Who really was the lucky duck?

Rita is delighted to announce she has found another one of those eatery gems which make food blogging (and eating out) 100% worthwhile.

The venue: Lucky Ducks Restaurant and Café at Nubeena.

This little place impressed me on so many levels, and it’s wonderful to know that there are still places out there that adhere to my lofty requirements: food produced and sourced as locally and ethically as possible; food produced with love and care; food credibility; wonderful service.

A big call for Rita, but I would like to compare Lucky Ducks food and service to best cobber Steve Cumper’s Red Velvet Lounge, and I rejoice in finding somewhere else that I know with certainty I can relax in, knowing that all is as I would ideally wish it to be, both FOH and in the kitchen.

I honestly can’t rave too much about this place and it is my fervent hope that everyone reading this will be filled with enough curiosity to make the trek to Nubeena and eat there.

Let me set the scene for you. Rita has been languishing on her lounge, in her jamas, since leaving hospital on Xmas Eve – for a lot of reasons. Best cobber Deb called to volunteer to take me to Taste but the three diuretics I have to take every morning guarantee that if I venture out, I must have a toilet action plan for those regular 15 minute jaunts to the loo! So Taste was out of the question, as the possibility of queuing at the loos, or in a food line waiting to be served, is definitely not an option here! Instead we set off for a drive specifically to Lucky Ducks, my curiosity having been aroused by some trusted and reliable friends feedback, as well as receiving an invitation to eat there some time ago from the guys running it.

At this stage, I also need to own up to the fact that I didn’t call first and book. I would have been disappointed if they’d been closed, or full up, and I had contingency plans if that one backfired, but it wasn’t necessary. They were open, had tables free, and had enticing-looking food on hand so we were home and hosed!

We sat down at a window table, surveyed the view (both inside and outside) and took in the general ambience of the place. They have four whiteboards on the walls: one with the breakfast menu, then two lunch ones, and a dessert one, plus a drinks list near the coffee machine. All menu items were well thought-out, and I challenge anyone not to find something they liked on the menu of items all made on the premises.

In true Rita fashion, I reverted to my childhood love of Lime Spiders when I saw they had them on the menu, and instantly ordered one! I was most definitely on a roll!! These guys could do no wrong from then on!

It was, coincidentally, their first birthday, so I was glad we were present on that auspicious day. It was also their busiest day on record, so I was doubly glad about that.

The service by 16 year old local waitress Georgia was unbelievable. For someone of such tender years, she was polite, efficient, helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and thoughtful – characteristics I have grown used to not seeing demonstrated in waitstaff of that age. I was extremely impressed.

Deb had the Local blue eye, oven baked with a fresh herb pesto and salad ($23.50), with a side bowl of chips. I tasted her fish, the pesto and salad and couldn’t fault anything. The fish was moist, fresh and tasty, and they had resisted the temptation to add some overpowering sauce to it. The fresh herb pesto highlighted the delicate flavour of the fish.
I had one of their pies – the Lamb tagine with sweet potato ($8). The pastry had been housemade, so ticked another of my boxes. It was fabulous.

We each bought a loaf of their bread to take home, after I had ascertained that, in advertising that it was made by them that day, it was not one of those pre-mixes most others who advertise freshly made bread use. It wasn’t.

Our bill at the end of our glorious time there was around $70, and was well worth it.

My rating, in case you’re interested, is 5/5. I will definitely make sure I return as often as I can. It’s a small place, so if you’re going down there specially, and don’t book, don’t get cross if you arrive and they don’t have a spare table for you. Please, please, please – if you care about food, and would like to support people who are working their butts off in a business that is so obviously their passion – go there.

Lucky Ducks
Main Road
Nubeena
Ph: 6250 2777
Open every day (Mon to Sun), 9 am till 8 pm. (They do breakfast, lunch and dinner).