Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Lunch at NSW Art Gallery (Sydney)

I was overjoyed to learn one of my friends was swinging by Sydney and was free to meet for lunch. So I proposed to lunch at NSW Art Gallery restaurant. Personally I had not sampled a meal there but I figured what the heck. It had some good reviews and I thought at least he could occupied himself with the art pieces should I be late:P

As surprised as he was, the restaurant located at the end of on the ground floor had a very nice view with its glass panels up to the ceiling. It was a bright sunny day and the whole area lit up beautifully with the natural lit reflecting off the red and white theme. We had the classic view of the wharf view where Harry's pie is located and.

Lunch operates form 12-3pm and I was there by 2pm. I'm not sure if it was the time constraint or my imagination but I didnt find the lady who served us to be particularly warm nor friendly. She even barely smiled, as if ordering just main alone wasnt good enough. She was competent but her impersonal and distant devoidness watered down my dining experience,

The food came rather quickly being non peak. I had the duck confit while jason had the king fish. I would say he had the better deal. My duck slices though ample was overcooked and the barley gravy base wasnt tasty enough to compliment the duck natural taste.

Jason's fish was however nicely cooked and sweet. If i were to rate my food for the day, I would give it a 6 out of 10. The presentation neither fire my imagination nor increase my appetite. Jason laughed when I was taking the picture and asked if I was setting a restaurant. I neglect to tell him it was for my blog since he didnt know I had one. Ha ha ha.

Thankfully the focus was our conversation upon catching up and the food lost its hold on me. The dessert description didnt look appealing and so I brought him to Lindt cafe at Martin Place instead. He was keen to try since it was the only Lindt cafe in the world accordingly to the guide book he had. We tried and shared St Moritz which was a good choice as it was the least rich of them all, when taken with the Lindt hot chocolate.

We stayed for another 2 hours there and the stream of customers was endless. It wasnt till 6pm when i realised I have to leave home to start my dinner. However, that was not before I led him to Chifley Square and showed him where Azuma Japanese Restaurant is. Told him to avoid Sushi Tei across the street at all cost.

We parted at the station before promising to catch up again when I return to Singapore. This time round, we promised that he would let me treat him for a change when I get back. I felt bad that he refused to let me pay for lunch today and even bought me Haigh's chocolates because he felt he had to get me something. I was touched by the kind gesture. It was even my fav choc with macademias nuts. Now whoever says Singapore guys aint sweet or sensitive deserve a smacking from me!

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