SMH Good food guide: CATALINA ROse Bay

15/20 SMH Good food guide

Sunny seafood with signature harbour sightlines at an Eastern Suburbs institution.

Sydney has surprisingly few restaurants right on the water, let alone ones that get it right, but Catalina has been delivering for more than 30 years.

Just smashing Sydney rocks with a glass of champagne would be a fine way to spend an afternoon. But wait, then there's the fixed-price three-course menu, and more ways to bespoke your experience with WA marron, caviar or fish tacos.

Plenty of the Rose Bay crowd dip in, and the likes of snapper dumplings in a puddle of chilli sauce feel very now. Go classic, and pert prawn and cuttlefish ravioli comes with an excitingly rich shellfish bisque. Murray cod with Madras-style curry and potato is cooked well, but lacks punch. Maybe it's the market (but still, everyone likes their spuds cooked all the way through).