant with an open kitchen. There’s a see-through glass fridge with hanging beef and ribs inside for all too see. A strange-looking water pump jug is on each table. Push down to pump out the water. It’s a quirky little thing but gets annoying after about a minute.
I picked the chowder as the entree. Coming back from a holiday in the USA and trying San Francisco’s famous clam chowder, I was really craving it on a cold winter’s night.
My partner ordered the pork ribs – a good sized portion of tender ribs smothered in sauce. Bib included.
I really wanted to order a pasta dish, but decided to try something different. I wasn’t in the mood for steak, so considering the restaurant specialises in seafood, I ordered the whole snapper instead. What I didn’t think about, was all the little bones in every single mouthful. It didn’t make tasting my meal very pleasant. The fish was cooked perfectly but was a bit too fishy towards the end.
Both of the mains came with our choice of side dishes
Whole green beans with toasted almond, and truffle polenta chips – both were excellent dishes. The beans were crunchy and the toasted almonds added an extra crunch. I loved the truffle polenta chips! Such a nice twist to regular chips and the truffle salt is a perfect addition.
For dessert I picked the C Chocolate Bar. Chocolate sprayed marquis, bitter orange gel and blackberry sorbet. All elements on the plate complemented and balanced each other. A nice signature dessert.
Service – younger waitstaff are friendly and still learning. Wine glasses weren’t taken away when both of us weren’t drinking wine. After finishing his beer, my partner had to wait quite a while before someone asked if he’d like another one. I think this was the owner, a smooth operator who took away the wine glasses, finished plates of food and offered another beer.
I’ll definitely be going back to try more dishes!
Foodgasm 7/10
