Sokyo, Sydney

Yes, I went to get sushi in Sydney .  You'd think I'd know better.  I'll never forget the first day they had sushi at my office in Sydney.  Everyone was so excited.  I eagerly joined the lines, only to find that the sushi rolls were filled with ... chicken.  Or tuna salad.  As in, canned tuna.  What?  That is not what I think of as sushi!

Over the course of my next few visits to Sydney, I did end up going to real sushi restaurants, all ones that were well regarded, and while they served actual raw fish, none ever really impressed me.  But Sydney is surrounded by water, and they do have a large fish market in Pyrmont, so I had hope that fresh local seafood could be found, and, why not have it raw?

But really, I decided to get sushi this time due to limited options.  It was Australia Day (yay!), but this meant it was a holiday, and most restaurants were closed.  So we decided to take a gamble to go get sushi, at Sokyo, located inside the Star Casino.

Ok yes, now I'm talking about getting sushi ... in a casino.  But before you think I'm totally crazy, please realize that it is a full restaurant, not part of the food court or anything, and there is even a Momofuku in the Star Casino, plus an outpost of my favorite gelato shop in Sydney, Messina, so there IS precedent for good restaurants there.  Plus, the chef worked at the Nobu in Las Vegas, Dubai, London, LA, and the Bahamas before moving to Sydney and opening Sokyo.  And they received One Chef's Hat the past two years.  I had reason to believe it could be good, even though I was ordering sushi, in Sydney, on a Monday, in a casino.  Four strikes against me.

Anyway, back to Sokyo.  They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.  No, you can't get sushi for breakfast, the breakfast menu is traditional breakfast fare, like Eggs Benedict, albeit served with edamame and miso hollandaise for Japanese flair.  They offer a really good deal for lunch, $45 for 3 courses, starting with your pick of several choices of sashimi, followed by your pick of tempura, and finally a hot dish, plus miso soup and salad.  Given how expensive everything else is, this actually is a deal.  But we went for the regular a la carte menu for dinner, and focused on the sushi, although the tempura and robata grilled menus are both sizable as well.

Disappointment began at the ordering stage.  We tried to order several pieces of nigiri, only to find out they didn't have any.  No uni.  No abalone.  No toro.  Sigh.  So we placed our initial order, and decided we'd order more after we had our first batch.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Spoiler: we decided not to order more.

The service was fine, fairly quick.  Dishes were brought out by different servers, making it was a bit hard to keep track of who was our actual server, when we had questions.

Overall, the food at Sokyo was fine, but not very good, and certainly over priced for what it was.  I wouldn't go back, and in fact, we decided not to order a second round of sushi as planned, and went elsewhere for more.

Sushi Bar along one wall.

The primary kitchen is an exposed sushi bar, with several chefs working at a time (I think I saw 5?)  Some diners are seated at the counter along it, but most are at tables throughout the room.

Dining Room.

The dining room is large and a bit boring.  The decor isn't great; it is somewhat modern, but filled with hard wooden surfaces and strange looking chairs.  It was not really a great ambiance.

Grapefruit Mocktail. $11. Future Words. $18.

For a drink, Ojan selected one of the three mocktails on the menu, the "grapefruit".  Described as "grapefruit, cucumber, elderflower".

He didn't like it.  He said it was interesting, and he was glad to have a mocktail that wasn't just sugar, but he didn't like the flavor.  I tried it, and the cucumber flavor was somewhat overwhelming, which I really didn't like.

I went for the "Future Words", described as "sake, burnt cinnamon, lime, and strawberry".

I also didn't like mine.  It was crazy sweet.  So much sweeter than I ever anticipated.  I did not taste any cinnamon nor lime.  Or sake for that matter.  I did taste strawberry, and there was strawberry puree in the bottom of my glass when I was done, so I know at least that was fresh muddled fruit.  But wow, so sweet.  I couldn't handle the sweet, and ended up diluting it with sparkling water to make it palatable.  Ojan said I should have just saved it for "dessert".  $18 is also a bit pricey for a cocktail, but on par with Sydney standards.

Kingfish Miso Ceviche. $22

"Green chilli, crispy potato, miso ceviche."

I did less research on Sokyo than most restaurants I go to, since it was a fall back option, but I did recall that everyone said to order the kingfish miso ceviche, listed under the sashimi menu.  When I ordered it, the waitress told me it was their most popular dish ... which isn't necessarily a good thing.

The kingfish was decent, although it didn't have a particularly great flavor to it.  It wasn't fishy or old tasting, and I liked the miso sauce that coated it.  The thinly sliced chilli and red onion added a nice balance, and just the right amount of heat.  The crispy potato shreds on top were crunchy and fairly tasty.

Overall, this was a decent dish, my favorite of the night.  Good flavors and textures, balanced.  The fish wasn't remarkable though, but overall it was fine.  $22 seemed a bit high for the small portion.

Ginger, Wasabi.

The ginger and wasabi provided on the table were both actually quite good.  We easily finished all our ginger, both this batch, and the other batches that came on the platters.  I'm pretty sure it was real wasabi, it had a nice heat to it and was slightly gritty.

Tai Ceviche Nigiri: $18 (4 pieces). Ocean Trout Ikijime (Tasmania) Nigiri. $9.

Next, we ordered nigiri.

The first was a selection from the "Sokyo Nigiri" section, another dish I had read recommendations for: Tai Ceviche Nigiri, described as "crispy nori, shio konbu, lime salsa."

It was pretty unique.  Crispy nori was wrapped around the nigri, like a taco shell.  I liked the extra crunch this added.  The tai was fine, just like the kingfish, not great, but not bad either.  The salsa on top was just a bit weird though, and I didn't really get it.

Special Sokyo Nigiri only come as sets of 4 pieces, which is a bit annoying.  Again, the price of $18 seemed a bit high.

Our other selection was just a standard nigiri, ocean trout.  We selected it because we remembered having really good ocean trout in Sydney before.

I wish I had a better photo, because while my piece looked ok from the top, when I went to bite in, I saw a thick layer of fat running the entire length of my piece.  You can almost see it in the photo, the top right piece, left side.  I showed it to Ojan, who agreed it wasn't right.  I showed it to my waitress, who also thought it wasn't right.  It was whisked away, and a new pair soon emerged to replace it.

The replacement was fine.  Again, just fine.  Not fishy, not off putting, but the fish really didn't have much going for it.  Price a bit high for what it was.

Sokyo Omelette (Tamago) Nigiri. $8.

At this point, I'd pretty much lost faith in Sokyo, so we decided not to stay at Sokyo for dessert and go elsewhere.  But I did have to conclude with the "dessert" of sushi, right?  Tamago!

Ojan and I were both temporarily stunned when the tamago was set down in front of us.  This was the strangest looking tamago we had ever seen.

It was sliced down the middle, and stuffed with rice, rather than served on top.  Ok, a bit odd, but I think I've seen that before.  Next, it also wasn't that sweet.  Again, sweetness level varies, so that wasn't too odd.  The crazy part was the texture.  It wasn't a layered omelet at all.  It was crazy fluffy, like a soufflé.  I guess it WAS dessert!

I can't say I liked or disliked this, it was just quite different.  The fluffiness was rather amazing.

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Qantas Business Class, QF108, LAX-SYD.

My journey to Sydney began with exploring the new Qantas lounges in LAX, which, as you read about in last week's Business Class lounge review and the week before's First Class lounge review, turned out to be not nearly as nice as expected.  After a few hours of chaos in the lounge, it was time to board our flight, which at that point I looking forward to.  The lounge did a boarding announcement, and the gate was the closest one to the lounge, so it was easy and convenient.  Points to Qantas for that.

Our flight was fine, but our service was a bit lacking throughout.  Not quite the quality I was expecting from Qantas Business Class.

Row 1!

Since the flight was supposed to depart at 11:55pm, we wanted to maximize our ability to sleep, so we picked row 1.  Normally, I dislike the bulkhead since I like the storage under the seat in front of me at all times, but I knew this would be the most quiet and low traffic area, since there is no restroom or galley in front, so absolutely no one would be walking by.  As expected, I was slightly annoyed to not be able to keep my belongings with me during takeoff, but we were able to easily stash our items in the large closet in front, so it wasn’t too big of a deal.  And as expected, there was virtually no foot traffic, so it was a fairly peaceful space.

The Front Cabin.

Although we were on a 747 and not the A380, it was outfitted with the redesigned SkyBeds, something I made sure of, since I wanted a fully flat bed.  Of course, I would have loved to fly on the A380 again (I’ve been on it in Premium Economy several times), but business class tickets were almost double the price, so when picking between business on the 747 or premium economy on the A380, I went for business on the 747.

Water Bottle Cubby.

The SkyBeds are really nicely designed seats.  While the seat itself isn’t the most comfortable, I really appreciate all the touches that make it very functional.  There is a dedicated water bottle cubby, which is in perfect reach once you lay down to sleep, and water bottles are distributed after meal service.  And a dedicated shoe cubby, making it easy to find shoes to slip on to stumble to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I also re-purposed the headphone cubby for my glasses and cell phone.  Everything had easy access, tucked away, with nothing left floating around.  Other airlines could certainly learn from the design of these seats, and I found it far more functional than even the first class seats on British Airways and similar to Cathay Pacific's business class seats.

They had power ports AND usb ports in every seat, so I could charge all my devices.

Controls.

The seats also featured easy to use controls, and were fairly adjustable.  I appreciated the basic massage settings, plus the ability to save and recall your favorite position.  An overhead light and a reading light completed the main seat space.  Even though we were in a bulkhead, there was a small cubby with a padded compartment for a laptop in the basinet, so I could keep that with me too.

Unfortunately for me, my in-seat entertainment unit was broken.  They reset the whole plane once, and reset my particular unit a few times, but alas, I was out of luck, so I can’t comment on that.  They apologized many times, and told me they’d file a report and offered me a duty free coupon.  I never heard anything from the report.  Because the flight was full, they didn’t have an option to move my seat.

For sleep, the seats did lay flat, at the touch of a button.  A very, very thin “mattress pad” was provided, that honestly I’m not sure did anything.  The seat was hard as a rock, and really not comfortable.  I developed a cramp in my side very quickly.  We were also provided with only a single pillow.  Since I like one under my head and one between my knees, this was less than ideal, but I was able to snag an extra from the closet up front.  The blanket however was the worst part - thin, scratchy, and just really not comfortable. While I love Qantas for the well thought out compartments in the seats, the comfort of the sleeping experience was seriously lacking.

Amenity Kit: socks, toothbrush, earplugs, eyemask, moisturizers.

Before we took off, water, champagne, and orange juice were offered, along with amenity kits, different models for men and women.

My kit had face lotion, hand lotion, and lip balm from MALIN+GOETZ, along with some scratchy socks, a low-end eye mask, ear plugs, and a mini toothbrush and toothpaste.  The case was Kate Spade.  I used the toothbrush and lotions, but I had my own better ear plugs, eye mask, and sleeping socks (if you ever want an eye mask recommendation, just ask, I adore my eye mask, and sleep in it nightly!)

Pajamas were also provided, thin drawstring pants with no pockets, and a long sleeve t-shirt.  Not nearly as fancy as the Cathay or BA pajamas, but the lightweight long sleeve shirt was nice for the flight.  I brought my own pants since I knew I wouldn't like these.  They also only had two sizes, M/L and L/XL, and they were too big for me.  No slippers, but that is common in business rather than first.

I didn't take a photo, but the bathroom was tiny and cramped.  The only toiletries were hand soap and lotion, both nice smelling.  Tissues and those quasi-fabric “towels” completed the offerings.  The sink was of course the type that doesn’t stay on and is super annoying to use.  The entire downstairs business class cabin has only two bathrooms, and unfortunately for us, one of them went out of order during the flight.  When I got up to use the bathroom in the morning, the queue was quite long.  We were all on a similar schedule, and that many people using a single bathroom to also change, wash their faces, etc just doesn’t work.  They managed to fix the bathroom before we landed, but long after the rush.

Supper Menu.

Since the departure time is so late, the meal offered is “supper”, a compressed meal service with no starter and simple entree options.

The menu contained the following "Supper Plates":

• Selection of cheese served with accompaniments.  The cheese accompaniments may include quince paste or dried fruits and water crackers.
• Mushroom arancini with zucchini salad and salsa verde. 
• Big bowl of Tuscan soup with cavolo nero and parmesan.
• Chorizo dog with jalapenos, piquillo peppers and mustard mayonnaise.
• Beef and Guinness pie with tomato relish.
• Seared sea bass with caramelised witlof, crushed peas and minted butter.
• Confit duck leg with celeriac puree, roasted pears and thyme jus.

Qantas allows you to pre-order your meal selection online in advance 7 days before the flight, which Ojan and I both did.  If you pre-order, there are more choices available than on-board, so we had the additional options of:

• Taleggio, mushroom and tomato lasagne with wilted spinach.
• Pumpkin empanadas with pebre salsa.

If you order online, they also have photos of all the dishes, and much more complete descriptions.  For example, for the sea bass, the online menu reads "Sea bass is lightly pan fried and served with caramelised witlof, crushed peas and mint flavoured butter. Witlof has a crisp texture and a slightly bitter taste and when caramelised provides a nice contrast in flavour which works very well with the crushed peas."

Anyway, I eagerly picked on of the exclusive items, the lasagna, with its tasty description: "Oven baked lasagne of roasted tomatoes and Portobello mushrooms pan fried with herbs."  However, by the time we finally took off, and got around to meal service, it was nearly 1:30am, and I’d already feasted in the lounge, so I no longer wanted it.  I felt bad, since no other passengers could order it, but I hope it didn’t go to waste.

Instead I just settled for a dessert, because, well, it is me.  This part of the menu wasn’t available to me in advance, so I was in for a surprise.  The options were a fruit platter, a cheese platter, ice cream, or a custard.  Clearly, since I love puddings, I went for the custard.  I did applaud the order of the older man across the aisle from me, who also skipped dinner, and ordered an ice cream and a single malt scotch on the rocks.  I was a bit jealous of his order.

Drink Menu.

Meal service was a bit strange.  No offer of a beverage was made, and when I requested a glass of wine, my attendant didn’t know what they had available.  The menu just said “An awarded selection of premium Australian wines”.

She suggested a dessert wine to go along with my dessert, so I went for it.  I assumed water would be provided as well, but it wasn’t.  No refills were ever offered.

Baked cinnamon custard with macerated strawberries.

The description of the dessert said “baked”, so I hoped it would be served warm.  It was not.

It was a good custard, thick, creamy, well-set, although the texture seemed a bit off, it was a bit lumpy.  I didn’t mind the strange texture really, but it was odd.  The custard base did have a strong cinnamon flavor as advertised.  The macerated strawberries on top were mushy and super sweet, but again, I didn’t mind.  They reminded me of the berries from my mom’s strawberry shortcake, where she soaks them in sugar in advance.  There was also a fair amount of sweet strawberry sauce, which was quite tasty, but really got to be too much.

Overall, I liked this, more than the panna cotta in the lounge,  but it was too sweet.  I wished I had a nice bitter coffee to go with it, but I didn’t want coffee, even decaf, as I was planning to attempt to sleep soon.  

The dessert wine was also super sweet, and I just couldn’t stand it with the sweet dessert.

Ojan opted for just a salad for simple bedtime snack, “green leaf salad with your choice of dressing”.  He was shocked when it arrived, a tiny bowl of greens with balsamic vinegar drizzled over.  How was this listed as a “supper plate”?  So he followed up with a cheese platter, “selection of cheese served with accompaniments”, as a bedtime snack.  It was very basic, with 2 water crackers, 2 digestive biscuits, a small chunk of a triple cream cheese, a chunk of a hard cheese, a dried pear, and a prune.

During the flight, the galley area near the bathrooms had a self-serve small snack station, featuring Valhrona chocolate squares, packaged pecans and cookies, sweet potato chips, cashews and pretzels, cashews and almonds, and whole fruit, so if you needed to nibble more, that was an option.

Breakfast Menu.

Hanging at our seats when we boarded was the breakfast menu, so we could fill it out and pre-order in advance, to maximize sleep.  For those who really wanted to sleep, there was an option to be left alone entirely, to just get an express meal of a pastry and drink.  Otherwise, the continental selections were a fruit bowl, which I avoided because of my melon allergy, muesli (with yogurt, whole milk, or skim milk), toast, a croissant, or a pear danish, along with an assortment of spreads (berry jam, marmalade, honey, or of course, vegemite).

For hot entrees, there were 3 choices:

• Free range scrambled eggs on toasted brioche with pork sausages, sautéed mushrooms, and braised beans
• Savoury french toast with slow roasted tomatoes, avocado, and rocket leaves.
• Orange pancakes with raspberries, maple syrup, and mascarpone cream.

The menu was rounded out by juice (orange, apple, or "mango energizer") and standard hot drink options (coffee, tea, hot chocolate).  There was no option to indicate if you’d like water with your meal, so I assumed that would be included.  Alas, just like dinner, there was no water.  Am I really alone in wanting water on a flight?

From the continental section, I selected the muesli, although I knew it would be regular muesli, not bircher muesli, which I totally adore, and is one reason I love visiting Australia.  I knew I’d get plenty of it when I arrived in Sydney.  I went for the whole milk, hoping it was Australian whole milk, since I really really love the flavor of their higher fat milk.  It wasn’t, which I should have realized, since we were leaving from the US.

For my hot option, I was intrigued by “savory french toast”, but it had avocado, which I’m allergic to, so I went for the pancakes instead.

Breakfast service left a lot to be desired.  I woke up several hours before breakfast time, and eventually I asked what time breakfast was, as I was quite hungry at this point.  I was told it was in 45 minutes, so I waited.  45 minutes came and went, an hour came and went, and finally almost 2 hours later it was served.  If I’d known it would be 2 hours I would have had a snack, hence my reason for asking.  Now, to be fair, I think they may have *started* breakfast service at the 45 minute mark, but since we were in row 1, we were last served.  But the attendant answering my question knew that.

When my tray was cleared away, I also asked for a decaf coffee.  It never came.  This was all representative of service throughout: very slow, often lacking, no refills offered.  The attendants were perfectly friendly and polite, just not very attentive.  I’m not sure if I just have higher expectations now that I’ve flown first class?  But things like receiving drinks that are ordered and having your tray cleared seem fairly basic.  After 30 minutes, I tried again and ordered another coffee, and that one did come eventually.

Breakfast Platter.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, my tray was unceremoniously delivered, all at once.  I had my laptop out, and a bunch of things in the way, and had assumed they’d be by to pull out the tray, put down a table cloth, and offer drinks first.  I scrambled to move things as the attendant stood there waiting.  Whoops?

I saw that there was no water and was going to ask for a glass, but she was gone before I had a chance.  My tray was also covered in split coffee.  Like I said ... service wasn't awesome (it was much, much better on my return flight, stay tuned for that!)

The pancakes were lukewarm at best.  I was faced with a dilemma: did I try to devour them before they got even colder, or try to eat the muesli first before it got even soggier?  

If the pancakes had been warm, I think they actually would have been quite good.  I was pleasantly surprised.  They weren’t rubbery.  They weren’t soggy.  The base flavor was decent, although I didn’t detect a hint of orange, which I was actually glad about, and the only reason I almost didn’t order the pancakes is because  I don’t really like “orange” flavor.

They were inconsistently drizzled with syrup.  I really liked the bites that had syrup, pleasantly sweet, and complimented well by the tangy mascarpone, but there were many bites that had no syrup.  I would have greatly preferred to have the syrup on the side so I could distribute it as I wished.

The glob of mascarpone was just plopped there, and was a very generous amount that I didn’t think I could possibly finish, but alas, I love creamy, fatty things, and it was quickly devoured.  There were also a good quantity of fresh enough raspberries.  The raspberries and cream were delicious enough in their own right, cold pancakes notwithstanding.

Overall, the pancakes were far better than expected, and if the pancakes had been warm, and the syrup on the side, this could have been a home run.  I still enjoyed my meal, but the waffles on BA still take the prize as top breakfast on a flight.

I also ordered a regular coffee.  It was strong and fairly awful.  And, spilled all over my tray.

Muesli, Close Up.

My muesli was already fairly soggy when it arrived.  It was good muesli though, loaded up with assorted seeds (including sunflower), nuts (including macadamias), and dried fruit (both cranberries and raisins).  The mediocre milk and the mushiness however made it not very good.  Protip: next time, ask for the milk on the side to avoid the sogginess issue!

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Bovetti Chocolate

Bovetti is a French chocolate maker with a ridiculous product catalogue of more than 150 different bars, spanning the spectrum of white, milk, and dark, filled with assorted spices (pepper, ginger, cinnamon), fruit (dried apricot, cranberries, candied citrus),  seeds (fennel, poppy, anise), and even flower petals (rose, violet, lavender).  They also make a small selection of organic bars, and a handful of single origins.

I don't know much else about Bovetti, nor do I recall where I picked up this bar, so, not much to say here, sorry!

Packaging with see-through window.

The packaging was quite attractive, a rustic paper holder, with a see-through window, revealing the textured chocolate inside.

Milk chocolate with caramel and fleur de sel.

The chocolate looked quite nice too.

But it was very boring.  I generally prefer dark chocolate to milk, so perhaps I shouldn't have expected to like this, but I was drawn in by the promise of caramel and fleur de sel, both things I quite enjoy.

The top had a crunchy layer to it, which I guess was the caramel and salt, but, I just tasted some sweetness, nothing I'd distinguish as caramel exactly.  And no salt.  I handed this off to Ojan.

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OAK Milk

OAK is a brand of flavored milk sold throughout Australia, available in a slew of varieties: chocolate, coffee, strawberry, vanilla malt, banana, and seasonal egg nog.  They also make "no added sugar" and "light" versions of a couple of the flavors, but most are full cream, full fat, very sugary, beverages.

Flavored milk may seem like a strange thing for me to review, except, you see, I have a weakness for flavored milk.  All through high school, I always had Carnation Instant Breakfast on my way out the door.  I could never decide which flavor was my favorite.  Some days it was chocolate malt, others it was strawberry, and sometimes, even vanilla.  I strangely never got sick of it (at least, that is my memory).  I had a shaker thing to mix it up in, so it got all frothy ... mmm, almost like a milkshake!

Anyway, back to OAK.  The office I was working at in Sydney had fridges stocked with these milks, and I got a bit addicted.  Sydney tends to bring out my inner child, as I revel in the ice cream treats, chocolates, and apparently, flavored milks.  If you happen to be in Australia, and like flavored milk, I recommend!

Strawberry.

I started with the strawberry.

It was quite sweet, and tasted like fake strawberry ... but I liked it.  I totally reminded me of Carnation Instant Breakfast, although a far less healthy version.

I had this flavor several times during my visit, and every time, I really liked it.  And every time, I thought it tasted fake, but that wasn't a turnoff.  Sometimes .... fake can be good.

Vanilla Malt.

Next, vanilla.  Well, not just vanilla, vanilla malt.  Even better.

The first time I had one, I thought it was sweet, a bit malty, and quite tasty.  But the next time I really didn't like it, it was too sweet and I didn't care for the thickness.  I guess I'm fickle?

[ No Photo ]

Chocolate.

And finally, chocolate!

I also liked this.  Yes, it was just chocolate milk, but I liked it more than the Nippy's version (the other brand of flavored milks the office had).  This was far more chocolatey.

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Watsons Bay Beach Club, Sydney

During my recent trip to Sydney, a friend offered to pick Ojan and I up and take us out of the city, to enjoy lunch near the water at Watsons Bay.  Given the forecast for 80+ degrees and sunshine, we eagerly accepted.

Of course, we could have taken the ferry to Watsons Bay, but it was actually nice to drive there, and get to see some of the other suburbs.  Let's just say, there are some people with very big, very nice houses near the waterfront!

Anyway, we arrived at our destination, to be met with a big challenge: parking.  Sigh.  It seemed as if everyone had the same idea as us, and every parking lot and every side street was completely full.  We circled forever, and eventually managed to snag a spot.

Seating.

But then we met an even bigger challenge: seating.

Watsons Bay Beach Club is absolutely huge, with most seating outdoors along several decks.  But every table was taken, and the ones that weren't all had reserved signs on them.  Protip: call ahead and reserve!  It also seems to be a venue of choice for large birthday parties, wedding parties, bachelorette parties ... there were tons of groups all with reserved sections and large group catering.

Next up, ordering.  This is a very casual place, so all orders are done at a bar, where you pay and receive a buzzer, then go back to wait at your table.  The pickup location is on the other side of the massive space, near the kitchen.  Silverware is in buckets on the tables, self-service, yet seemed to be constantly running out, so everyone was stealing silverware from each other's tables.  Someone does come around to bus tables eventually, but other than that, there is no service.

If you can't tell, the whole place is a bit chaotic.  It is loud, it is crowded, and it really just feels like a big beach party.  Which is perfectly fine on a hot summer day, but don't come here expecting a relaxing beachfront setting to catch up with friends, which is somehow what I was picturing.

Busy Open Kitchen, Small Counter Dining.

As for the food, the menu is mostly seafood, fitting for the location.  They have chilled seafood platters, but fish & chips seemed to be the most common order.  The food wasn't very good, but the cocktail list was extensive, and the drinks seemed to be free flowing, which is all most people seemed to care about.  Ice cold beer or pitchers of cocktails on a hot summer day certainly have their place!

Grapefruit Margarita. $16.

"A summery twist on the classic, served with tequila, cointreau and pink grapefruit".

A hot summer day warrants a cool cocktail, right?  Watson Bay Beach Club had a bunch of cocktails, but most seemed very fruity, and not quite what I was wanting, as I was desiring something refreshing.  In fact, I mentioning one that sounded appealing to my tablemates, and said I hoped it wasn't too sweet, and a server overheard me and told me it was very sweet.  I'm glad she did, otherwise I would have been quite disappointed.  I wanted something refreshing!

My pick of the grapefruit margarita was perfect, fairly refreshing, the tart grapefruit wasn't sickeningly sweet.  I appreciated the chunks of grapefruit inside that I was able to eat once my drink was gone.  I didn't actually taste any tequila, which I did want to taste, but I uh, sure, felt it, so I know it was in there somewhere.

Overall, a fine drink, good for the hot weather.

Kids Fish & Chips.  $10.

I joined the masses and got the fish & chips.  I ordered the child's size, which was a single filet of fish.  It turned out to be a better deal than I expected, as the regular size is $24.50, and includes two pieces of fish instead of one, and possibly a slightly larger pile of fries, but not significant.  Yet it is more than 2x the cost ...
There was one problem however, that I didn't foresee: the regular portion is served with a cup of tartar sauce, but the child's size is not.  The real appeal of fish and chips for me IS the tartar sauce, so this was a big deal.  I quickly went to the counter to ask for some, and it was quickly handed over, so, crisis averted.

The batter on the fish was fine, but it was all a bit too greasy and oily for my liking, and the breading fell off easily.  The fish was flaky white fish, I'm not sure what kind, but moist enough and not fishy.

The fries were very generic; not particularly crispy, not flavorful, not anything.  The tartar was equally unremarkable; as a sauce girl, I certainly needed it, but this wasn't a great version.

Overall, highly mediocre.  The kid's size portion was fine for me, and a good deal for $10, particularly compared to the full size version.

Finger Licking Sticky Lamb Ribs / honey hoisen glaze / old bay fries / slaw.  $29.

Ojan went for the lamb ribs, since he likes lamb, and we never get it in the US.  I encouraged this order, because I had my eyes on the slaw that came with it.

The slaw was interesting in that it was a bit spicy, but otherwise, it was just slaw, and was very overdressed.

Since I hate lamb, I wasn't planning to try to the ribs, but Ojan said I might like them, due to the honey hoisen sauce they were slathered in.  He said they were basically candy.  And I'm trying to get myself to like lamb, so I figured if I was going to like it anywhere, Sydney would be it, and smothered in sweet sauce was more likely to make it succeed.

He was right, in that I liked the sauce.  I ended up dipping a bunch of my fries in the ribs sauce once my tartar sauce ran out.  But the ribs?  Um, still lamb, so I didn't like them, but he polished them off and continued to rave about them for the rest of the trip.

The fries were totally unnecessary though, as he was too busy with the ribs to care about them, and everyone had piles of fries left over anyway.

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Jonny's Popcorn Delights

You know how much I love to munch on things, so snack foods are something I'm always eager to try when traveling.  And one of my absolute favorite snacks? Popcorn!

During my recent trip to Sydney, I of course had to try most of the snacks provided in my office.  The popcorn was the first thing I tried, supplied by Jonny's Popcorn.  Jonny's Popcorn began when Jonny visited the US, and discovered, and subsequently fell in love with, kettle corn.  I understand completely!  He started a popcorn cart, and expanded the brand to be distributed nationwide.

Jonny's Popcorn comes several flavors, both savory like canjun CHILLI, or sweet, including Sweet & SALTY, CHOC CHIP, CARAMEL,  and BUTTERY.  Yes, capitalization theirs.

Unfortunately, I didn't love any of it, and I tried all of their flavors.

Sweet & SALTY.

Sweet & SALTY.  Now, that sounds like kettle corn to me.  And ... I love kettle corn!

Sadly, this wasn't really sweet.  Nor particularly salty.  It certainly did not remind me of kettle corn.  It was just ... popcorn.  Meh.

Update, 2016: Ok, so, it grew on me.  It was just a different kind of kettle corn, not the style I'm used to.  It was indeed crunchy, sweet, and salty, and thus fairly addicting, even though I wouldn't rave about it.

CHOC CHIP.

"Choc Chip is a balanced mixture of Chocolate covered popcorn and our famous Sweet & Salty popcorn. This popcorn is sweet, light and crunchy with just enough Chocolate to keep you interested to the bottom of the bag."

They claim this is a balanced mixture, but there were far more plain pieces rather than chocolate covered.  The plain was apparently Sweet & Salty, but it just seemed buttered, or perhaps oiled.  It was really strange to have this popcorn alongside the chocolate popcorn.

I did like the chocolate covered popcorn however, as it was a bit sweet and salty, so they were true to their claim that there was just enough chocolate to keep me interested, as I did keep digging through the bag looking for more chocolate.

Overall, the chocolate covered was fine, but it wasn't really remarkable, and I really just wanted to freeze it.  Popcorn is always better frozen.

My favorite of their popcorns however.

CARAMEL.

"Cooking this popcorn in a hot kettle caramelises the sugar creating a sweet, rich crunchy shell."

I didn't really care for this.  The caramel flavor wasn't very rich, and the kernels weren't that well coated.  No crunchy shell as promised.  Perhaps it would have been better if I froze it.  Very lackluster caramel corn.

Update, 2016: I think I partially understand why this popcorn isn't awesome.  It has no dairy.  No butter, no cream.  The caramel flavor is artificial.  So, that is a pretty major strike against it.  And, as I mentioned last time, it also isn't that well coated, not as decadent as I'd like.  But, just like the Sweet & SALTY, I did actually enjoy it this time around.  Expectations are everything.

cajun CHILLI.

I wanted to like this one.  It was spicy.  But there was something about the spice that I just didn't like.  I shared it with several others, none of whom liked it either.

But yes, it was spicy.

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Lumi Dining, Pyrmont

It was my first night in Sydney.  I was jet lagged.  I needed dinner.  I knew from past experience in Sydney that fine dining is not where Sydney's strengths lie (the Thai food, the neighborhood cafes, the gelato shops those are all amazing, but fine dining?  Not so much, particularly compared to San Francisco).

Yet I wound up at Lumi for dinner.  This was a very, very odd choice, for so many reasons.

First, Lumi had only been open for less than 4 months.  Even in SF it takes months for a restaurant to hit its stride.  Second, the kitchen is young - I read somewhere that the chefs are all in their early 20s.  They had industry experience, but, not much.  Third, Lumi serves fancy food, which I'd already sworn off in Sydney.  Dinner is an 8 course degustation only, for $95 AUD.  There is no a la carte menu for dinner, only for lunch Thurs -  Sat.

So why did I land there?  Well, I had read good reviews, but mostly, I was lazy.  Remember that jet lag?  It zapped my ability to exert any effort, and Lumi is conveniently located right next to my office.  I needed food, and it was within easy stumbling distance.  It also looked like it was about to rain, and I was totally unprepared for rain, no umbrella in tow.  So I took the path of least resistance.

I also knew that they had a small bar area, with a "bar bites" menu.  Even though the bar bites menu was lacking some of the dishes I really wanted to try, there was no way I had it in me to sit down to a  full 8+ course degustation, so Ojan and I were intending to sit at the bar.  Plus, I hadn't made a booking, which I knew would be essential for a Friday night.

But ... the bar area was reserved for a private party.  Doh.  Since we were still on US time, we arrived right at opening at 6pm, and they had one table that wasn't booked until 8:30pm.  We were told that if we promised to be gone before then, we could have the table.  Great!  Except ... I didn't want a huge degustation menu!  We were in luck, as they offered to let us order off the a la carte menu instead, to speed things up.  This was even better, I could get the dishes I'd been eying, and get a regular table.  Perfect!

Overall, it was a nice experience.  The service was friendly and relaxed, not stuffy fine dining, even though they do serve upscale cuisine.  A different staff member seemed to bring out each dish, including some of the cooks, so we got to interact with many different people.  The space was the most impressive part, located on a wharf, and designed to take in all the light possible, really an incredible ambiance.  The food was all innovative and good, uniquely plated, but not particularly memorable.

For the Sydney area however, it is a very unique experience, and the kitchen is obviously talented.  I will likely return next time I'm in Sydney to see what they do as they mature, and in particular, I would consider the degustation, as it seems to be where their strengths lie, and is really quite reasonably priced, particularly compared to the rest of Sydney!

Open Wall to the Harbor.

The space was the most impressive part.  The wall completely opened up to the harbor.  It was actually a tiny bit chilly at our table with the breeze blowing through since it was unseasonably cool, but the open air setting was really a wonderful ambiance.

The openness gave all the good sides of both being inside and outside all in one, and it created a more casual feel as well.

Boats!

Looking the other direction, through the windows along the front side, were the boats.  There is something to be said for being located out on a pier, with boats right outside the window!  So peaceful.

The harbor location may be a few steps off the beaten path, and it isn't somewhere you'd just find if you weren't looking for it, but the location is lovely, even on a colder, windy, almost raining day.  I can only imagine how dramatic it is on a nice day, or during sunset.

Open Kitchen.

I'm always a sucker for open kitchens, so I appreciated the open kitchen.  Not only was it fun to watch the chefs meticulously plating the dishes, it also just added to the overall open feel.

Since we were one of the first parties seated that evening, the kitchen wasn't very busy when we arrived, but you could tell it was the calm before the storm.  I enjoyed watching the staff kick into action, the pace of the kitchen picking up as more tables started to fill.

Parmesan Churros with Roasted Eggplant Dip.  $12.

We started with a really creative sounding appetizer: savory churros!  With ... eggplant dip?  Craziness.  I had no idea what to expect.

The presentation was creative, served in a little paper sack.  Like the ambiance, it mirrored the casual feel, although clearly a very interesting dish, not just a basic bar snack.  Available at the bar, or during lunch as an a la carte offering, but not part of the degustation or dinner menu.

The churros were piping hot, clearly delivered fresh out of the fryer.  They had been properly drained, and were not oily.  As expected, they were savory, no real sweetness to the batter, and had a slight parmesan flavor.  They were nicely crunchy.

On the side was the creamy eggplant dip, super smooth, no bits of anything in it.

This wasn't a combination I would have ever come up with, but it was definitely an interesting one, and it did work.

Overall, it was definitely fascinating, hot and fresh, but I wouldn't get these again.  I think a different dipping sauce, one with some zing to it, would be more successful.

$12 for 4 was fine for a bar snack.

Squid Ink Chitarra, Orange Buerre Blanc, Bottarga, Sea Urchin Scamp. $22.

Next up, the dish I had been eyeing since I discovered Lumi: Squid Ink Chitarra, part of the degustation, but not available as a bar snack, so we weren't originally going to be able to order it.

This dish had me written all over it.

I love squid ink pasta.  I love cream sauces.  I obviously love uni enough to have a label on my blog for it.  So this was a must order, and I was absolutely thrilled that we were able to order off the full a la carte menu rather than just the bar menu, so we could select this dish.

All my excitement faded away when the dish was presented however.  Where was the urchin?  In its place was ... scampi.  What!!!   I do wish that when I ordered the uni dish, I had been informed that the uni was not available, and that scampi would be substituted.  Although, perhaps I would have changed my order, and then I would have missed this great dish.

It turns out, I had no reason to be upset.  Sure, I didn't have my precious uni, but the scampi was very, very tasty.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed shrimp, or any shrimp-like creature, so much.  It was fresh, delicate, slightly sweet ... just far more interesting than I ever imagined possible.  I believe it was just lightly cured, or perhaps even raw?  It inspired me to order more scampi, and other sea bugs, during my time in Sydney.

The pasta was a perfectly cooked al dente.  The buerre blanc was creamy, and coated the pasta well.

It was a bit hard to eat given the way it was served as a perfect stack, but I did love the presentation.

Overall, this was very good, but I didn't love it quite as much as I hoped to.  I think my expectations were probably just set unrealistically high.  This dish seems to be one Lumi is evolving, as earlier reviews I read featured a stinging nettle pasta rather than squid ink, with a mussel cream sauce instead of orange buerre blanc.  Any version of unique housemade pasta, with cream sauce, and seafood sounds good to me though!

Lamb Cutlet Milanese Style, Smoked Cocktail Sauce. $15.

Finally, another bar bite, lamb cutlet.  Again, since it was a bar bite, the plating was a bit more rustic than the previous dish from the degustation.

You may recall that I don't like lamb, but Ojan was hungrier than I was, so he selected this as another bite for himself.

Of course, even though I don't like lamb, I had to try a bite.

It was ... well, lamb.  But if I was ever going to like lamb, coating it in crispy stuff and serving it with a smokey aioli was a good way to do it.  I still didn't like it, but it was really nicely fried, and the creamy cocktail sauce was tasty.

$15 might have been a little high for a rather small piece of meat however.

Evergreen: Sorrel, Lemon Basil, Mint Shiso, Parsley.  $15.

We wanted to end the meal with something sweet, because, well it is me, and I kinda live for dessert.
The one dessert on the a la carte menu (yougurt ice cream with cherries) wasn't really calling out to me.  Luckily, when I asked about dessert, our server told us that she could probably get the kitchen to offer up the palette cleanser from the degustation menu, served before the heavier regular dessert.  She highly recommended it, and it sounded crazy and unique, so we went for it, even though I admit that it wasn't really what I'd normally pick either, particularly as it was a frozen dish, and I was already a bit chilly.

The presentation of the "Evergreen" was absolutely stunning.  And this was just the palette cleanser!  Given the other dishes I saw coming out of the kitchen the regular degustation menu is more in this style, and it was just our ordering of bar bites that yielded the more rustic dishes you saw above.

So, where to start.  There was a green sorrel sorbet.  Green shiso leaf jelly.  Green lemon basil granita.  Tons of fresh microgreens.  Little green mint meringues.  The dish name, "Evergreen", suddenly made sense.

This was crazy unique, certainly one of the most interesting desserts I've ever had.  There was something in the mix of herbs that made my tongue tingle just like when eating fresh tarragon.  It was light, it was refreshing, and I'm sure it served its place as a palette cleanser well.  But ... it wasn't really my thing, at all.  Interestingly, Ojan, who generally just eats a bite or two of dessert and never loves it, really did like this.

Since this didn't really satisfy my need for decadent dessert, I may or may not have stopped at Chat Thai on the way back to the hotel for a second dessert.

$15 is a bit pricy for a palette cleanser, but it was a complex, intricately plated dish and certainly the most memorable dish of the meal.

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