Cafe Sydney — Restaurant in Sydney

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...

We attended on January 13th lunchtime. I booked this months ago and had excellent phone service from the team prior. Some of us were coming from Melbourne for a special birthday too.

Arrived and had an unbelievable view. It was incredible. Loved it. Grateful.

We had kids with us. They were starving and were nibbling on some sushi as we were waiting. The service was already very slow (more about that later). Despite slow service, the head waiter had no issue running over asking for us to take the sushi away. We were already paying extraordinary prices for kids meals and my nephew who is 1 1/2 was starving. Could have been nicer about it but the head waiter was abrupt.

Our service was also inconsistent. A few of our servers were very very nice and attentive. Our lead one was really challenging and out of her depth. She forgot some of our order, didn’t even apologise and then still got the food out after we finished even after we said don’t worry. We also asked for a side to come out with main but it came out as an entree too. Trying to get her attention hard, why not leave a bottle of water if it was hard for her to pour it? Our cocktails came 10 Minutes after our mains despite ordering way earlier too. Was passive agreeing to something when we’re asking a question so she’s not even listening and not very friendly. A few other ones who also helped were really good though by comparison. One in particular was really attentive and sweet. Wish we had his name to pass on recognition.

As for the food it was all around - very nice. There wasn’t anything memorable but everything was very delicious and well portioned. The entrees were tasty - (naan bread a highlights), we enjoyed the mains too. I would question if this is a family place - the kids hated the food. (I did ask the team in November when I booked and they insisted this was very kids friendly, I would challenge that).

The drinks were really nice!

No cutlery came out with dessert. Had to ask twice as the first server disappeared.

And got to love at the front desk a couple of staff gossiping and complaining as one guy is touching another woman’s behind and having a bit of fun in front of guests. My 8 year old niece observed that. Nice.

This after hearing the lead waiter telling us earlier that it’s a “fine dining restaurant”. Right.

In summary, the view is the star. I would be distraught if we didn’t have a view. Otherwise nothing else really was memorable. ...

I visited in 2016 and at the time had no idea of what an institution this establishment was and is. Fast forward 7 years and it is somehow exponentially better. From the greeting to the end of our reservation it was a world class experience and the food and wine was some of the best our entire party had ever experienced.

We ordered an array of starters including the special fresh oysters the burrata and King fish and all were exemplary, beautiful and even innovative combinations of flavours which had obvioulsy been so well thought out and tested and sampled by what appears to be an incredible kitchen staff. We also ordered an array of mains from differing fish mains, lamb, pork and steak. All were absolute stand outs with complex flavour profiles but beautiful execution in its appeared simplicity, highlighting and nuauncing the immaculate produce and flavours. Whilst fine dining the portions sizes were relatively larger than expected, not the typical tiny food movement. I ordered the lamb dish which came with a mini (2) rack of lamb and an exquisite lamb "cube" and its described sides and was the most perfectly cooked and seasoned meat I have eaten and likewise comments around the table for each other dish. Each dish was an absolutely extraordinary combination of what is clearly years of training in the kitchen culminated with passion for each dish and plate.

Added to this was the exemplary table service we received with standout knowledge of drink and wine pairings as well as additional sides as well as second to none suggestions from the sommelier.

We were there for a very special birthday and upon request had a beautiful candle and happy birthday written on to the dessert platter we ordered, a perfect end to the evening which was made forever memorable for our front facing terrace table facing the sydney harbour.

An institution of sydney well...