Tags
Australia, Criniti's Restaurant, Darling Harbour, Longrain Restaurant, New South Wales, South East Asian cuisine, Surry Hills, Sydney, Traditional southern Italian cuisine
Lunch overlooking the Harbour in Sydney
My friend Sharon had to travel to Sydney a couple of months ago and after meeting up with another friend Katrina, we decided on lunch overlooking Sydney Harbour at a restaurant serving traditional southern Italian cuisine. Yum I thought! We chose a table directly overlooking the Sydney Eye. Now having recently been on the London Eye, it was nothing like that; not as big but I think now a lot of cities around the world have one for visitors to get a birds eye view of the city.We decided to share an entree and chose a tomato bruschetta with a difference. This one was huge, it was a large wood fired Italian bread with tomatoes, red onions, basil, olives and oregano and some extra virgin olive oil – delicious!I ordered the vegetable risotto which was absolutely delicious and came with baby spinach, asparagus, mushroom, shallots, sliced avocado, semi-dried tomatoes and fresh chilli, topped with a perfectly cooked poached egg.Katrina ordered the lamb salad with avocado, feta, oregano, fresh rocket and semi-dried tomatoes with a garlic aioli dressing – fabulous she said too.And Sharon ordered the beetroot salad with roasted pumpkin, goats cheese, shredded carrot, roasted walnuts and fresh rocket with a raspberry dressing along with a side order of haloumi. The food here was an absolute winner. This is a chain restaurant and is also located in other locations in Sydney and Melbourne…just wish it was in Canberra.It was great to catch up with these friends and enjoy good food and after a while another friend joined us and he chose a healthy option of a marinated chicken salad with cos lettuce, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, shredded carrot, feta, semi-dried tomatoes, roasted capsicum, mushroom and cucumber with a chilli aioli dressing…looked pretty good too.
Dinner in Sydney’s trendy Surry Hills
Like me, two of my other friends retired last year, so I said I would travel to Sydney and go out to dinner to celebrate their retirement. I chose a restaurant serving South East Asian cuisine and known for being very popular (Longrain) and had come highly recommended by my ‘foodie’ friend Jane.
Reservations are limited [first in best dressed rule] and seating is at large communal tables. But as we had a table of nine I was able to make a reservation for an individual table. I wouldn’t suggest this would be a good place for a first date with the communal tables and no guarantee you will be seated across from each other – you might have to sit side by side!
(source: http://www.longrain.com.au)
We arrived early for our 6pm reservation and lucky we did as were told we had to give up our table at 8.15pm as the restaurant has two seatings per night -one at 6pm [us] and the next at 8.30pm [too late for me]. I really don’t like this system as with a large group you don’t really get the chance to chat to everyone within that confined timeframe…but we had no choice. We were seated at a round table which only had room for eight so we had to squash together to accomodate the nine of us.
(source: http://www.longrain.com.au)
Our waitress encouraged us to try each dish banquet style which we did and ordered a range of dishes including an eggplant curry, a northern Thai lamb curry with pickled garlic and fresh ginger, a chargrilled chicken dish with mustard greens and crispy egg noodles, salt and pepper silken tofu (really good) and a plate of stir friend Asian greens with garlic and oyster sauce.
Some of the girls tried the desserts which I was told were very good and presented beautifully. A coconut sorbet and a coconut ash ice cream swirl with a cashew nut praline were the desserts of choice.In the main the food was very good but it was an incredibly hot restaurant (too many tables with too many people I think) which made me rather uncomfortable and extremely noisy. Made it very hard to hear friends across the table and those up the other end of the table, I had no idea what they were saying!
mavimet said:
Everything looks so good. I can’t figure out why I always get hungry after reading one of your posts. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
steveo said:
That bruschetta looks pretty fabulous. I had to zoom into the picture to get a better look, and wipe the drool off my chin.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Little Miss Traveller said:
The food looks delicious in both restaurants but, like you, with the second one I wouldn’t have liked the idea of having to leave by a certain time. When diners are spending so much, they should be able to stay as long as they wish as they would most likely be ordering more drinks and coffees. Big tables and noisy surroundings aren’t great either when you can only talk to people close by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lignum Draco said:
Criniti’s – I’ve stood outside it several times to photograph VIVID, but the restaurant has always been too busy to go into. The food does look good though. That bruschetta looks like a pizza. 🙂
Longrain – I’ve not been to. I think restaurants with 2 distinct sittings should warn you before you book. For a large group, I prefer restaurants with private dining areas for the large table.
LikeLiked by 1 person
vinneve said:
I like Sydney but I am not a fan of crowds. Had some nice memories there. Foods are great I agree as well as the “Eye” is everywhere now adays. Your food photos looked yum!
LikeLiked by 1 person
sileas said:
Interesting concept with the communal table! But I think I’d rather have that table for two by the Harbour front – what a nice view!
LikeLiked by 1 person
JoHanna Massey said:
Coconut Sorbet is my favorite.
This looks like a perfect time of it SueT. Friends, excellent food, and the view of Sydney Harbor. You and I certainly do enjoy our food, don’t we? All my best to you. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Ha ha. Thank you Mavis.
LikeLike
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Best I have ever had Steveo. Had two pieces abs probably wanted three but with risotto coming I stopped at two.
LikeLiked by 1 person
reocochran said:
I loved the views! The food looks scrumptious, Sue.
I was wondering what is the black ash in the coconut ice cream. 😊 🤗
The London Eye is an amazing size in photos, while the Sydney Eye is a pleasant surprise. ✨
LikeLiked by 1 person
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks as always Vinneve. I am in HK at the moment abs the crowds are horrendous. But I do love it here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Me too best to have view rather than have to listen to other people’s conversation especially when you don’t know them.
LikeLike
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you too JoHanna.
LikeLiked by 1 person
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I just read it’s the ash created from burning the shell of a young coconut. Interesting where these chef’s come up with these ideas isn’t it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Marta said:
The location of the first restaurant looks amazing! And I would kill for that bruschetta right now xD
LikeLiked by 1 person
SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
You would love the bruschetta Marta. You have to eat for two now ha ha.
LikeLike
Amy said:
Looks so delicious. Beautiful presentation!
Nice view from the restaurant. How enjoyable. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
reocochran said:
So interesting to find this out, Sue. I always try to backtrack to the last post I read and check your comment out. Thank you, Sue for being there in a timely manner on my post. I’m working my way forward to the present. 🌷 🦋
LikeLiked by 1 person
vinneve said:
Just came back from being busy with life and yes another holidays here in PH. Enjoy your holiday in HK and will read it soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person