Off to lunch with my buffet-crazy friend. His claim to fame? He once ate 9 whole lobsters at a lunch buffet and has tried almost every single buffet offered by 5-star hotels in the city. So when I was invited to lunch, I knew I was onto a good thing already.
Food
Well, this place was certainly very popular, as well as the usual retirees, there were table after table of work groups, however the food was always refilled, so there was no problems there. Here's what's available for lunch time
Cold Food:
- assorted bread and condiments
- make your own salad
- pumpkin and sultana salad
- Caesar salad
- spicy octopus salad
- antipasto
- Sydney Rock oyster
- king prawns
- smoked salmon
- avocado
- raw mussels in tomato sauce
- cooked fish, meat, chicken
- potato and leek soup
- Asian greens
- fish curry and rice
- beef casserole and mash
- roast chicken
- roast pork
- grilled eggplant
- stir-fry combination with prawns, chicken, fish, octopus, vegetables and noodles in soy, ginger, satay, chilli sauce
- fresh-cooked pasta
- strawberry
- chocolate mousse
- baked cheesecake
- passionfruit cheesecake
- creme brulee
- passionfruit panna cotta
- jelly cup
- profiterole
- vanilla slice
- chocolate wafer slice
- egg custard
- apple crumble
- chocolate cake
- cream cake
- pear and walnut cake
- fruit salad
- assorted cheese with crackers and dried fruit
- assorted lollies
As usual, my dilemma was having to try everything! And as usual, I had to forgo my favourite bread section. I did manage to consume a few (ok, a lot) of oysters, and they tasted fresh. My recommendation? The Cold food (great salads!) and the desserts are excellent (especially that chocolate mousse, made using very good quality chocolate!), but give the hot food section a miss and hit the stir-fry station for your fill instead. The chefs there are quite skilled and can tailor a dish to your liking. The dessert selection is smaller than some, but luckily, everything there tasted really good. The panna cotta also comes recommended.
Rating - 7.5
Atmosphere
The Sydney Harbour Marriot is pretty grand. High ceilings, great furnishings. The toilets are great, with Molton Brown hand lotion provided too! Icons is situated on the first level. The chairs are comfy, the table pretty large. My only gripe, the buffet area is pretty small and can get pretty crowded. Try to get there early or late to secure the good seats.
Rating - 2
Service
As expected, service level was what you would expect from a 5-star hotel. The staff were polite in offering us drinks and clearing away the plates. They weren't as anal as Cafe Mix in that they only sometimes refolded our napkins when we left our chairs.
Rating - 3.5
C-factor
The buffet is normally $30 for Mon - Wed lunch. We got a special rate of course of only $15. It's pretty good value for $30 already, but for $15, you could almost eat here every day!
Rating - 2
Brownie Points - 15
Info
Sydney Harbour Marriot Hotel
30 Pitt St
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9259 7330
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