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Good Food hat15/20

Donovans

Updated ,first published

Lunch at Donovans.
1 / 13Lunch at Donovans.Supplied
Located in a former bathing pavilion.
2 / 13Located in a former bathing pavilion.Wayne Taylor
Spanner crab ravioli with lemon butter sauce, baby zucchini and crustacean oil.
3 / 13Spanner crab ravioli with lemon butter sauce, baby zucchini and crustacean oil.Uyo Collective
 Valrhona chocolate tart.
4 / 13 Valrhona chocolate tart.Supplied
Crispy skin Humpty Doo barramundi.
5 / 13Crispy skin Humpty Doo barramundi.Supplied
Smoked salmon and our daily appetisers.
6 / 13Smoked salmon and our daily appetisers.Supplied
Chicken liver parfait.
7 / 13Chicken liver parfait.Supplied
Seafood linguine.
8 / 13Seafood linguine.Simon Schluter
Oysters kilpatrick.
9 / 13Oysters kilpatrick.Simon Schluter
Whipped cheesecake.
10 / 13Whipped cheesecake.Simon Schluter
Inside the beachside restaurant.
11 / 13Inside the beachside restaurant.Simon Schluter
Burrata with prosciutto and eggplant caponata.
12 / 13Burrata with prosciutto and eggplant caponata.Simon Schluter
Bombe Alaska.
13 / 13Bombe Alaska.Supplied
Good Food hat15/20

Donovans

Contemporary$$$

A dining institution that blends memory with enduring hospitality.

Every table holds a memory at Donovans. For now-owner Nick Parkhouse, it was table 10 where he proposed to his wife, years before he ever worked there. Ninety per cent of the menu has never changed – and can’t. When the old-fashioned chicken pie was dropped in the ’90s, letters of outrage flooded in.

The ravioli, created by founder Kevin Donovan, features a sweet crab filling and a ’70s-esque creamy butter sauce with a hint of citrus that enhances, rather than overwhelms. Parkhouse added the crayfish, taut and tangy, and head chef Ash Bradshaw’s contribution - tender Fremantle octopus - is accessorised with warm sugo and preserved lemon, a nod to his Greek background.

Of course, there’s still the showstopping bombe Alaska: a dramatic display of toasted meringue hiding chocolate hazelnut ice-cream, all drenched in rich, warm chocolate sauce.

Best for: Special occasion dining that pulls focus on the ocean and all its riches.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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