I’ve been to Quay Restaurant twice before in the last 5 years and this time (30/5/11)  it did not fail to impress. Peter Gilmore’s unique and wonderful assortment of Modern Australian with an Asian Twist is both art to look at and bouncy on your taste buds.

We were seated in the half dome section which had a 180 degree view of the city. It was the perfect escape from the wintery rainy night.

Anyway enough with the awe of the view, next came the difficult decision of what to have. We chose the 4 course menu, each course consisting of  delectable offerings it was hard to decide! Our waitress was extremely helpful and polite and best of all knew each dish back to front. This level of service is expected from a three hat restaurant but I must say that the service here was impeccable, consistent throughout the night.

For the first course of entrees, I had the wonderful Sea Pearls which were 4 balls of absolute delight (wait that didn’t sound right, but oh it tasted right), each ball bursting with its own unique flavour which included Smoked Eel, Tuna Sashimi, Mud Crag and Sea Scallop. My partner had the Mud crab congee which tasted just like the traditional asian kind but only ten times better!!!.  They were terrific starters and only the beginning of a very beautiful gastronomic friendship…

For the second entree I had the Gentle braise of black lipped abalone,pearl oyster, rare breed pig, shiitake, native sea parsley, ginger scented milk curd, earth and sea consommé. Partner had the Poached Lobster Consomme (can’t remember the correct fancy name). So many textures with a wonderful marriage of flavors, it was difficult to contain my pleasure at every bite.

The stand out of the night came highly recommended, it was the Berkshire pig jowl, maltose crackling, prunes, cauliflower cream, perfumed with prune kernel oil, which my partner had. This pork had been slow cooked for 23 hrs, turning the texture into the softest piece of meat I have ever eaten, you barely had to chew…very rich but oh so tasty. Poached Wagyu beef, oxtail, morel, black pudding, farro, buckwheat, hazelnut, ezekiel which I had was ok, very tender with an interesting crust of buckwheat and hazelnut. The pork was the winner between the two.

Come dessert time, I had to order the snow egg. I have had it once before so I wanted to refresh my tastebuds on how adoring it was. And it didn’t fail to meet my expectations, it was soooo good! The egg has a nice crunchy but solid encasing with the creamiest custard apple filling in the centre. The guava flavoured ice surrounding the egg made a great sorbet partnership. Partner had the Quay’s Eight texture chocolate cake and boy was that rich! Wasn’t my cup of tea as it was made from dark chocolate so it was incredibly rich. The sauce was actually dolloped on the fondon-like chocolate base which just gulped up the chocolate sauce once poured. It was fascinating.

I would highly recommend dining at the Quay Restaurant as it would make that special occasion extra special. Do it, spoil yourself and your partner! You deserve it! 😉

Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, Sydney 2000

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Eatability Review: devine