I had a friend from down South come up to Darwin for work the other week and a group of us decided to catch up for dinner. 

Of course the all in all important question of 'where to eat' fell to me – I’d been itching to try Rachael’s Seafood Shack for awhile and thought that that dinner would be the perfect opportunity to test the waters. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect and neither did my partner so at about midday we drove by to suss it out. 

Perhaps it was me being flat out oblivious to the ‘Shack’ bit of the name – but I had a little shock when we arrived at the Fisherman’s Wharf. (Which I had never been to before, sad face)

The establishment is actually Darwin Fish Markets with some outdoor chairs and tables. We opened the doors expecting to find indoor seating but we were greeted with the friendliest staff and the glossiest dead fish on ice!

Needless to say we were both pretty stunned and honestly would have blended right into the rows of frozen squid.

My partner gave me the wagging eyebrows and the ‘are-you-sures’ but I had a feeling in my gut that it was going to be alright. 

And by golly, it was more then OK. I think Poseidon would have dined there himself. 

We were lucky enough to have had Rachael for a chat and she shared her fierce passion about NT sustained seafood. Her concept of fresh produce cooked simply and well rings in unison to my inner spirit animal. 

She even gave us a private tour of the shop! 
(If you go to Darwin Fish Markets next, pick up a bottle of their smoked barramundi tail dip. Apparently it’s like seafood Nutella that you will fight everyone for.)

I must admit at that point I had the hot flushes chatting to a Masterchef contestant – between trying not to squeal while taking mental notes of the cooking tips Rachael was sharing I think I did OK to not embarrass my friends.

Rachael gave us some suggestions for dinner and I basically ordered EVERYTHING she mentioned. 

First up was the natural oysters. I’m not a big fan of mussels and oysters, but I found no problem gobbling two! The nim-nam sauce has a very strong bite from ginger juice and I couldn't make out what else was in it. Maybe a dash of sherry vinegar and soy sauce? The pear salsa verde was mild and so crunchy, a perfect companion to the succulent mussel.

This is the one thing I regretted…
… Not buying a whole serve for myself! 

The prawns, already peeled and deveined, was cooked to the perfect firmness. The garlic oil was absolutely divine and we almost had a fist fight in our group to see who got the last dribbles of oil with bread. 

*contented sigh*

The seafood chowder was very popular as well – it didn’t take too much digging to find the treasured seafood morsels. It had the ‘proud mum home made’ feels and it was demolished quickly. 

I wished that it was served a little differently as sharing the bread bowl was a little unwieldy and drinking soup from a plate isn't quite my thing. I would have preferred crusty bread too, but that's just me.

The last time for the night was a whole red snapper. It was an absolute beaut! 

The flesh fell off the bones easily and I would go as far to saying the meat was soft like cushions... not that I’ve ever eaten cushions, but you know what I mean. :)

The sweet and sour sauce was devilishly tasty and had just enough chilli to enjoy, but not sweat it out. The capsicums provided the fresh and crunch dimension. I did think there was a little too much saucy goodness and overwhelmed the fish’s goodness, but I found myself mopping the sauce with bread. 

The service was quick and super friendly, they always had a smile and were quick to identify if you needed anything. A group before us had brought a bottle of wine and without any prompts the girl at the counter offered them glasses and a ice bucket. 

If you’re still hesitant of the whut-seafood-only menu fret not, next door is the Fisherman’s Wharf Eatery. We got salads, hot chips and fish burgers (oh the irony). 

Overall we had a wonderful time and even the weather cooperated. 

I’ll definitely be going back there and maybe impress a few more down South folks... with a spray can of bug repellant handy.