Quay

After our disappointment at Tetsuya’s, my faith in top end Sydney dining was restored by the excellent meal we had at Quay, deservedly the winner of SMH’s restaurant of the Year for 2009.

Food

This is what we put together from the choice of 4 courses, to create our own degustation:

• Sea Pearls ($25 supplement) - Sashimi tuna, aquaculture caviar, sea scallop, smoked eel, octopus, mud crab, pearl meat - absolutely amazing. Each little ball a burst of flavour, yet delicate.
• Mud crab congee - hand shelled mud crab, Chinese inspired split rice porridge - best porridge I’ve ever had. Since the price is about 10 times the usual price for porridge, it has to be. The porridge was sweetened by the taste of the crab. Actually reminds me of a dish I had at the old Rockpool a long time ago.
• Five textures of Southern rock lobster ($25 supplement) - sweet, fresh meat, lovely mousse
• Crisp confit of pig belly, braise of abalone and cuttlefish, handmade silken tofu, Japanese mushrooms, chive flowers - Asian inspired. The pork was very tasty, and of course, the skin was perfect
• Butter poached Murray Cod, hasuimo, periwinkles, oyster cream, white turnips, winter melon, hops puree, gherkin shoots - beautiful beautiful fish. I miss Australian seafood, accompanied by delicate vegetables so as not to overwhelm
• Poached Rangers Valley pure bred Black Angus beef fillet, baby spinach, morels, Tasmanian wasabi butter ($25 supplement) - good Australian beef, not the best I’ve had, beautifully cooked.
• Eight texture chocolate cake, featuring Amedei 'Chuao' Chocolate ($10 supplement) - we had to order this, it’s been a Quay signature from the beginning. This is probably the richest, nicest cake I’ve ever eaten. Rich rich chocolate sandwiched between crunchy wafer-like discs.
• Strawberry guava and custard apple snow egg - well, you can’t beat that chocolate cake, but this can definitely stand up on its own. The flavours just gelled together.

After a very satisfying meal, we ended with some, as would be expected, Coffee, Tea and Petit Fours - btw, their coffee is good, but definitely not up there.

Rating - 9.5

Atmosphere

We were seated in one of the corner space, with direct view to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. It felt a bit strange dining in what constitutes a glass bubble, but the view is amazing, and if you run out of conversation, you can always observe the people walking around in the Quay downstairs.

Rating - 2

Service

Again, I didn’t feel wowed by the service. The waiter was extremely formal and efficient, but sounded like it was such a drag to actually work there. I would be delighted to be a waiter at Quay and see people enjoy their creations. Maybe she was new or something, because she also stumbled when explaining the menu to us.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

The menu at $145 p.p was slightly cheaper than Tet’s, but we ordered a lot of dishes that required a supplement. This is worth every penny.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

Overseas Passenger Terminal,
The Rocks
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
Phone +61 (0) 2 9251 5600
Website