A very quick culinary guide to Lakes Entrance
Here be plenty of delicious fishy things to eat.
Lakes Entrance is a beach-side town around a four hour drive from Melbourne, nestled within a massive region of Victoria known as Gippsland.
The town itself is perched on the edge of Ninety Mile Beach – a pretty darn long stretch of sand, as the name may suggest. The Gippsland Lakes meet the Southern Ocean in this very spot, hence the name, ‘Lakes Entrance’. Simples.
Lakes Entrance is an excellent example of an Australian summer getaway. There are plenty of water-based activities to be had – swimming, kayaking, fishing, stand-up paddle boarding. The town itself is a weird mix of new sea-changer money and old seaside town vibes.
These are the towns Australians would flock to every summer holiday for weeks of swimming, ice cream on the beach, fish and chips for dinner, movies at night in front of the air conditioning or under the fan. Before travelling overseas became more affordable and far more desirable. Leaving towns like Lakes Entrance somewhat in the lurch.
You can see remnants of this recent history stretched across the town; particularly evident in the survival of its video and DVD store. How does such a thing still exist!
I was eagerly anticipating my time in Lakes Entrance, hoping to revive some of the summer holiday vibes I have such fond memories of as a kid. Well, my parade was rained on – literally, as it stormed and poured pretty much the entire time I was in town. Not exactly what you’d hope for out of a beach break.
So, with my dreams of lounging about in the sun with a good read or two washed away, I instead ate my way around town.
Sodafish
Starting with the best. Sodafish is a waterside restaurant in the heart of town, which naturally specialises in seafood. No problem if one of your party doesn’t eat fish (like my partner), there are also a couple of non-seafood dishes on offer. We forwent the set menu due to this, choosing a few dishes a la carte. He got the focaccia and steak, and tried his first espresso martini. Worth the wait apparently, as it was entirely delicious.
Entree for me was two oysters, followed by a crab and scallop tortellini. Dessert, a honey soaked madeline over white chocolate mousse, with mountain pepper scattered across, which is only found in that region. Washed down with a glass of prosecco from local vineyard Wyanga Park Winery.
We’d hoped to visit the winery itself, which is a short drive from town, but were deterred by the weather and the company of a very hyperactive German shepherd (my own, don’t worry). Next time, definitely.
Big Bear’s Donuts
I’m admittedly not a massive fan of sweet pastries, and doughnuts fall under this category. However, my partner certainly is, so a pit-stop at Big Bear’s Donuts was required.
It’s a family run business, a pivot by a former commercial fisherman, whose step kids call him ‘Big Bear’. Too cute.
Big Bear works with 150 different flavours of doughnuts, with a different range available daily. And as someone who doesn’t really like doughnuts and rarely eats them, I have to say that their ‘musk’ flavoured doughnut was certainly delicious.
Excellent fish and chips
When by the water, one must consume fish and chips. There is plenty of choice on offer in Lakes Entrance. We ended up at Wild Catch Fish and Chips, ordering a stack of chips, potato scallops (I’m a New South Welshwoman at heart; I refuse to call them ‘potato cakes’) deep fried scallops, seafood sticks and dim sims. Even though we couldn’t enjoy them by the beach due to torrential rain, they were still yum.
Fresh prawns off the boat
There’s nothing like munching on the catch of the day. Near Sodafish, you could pop on a boat for fresh prawns and fish.
I bought a kilo of prawns, for a very reasonable price, with a few extra thrown in for free. Fresh and delicious.
Non-food related: Metung Hot Springs
I did want to do at least some sort of outdoorsy activity, and as it was already pretty wet, decided to head to Metung Hot Springs. Turns out it was an excellent choice, for the bad weather kept the crowds away.
We had several of the pools to ourselves for a spell, were able to easily secure a soak in their picturesque barrel baths and I even saw a sea eagle, when there was a bit of a break in weather.
Unfortunately, a storm rolled in and we were kicked out of the outdoor pools. The sauna full, we decided we’d too had our fill (we’d been there for 1.5 hours at this point) and headed back to our accommodation. Most aggravating was the group of women in front of us, who decided to go for a walk to ‘pass the time’ – in a thunderstorm! People!!
So, that was my two rain-soaked days in Lakes Entrance. I would’ve liked to spend more time in the town and I definitely would’ve preferred better weather, but we made the most of it.
I’m quite pleased to be building up a little backlog of foodie travel recommendations. You can check out my travel archive, for more.
Have a good week and I’ll see you next Thursday.
‘Til then, stay well and well-fed.
-Celine
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Reckon you've just done the recon for a second, even better visit!
Sounds/ looks gorgeous, weather and all! Also - that is an absolute chicken salt miracle, and truly a sign of a perfect takeaway!