We arrived as a group of nine for lunch, including one child. The venue is lovely; you take an elevator up and are welcomed by a large reception desk, a lounge, and steps leading to a spectacular view.

Several diners in our group had visited this place over the years on trips to Sydney, but let’s face it—it’s a tourist trap, not for good food. The $1500+ bill was not worth it, and I felt tricked into an overpriced menu while others had the à la carte option. Maybe it was good once? If you're given the fixed menu, I'd suggest walking out—it was bad in every sense.

Value = Terrible Quality = Worse

We were told we'd be seated inside during booking, which was fine, but the harbour view is spectacular. I’d highly encourage seeking an outside table for an unobstructed view.

Upon being led to our table, we were almost seated when some odd commotion occurred. The maître d' was told to take us back to the lounge to wait for our table, which was weird because they all had headsets. So, we walked back down the steps, up the steps, and sat at the bar for about 45 seconds until we were re-gathered to walk back down and up the steps again to our seat.

It was confusing, as we had a menu with no prices, with meals that didn’t match anything anyone else was eating (I would have loved some Oysters). We sat for a long time, surrounded by staff and managers, though it wasn’t clear what any of them were doing.

I stopped a staff member and asked if we could order drinks and enquired about the menu. He said he’d organise drinks and started to attend to our table, but called a manager to explain the menu situation.

Apparently, we didn’t have an à la carte option and were informed the previously undisclosed price for our meal (as the menu had no prices) would be $140 per person. This wasn’t ideal as we were very keen to eat, but rarely would I have three courses for lunch.

The fixed menu included a limited selection of bread (naan), a starter, a main, and a dessert (we were told to choose one of each) but we could upgrade to ‘additional items’ for an extra fee. The manager then informed us we should have been told earlier during booking, but if we wanted, we could opt for the à la carte option—however, we’d still be subject to a minimum $140 charge.

The bread covered in oil came and sat on the table while we waited for water and drinks. After a few minutes, we started eating the bread, and I asked another manager if we were supposed to have side plates to avoid oil dripping all over the table—it wasn’t great.

We had octopus starters, which was so salty it made my stomach turn. I ate about half of it. It was salt-flavored, not fresh. Drinks were slow or non-existent, considering the number of staff buzzing around. You could get them, but it was more like a bistro where you’d wave to someone. My water spent more time empty than full.

Mains came and the fish was okay but pretty much on the same sauce base as the octopus. The weirdest part was the $140 child’s meal, which was so sweet that the kid couldn’t eat it. We thought the child was joking, so a few of us tried it; it was like candied tomato penne. Disgusting—not suitable for anyone. What kid doesn’t like sweeter things?

The cheesecake and cheese platter were more suitable to be shared. Several people ended up with full cheese platters when we’d probably only wanted one or two for the table. It seemed wasteful and haphazard. If you’re going to serve grapes on a cheese plate, they should be fresh and pruned.

By this point, I had to leave the table, as the excessive salt and poor service were driving me crazy; I left and waited for the group to finish and meet me downstairs. Overall, it was a completely unremarkable experience that I couldn’t fully endure. For such a reputable place, I was extremely disappointed. It was amateur hour on a Monday—perhaps they had their apprentices running the kitchen. The value was zero, and I could never recommend a repeat visit.