Quay
Five of the BITs got together again last night at dinner for what is now going to be a quarterly event. The location for dinner was Quay, a restaurant situated on the overseas passenger terminal at Circular Quay. It sits directly opposite the Opera House and offers almost a 270 degree view of Sydney Harbour. We scored a beautiful table placing us by the floor-to-ceiling windows, providing an excellent backdrop for the evening. Quay took out the SMH’s Good Food Guide best restaurant award for 2003, and it did not disappoint. The menu was à la carte, with no degustation menu, consisting of Mod Oz cuisine featuring influences from Asia, Europe and the Middle-East. I ordered a very succulent, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly and scallops, a chicken dish with a naturally fancy name I don’t remember, and an excellent “passionfruit and lime fusion” dessert (passionfruit ice cream, lime meringue brulée). The serving sizes are surprisingly decent, as well as the prices. The bill, including the three courses, two bottles of wine, drinks, a couple sides for the table, coffee/tea and tip worked out at $140pp, which is actually quite palatable compared to some other reputable restaurants around town.
For me, Quay wins hands down for ambience, atmosphere and view, even compared to 41. Nothing like being at the water’s edge, with a view of the CBD buildings, the Coathanger, the Opera House and the boats on the harbour drifting by the window. Their service was not the most polished, nor amiable, but that might have in part had something to do with Jay rocking up an hour late, thanks to Cityrail! The food is exceedingly good value, although I found Tet’s range more exciting. Time flew and we ended up spending five hours (7pm – midnight) there. The timing of the dishes was well paced. (And the dinner conversation highly engaging, including some interesting news about a friend who has made a not insignificant amount of money (and frequent flier points) off what we’ve termed “bookie arbitrage” combined with long-term “investing”, a concept centered around treating the bookmaking industry like the stockmarket. I found this quite interesting, as the bookie industry tends not to have the same systemic risk inherent in stockmarkets.) Quay is highly recommended – it’s very good value for money.
2:17am (GMT +10.00) tomorrow 
