Eating out: Flanagans Fish Cafe

It had been slightly more than the usual hectic week at work. Most of us had put in a 16-20 hour day on Monday, then had fronted up again at seven the next morning. So on Wednesday, our boss shouted us lunch (whilst we had our (sometimes) weekly team meeting).

The view from my seat - looking south

The view from my seat - looking north

The location of choice was Flanagan’s. This establishment had been located as a take-away on Lawrence Hargrave Drive a few years ago. When they moved to the kiosk on Thirroul Beach, they seemed to be continuing to focus on “high-end” seafood take-away, but now also with the facility to dine in.

Since a few months ago when I had visited last, they have now physically separated the restaurant into take-away and dining sections. Both have table seating out the front, though this too is separated by a wood/rope barricade. The signage is not immediately apparent so in the time we were there, I saw 3 couples directed away from the dine-in section and around the corner of the building to the take-away section and a couple vice-versa.

The location is magnificent. Separated by a walk-way from the sand of Thirroul Beach, you can’t get much closer in this country to dining by the sea. It is a beautiful day when we are there, and for the days that are not so pleasant there is still adequate table space inside.

The service is a little curious. No-one came out to our group of seven, so we went inside and took some menus back to our table. There were also a couple of blackboard specials to choose from. Choices were mainly seafood oriented, though there were also some burger and Caesar salad options. The specials were the salt & pepper squid and Atlantic salmon. Once we had decided what we wanted, we then went back inside to give them our orders.

My choice was the King Prawn Wrap with aioli, cucumber and salad greens ($13). It came accompanied by a salad. Although the prawns were not really king-size, they were sweet, fresh and full of flavour. You could taste the aioli without it being over-powering and the wrap was fresh and nicely crispy.


Others at the table tried the specials: the Atlantic salmon ($18.50) came with hand-cut chips and salad with a pot of thick hollandaise sauce and was plated nicely and pronounced beautifully cooked; the salt & pepper squid ($14.50) was cooked to perfection.

Salt and pepper squid in the background, note-pad and pen in the foreground thereby proving our meeting intentions

The gluten-free member tried the Greek salad, which had generous chunks of feta and tasty olives, and a bowl of hand-cut chips that we were able to share.



They also have a wine list with a small, but thorough selection of bottled wines and beers. A waitperson came to clear our table, but did not ask for coffee orders, so our Akubra wearing stand in volunteered to take our order in (thanks John!).


Staff started taking in tables and chairs at 3.00 o’clock and when asked, they advised that they closed at four, which seems like a missed opportunity for the after-school crowd. However they did advise that they would be opening for dinner on the weekends from the beginning of December.

Food: 17/20 – Tasty, generous servings for a reasonable price
Coffee: 18/20 – Strong, flavourful and not too hot
Service: 14/20 – Full table service would have been nice
Location/ Decor: 20/20 – Right on the beach at scenic Thirroul

Flanagans Fish Cafe
At the beach, Thirroul
02 4268 1598
Open 7 days, 7.00am - 4.00pm
Check for evening opening days and times

Getting our just desserts at Samuel's

Rick and I are in what I would like to call the pre-empty nest stage. Our little chicks (I use this term very loosely) are getting ready to leave the nest for good. This stage however is characterised by: lots of driving them around to their evening or weekend events; intensive logistic planning in order to carry out all the driving; making sure our phones are charged in case we get last-minute changes to the carefully planned itineraries and then the welcome surprise of an empty house and time to ourselves.

So, once upon a Friday night, after making TWO round trips to Wollongong, I arrived home at 9.30pm and suggested that Rick and I go down the road to Samuel's for dessert. Samuel's is one of a handful of good restaurants in the Northern Suburbs of Wollongong. I have been there for lunch and dinner several times over the last few years and have enjoyed it every time. One of the features of dinner is that you can choose two side dishes to accompany your main course selection, that means four side dishes between two people - a great way to experience a cross-section of dishes.

But tonight was dessert. We walked down to Thirroul, arriving at 9.30pm just as the rain made good its threat to come down. It's always a bit awkward arriving in a busy restaurant when none of the wait-staff acknowledge your presence, and I don't think I imagined a slight raise of the eyebrow when we said we were just there for dessert. However, once we chose our seats in the undercover outdoor area another young waiter promptly brought over menus and water.


With delicacies such as banoffee cheesecake with caramel gelato, toasted apple cake with bonfire apples & chantilly cream and nougat semifreddo it was difficult to decide. However for me the lemon pannacotta with balsamic strawberries sounded spot on for a warm night, and Rick is a sucker for a pineapple fritter especially if it's served with vanilla bean gelato and ginger syrup. We also order coffees - decaffeinated in deference to the late hour. Liquor, dessert and fortified wines are served by the glass and/or bottle and I was almost tempted. Samuel's used to have the liquor or wine suggestions matched to each dessert, a helpful guide that is missed (and might have tipped the temptation into action).

The pannacotta is that perfect balance between creamy and firm, and the lemon has still retained it's tang amongst the sweetness. The strawberries are sweetened by the balsamic vinegar, which is either a very thick variety or a reduction that has been swirled around the plate.


The pineapple fritter is coated with a light sweet batter that is cooked just right - crispy yet the pineapple is not cooked through. The vanilla bean gelato has tell-tale specks of vanilla bean and has good vanilla flavour. The ginger syrup is a bit sweet (well, I guess it is a syrup) and not ginger-y enough for my liking.


The coffee is Withams - a brand I am not very familiar with and I have not tried decaffeinated for a long time, but it is strong and well flavoured (and not just for decaf).

The bill comes just as we are ready to leave and is less than $30. Desserts are $10 each (apart from the Frangelico Affogatto at $12) and coffee is $3.50 - a great bargain in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to going down for a midweek dinner special (Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays) which is $35 for two courses, especially while Dan is doing his hospitality practical hours there for the next few weeks!

Samuel's Restaurant
382 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul NSW 2515
(02) 4268 2244
Open Tuesday-Sunday for lunch and dinner‎

Just popping down to the local

Is it me, my teenage and young adult kids, or is it society in general that is embracing café culture as an alternative to the pub culture from the “olden days”(ie anytime before 1990).

The meeting place of choice in our house is The BeansTalk (capitals intended), a local café in Thirroul. We eschew the two pubs in Thirroul and the one in Bulli, to get together to chew the fat (and the delicious caramel kisses) at The Bean – as it’s affectionately abbreviated amongst those in the know.

It has a laid-back coolness about it, veering between nondescript and arty, with regularly changing exhibitions of mostly local artists hanging on the walls. The interior is cool and reasonably spacious, but it’s outside where the cool kids sit – a prime vantage point on the corner of the main road, so that you can see who is walking or driving past and be seen.

The tables out the front used to enjoy a beautiful large shady fig tree that was recently cut down in on-going council work in the area. Now, there are still two smaller trees remaining, the large umbrellas and personal parasols on offer to provide the rest of the shade. Further external decoration is provided by one (or more) Vespas owned by one of the café owners and giving a certain European feel to the café.

Imagine the sexy Vespa, just out of shot, to the right

Café going in our home has moved on from the occasional coffee with friends, or celebratory breakfast, to a place where, if they might not know your name, they certainly know your face and coffee order. The BeansTalk is now the place of choice for a quick takeaway, or a leisurely Saturday morning, as enjoyed by Dan who will start with coffee with a friend before work, join Rick, Allira and I after we visit the library for second breakfast, have a juice with a group of mates and then join Nick & Lauren for lunch when they make their way down.

And so, to the food. They keep it simple for breakfast, with bacon & egg Turkish rolls or scrambled eggs, ham & cheese or plain croissants. For the sweet tooth, there’s French toast dripping with maple syrup, blueberry bagels with cream cheese, banana and honey or fresh fruit salad with yoghurt.

Lunch favourites are deliciously flaky pastry spinach & cheese quiche (pictured), samosas, vege rolls, French “gottas” – open sandwiches with a variety of toppings, mainly vegetable & feta and toasted sandwiches, all served with or without salad.

There are also the ubiquitous banana, pear & raspberry or fruit & nut bread; as well as friands, cookies and caramel kisses (really just old-school caramel slice, cut in rounds).

Mmmm...tasty treats

Freshly squeezed fruit juices are always good, and at the BeansTalk, they keep the glasses in the freezer so that half the glass isn’t filled up with ice-cubes. My favourite juice is apple, orange and carrot. Nick has apple, pineapple and ginger.

The coffee at the Bean is usually pretty good. The mochas are chocolately without being sickly sweet. The temperature is drinkable without burning your tongue. And the service is equally speedy, whether grabbing a takeaway or having it there.

Back to shooting down to your local. I am being tempted by a newly opened café in Woonona – Jaffa, though it is a little further afield. (I mean, I could walk to BeansTalk, just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I can’t…) Cucina in Thirroul is also good – and has amazing salads, which I will talk about in a later post. One on Park down near the beach in Woonona is also great (and also a subject for a later post) – and being on the bike track is very convenient.

BeansTalk is open seven days a week, from early (in time for a commuter coffee during the week) till around 4’ish. It’s on the corner of Lawrence Hargrave Drive & Railway Parade.

So where’s your local? Is it the local pub or a café? Do they know your name or just your coffee order – which is all they need to know!