Azure Seafood Grill

Besides breakfast, Azure specialises in seafood. And twice a week, they hold a special seafood buffet. We took the opportunity to try it out…afterall, who can say no to all you can eat oysters?

Food

So here’s the list of what we ate, out of all the things available

cold bar:

• oysters - freshly shucked, paired with just a squeeze of lemon. I only managed to fit in 18 :)
• prawn - large and juicy
• crab - some were a bit mushy but generally retained most of the crab essence.
• squid salad - the squid was cooked just right so it wasn’t chewy, and paired nicely with the simple salad.
• pumpkin and sausage salad - another good piece of work. The pumpkin roasted just right
• salmon and potato salad - I only had a bit of this, but again, really good.
• bean and egg salad - I didn’t have the egg (which were placed whole on top of the salad), but the beans were a bit bland.
• roast beef salad - rather unremarkable.
• couscous and fish salad - the fish was very fishy tasting, but I couldn’t identify what it was.
• sushi - the worst food of the night. The rice was dry from being exposed for so long and it tasted horrible. The food not much better either.

Hot bar:

• salt and pepper squid - the squid was beautiful and tender. This was let down by the lacklustre bite to the spicing. The accompanying sauce was ok but not spectacular.
• chilli prawns - probably the standout of the hot bar, the chilli packing a punch and paired very nicely with the fresh, juicy prawns
• chicken and sweet corn soup - hey, a non-seafood item, but it was very delicious, the corn sweet and the chicken flavouring the soup very nicely.
• lobster and clams paella - there was so much lobster in this dish, the sauce has been infused with saffron and tastes wonderful. The only letdown was the rice which was a bit undercooked.
• Thai fishcakes - made with fresh ingredient and tasted so different to the frozen variety I was so used to I almost didn’t realise that this was fish cakes!
• vegetable tempura - I don’t think tempura is a dish you should serve at a buffet. The batter was limp and soggy by the time you tried it.
• steamed whole fish - great quality fish with firm flesh, gently steamed.
• deep fried yabbie - I prefer mine just steamed, but this was good too.
• fried salmon - boring.
• fried kingfish - worst dish of the night. The fish was really dry.
• fish skewer with lemon - firm fish, I think it was swordfish, with a citric sauce.
• curry octopus - I don’t see the point of this one, the pairing didn’t really go.
• roast beef - one of the other non seafood dishes that I tried. This was one of the best I’ve eaten. I passed on the accompaniment of corn and potatoes though, I just couldn’t fit it in.

Dessert:

• chocolate mousse - too sweet for my taste.
• passionfruit cheesecake - yum, with a great biscuit base.
• tiramisu - this wasn’t totally soaked in alcohol or coffee, but the cream was first rate, and the presentation was so spectacular.
• flourless chocolate cake - beautiful, intense, dark chocolate.
• coffee slice - much better than those you get at the Chinese cake shops.
• chocolate raspberry slice - the raspberry a little too sweet, but paired well with the chocolate.
• crème caramel - not one of my favourite desserts. This one was nevertheless done well, with a sweet vanilla tone.
• orange poppyseed cake - now this one is one of my all time favourites. This one was quite dense with bitter citrus notes. I think I prefer the sweeter version.
• carrot cake - the cream cheese was too sweet, and was over the top with the sweet cake. The little marzipan carrot on top was cute though, and tasty too!
• fruit tart - the custard was to die for, and as usual, the pastry was first rate.
• fresh fruit - hehe, ate this to cleanse my palate.
• cheese - pretty much the same offering as breakfast, so I only tried a little of the blue.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

At night, they changed the setting to contain some lovely ice sculptures. We were seated right on the edge, where it was opened to the elements. It was like dining on the beach, and with the heater on, it was magical. That magic did fade a little when our heater went out, but watching the waves and sand, and the green and red light of the marina blink on and off, was certainly magical.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Our waiter, Fiona, was helpful but was run off her feet trying to keep emptying our bowl and refilling water, folding people’s napkins. She took away our bowl and didn’t replace it for a full 10 minutes, so we had to use another plate instead. Plenty of times our water was left empty too. She was still better than most you get in Sydney, but she was our worst waiter on Hayman.

Our gas heater ran out but they couldn’t actually replace the as in time so I had to sit in the cold, which meant we didn’t really linger for as long as we would like.

Rating - 3

C-factor

$85 per person. The seafood is top rate, but it’s just a tad too expensive, but it wasn’t a rip off or anything.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

Hayman Island Resort
Hayman Island
Great Barrier Reef
QLD 4801
Phone (07) 4940 1234
Website