steaming ahead
STEAMERS BAR & GRILL IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PLACES TO EAT IN THE GONG – AND FOR GOOD REASON!
Celebrating its fifth year, Steamers Bar & Grill has quickly become an institution in the Wollongong food scene. The property was purchased by Jim Eddy and Caroline Brinsmead of Jamberoo Action Park in July 2017, but this wasn’t their first venture into hospitality – Caroline had successfully run Bombora Seafood Restaurant at Wollongong Harbour for many years prior.
Inspired by the precinct’s food history, the restaurant pays homage to the area’s past and has become a spot where tourists and locals alike gather for great food, great wine and a great view. When the Illawarra was first settled, fresh produce was transported to Belmore Basin, before being loaded onto steamships bound for Sydney’s growing population. The steamships transported both passengers and a range of produce, including livestock, and hence it became known as the 'Pig and Whistle Line': it was said that ships would wait an hour for a pig but not a minute for a passenger.
Step inside the restaurant and you’ll note the nautical styling, adorned with ship lanterns, wheels and rope – the showpiece, an upturned boat depicted with the name Sophia Jane, is one of the first paddle steamers to operate in the coastal waters of NSW. To ship starboard, the restaurant features a huge outdoor terrace, with coveted views of City Beach and Wollongong Lighthouse.
The prestigious beachfront location is a surefire selling point for diners, the restaurant interior is chic and inviting, and the service is slick. But ultimately, it’s the food which really keeps people coming back.
At the helm of the Steamers ship is Executive Chef Paul Hamilton. Paul has cheffed around the globe, everywhere from Germany, France and the UK to the Antarctic. As well as Paul, Steamers employ an international crew, with staff heralding from Vietnam, Nepal, Morocco, France, India and New Zealand.
These cultural influences help deliver an authentic style of cooking and flavours to the restaurant, inspired by the street food scene from around the world. Steamers presents a true gastronomic exploration, with dishes including Japanese tempura soft shell crab with wasabi kewpie mayo, kung pao tempeh bao buns, jerk chicken from Jamaica and Korean sticky braised pork belly.
“New dishes are released seasonally, but one signature dish which has always featured and is a popular choice is the wood-fired chilli salted calamari,” says chef Paul. “We source mostly local ingredients where we can – Sydney rock oysters, 2GR premium fullblood wagyu beef and locally caught fish.”
Steamers also has a dry-ageing facility on-site, which provides a unique method of beef storage to produce a deeper flavour and more tender cut. “The process encourages a crust to form on the meat – this reduces moisture in the muscle to intensify the natural flavour and encourages a natural enzyme breakdown to tenderise the cut,” says Paul. “The process can take anywhere from five to 28 days, so only the finest cuts of beef can be used.”
Not to be outdone by the food offering, the wine list is well thought out and extensive, winning Steamers a prestigious Two Glass Rating at 2021’s Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards. Restaurant manager and sommelier, Romain Bastianel, is in charge of the curation of the list, hand-selecting each of the 345 wines on offer.
“The wine list celebrates diversity and gives drinkers an opportunity to travel the globe of fine wine regions,” says Romain. “It's heavy on Australian content, with features of Western Australian chardonnay, excellent Aussie grenache, a deep selection of traditional, South Australian shiraz and a raft of interesting, lesser-known varieties found alongside. Our main focus is to find wines that will match our style of food and we have a lot of fun matching lesser-known varietals from different wine regions to our ever evolving menu. It also makes us really proud to be able to bring this type of fun and knowledge to Wollongong, as our city deserves to be considered as an up-and-coming wine enthusiast destination.”
When you sit down to dine at Steamers, it becomes abundantly clear that the customer experience is equally important as what’s on the plate and poured from the bottle – the restaurant prides itself on maintaining a high standard of service that ensures diners return again and again.
“Hiring a great team is only half the challenge when it comes to delivering exceptional service – we must also continue to keep them motivated, informed and passionate,” says owners Jim and Caroline. “The team is young and keen to upskill – Romain our sommelier completes regular wine training and we have 20 very keen wine enthusiasts in the making! We all get to sample the seasonal new menus together family-style, with Paul telling us about the ingredients, origin and unique preparation. We find planning and strategising together empowers everyone to be considered and strive for excellence.”
This method seems to be working well as the restaurant were the recipients of the NSW Regional Contemporary Australian Restaurant award in 2019, and received silver in the national judging. The awards ceased during Covid, but the team are now eagerly awaiting the announcement of the 2022 awards. Additionally, Steamers was also named as Trip Advisor Travellers' Choice Award in 2021, which Jim and Caroline say, was “fabulous recognition for the venue we’ve created.”
“As the only travel industry awards based on reviews and opinions from diners around the world, the Travellers’ Choice Award is so valuable,” adds Paul.
Despite these incredible accolades, like most hospitality venues, Steamers too felt the knock-on effect of the pandemic, facing never-seen-before staff shortages after reopening last October.
“Thankfully, we were able to retain all of our permanent staff through lockdown, so we reached out to them, and they brought in siblings and cousins who were ready to work,” says Caroline. “For some, this was their first taste of hospitality work. We trained from scratch and it was intensive! But we have never looked back. The feeling of ownership for this young generation is absolutely inspiring to watch and we are proud of the little Steamers community we have created.”
Having survived the turbulence of the last few years and back serving the community seven days a week for both lunch and dinner, Steamers are now focused on introducing new diners to fresh and exciting flavours, while nurturing the relationship with their existing, and loyal, customers – and never letting that high-standard of service slip.
“We want to be your restaurant of choice,” says Jim. “Whether it’s a midweek night off cooking, when you are celebrating a special event, or you want to show off how awesome our region is to out-of-towners – we hope Steamers is your first port of call.”
1 Marine Drive, Wollongong