Lunch at Flying Fish Restaurant

Flying Fish Restaurant in Pyrmont has a great location with a fantastic view towards the Harbour, that is only if you're lucky to be seated anywhere near a window with such a view. I think I should stop expecting great things just from seeing pictures of fantastic food and great sights blogged by prominent food bloggers. Obviously, that expectations do not meet the dreadful reality.

I can definitely understand the whole hype in terms of food, the Seared Yellow Fin Tuna with Ruby Grapefruit, Sweet Crackling Pork and Black Pepper Caramel was divine. I wished I had this as a main instead of an entree. And as a main I ordered their Cone Bay Barramundi, Chorizo, Black Garlic, Pearl Barley with Lemon Juice dish, which probably wasn't as special as the entree that I ordered. But the crispy skin and the really soft fish meat were such beautiful contrast that I was just marvelling at such differing texture. As a side dish a few of us shared a plate of hand cut chips with chilli salt that has been widely renowned, and I can definitely attest to this. The chips were lovely soft and fluffy though the outside was not crunchy it was absolutely wonderful to bite into. 


Excellent, excellent food. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone.

Alas, one thing lingered, the excellently exquisite food cannot match the smile-less service that we get from our waiters. I'm not entirely sure whether it was because of the day that we were there (a Sunday) or because the weather wasn't that great but their faces were sombre and almost feels like they'd rather be somewhere else than serving us lunch or our table. As horrible as that may sound we eventually got one of our waiters to smile just because we made a joke at the end of our lunch. Our effort obviously, not theirs. 


(UPDATE: After talking with other people attending the lunch we seem to come to an agreement that it might be because it was Sunday and the weather wasn't that great that have slightly contributed to the tired and moody expressions)


(UPDATE: It appears my experience is not an isolated incident, they obviously do the worst service on a Sunday: http://twitter.com/paulredfern/status/221853307919011840)


On the other hand, thank you to the Chef for providing all different options for transporting our leftover cake home. There was at one point a possibility of taking a plastic container that they needed back (which meant one of us had to come back to the venue to return it), a little extreme but I really appreciated the effort. (It was quite funny now that I think about it)

And not to mention, the prices of the food might be overpriced but I still don't mind spending that much but a surcharge for the credit cards is a little too much! Absolutely unnecessary in my opinion, given how much we have spent at the time. And also for a very prominent place they really need to train their waiters better at attending their clients, I know a smile may be tiring (trust me, after working 6 years at a newsagency smiling once or twice will not make your cheeks hurt) but it makes a hell of an impression on your customers.

One more thing that I wanted to mention was that for a party of 9 our table was unusually small. It might be great to be close and intimate to our friends but it becomes such a challenge to navigate your limbs when eating and sharing and constantly placing overlarge plates all over the table. I think better seating considerations are needed.

Otherwise, a fantastic culinary experience! I'm definitely coming back here to try more on what they have to offer (a little pricey but well worth the dough). 

Yellow Fin Tuna

Cone Bay Barramundi