【Sydney Food】Cafe Sydney

Cafe Sydney is often recommended to overseas and interstate visitors as a “nice restaurant with an amazing view”.

Even though that statement is technically correct, I find it difficult to recommend Cafe Sydney to anyone. I have been here twice – once at night for a cocktail event, and another time for a weekday lunch. Both times, I felt genuinely underwhelmed by the level of service and the value we received.

—–HER{curio}MAJESTY SCORE SHEET—–

Visited: last visit 30 January 2015

Food: 8/10 || Ambiance: 7/10 || Service: 5.5/10

What I love: The view.

Will I come back: Probably not.

It is located within this beautiful historical building, Old Custom House, conveniently right opposite the Circular Quay train station. Walk straight in and take the lift on your left past the foyer.

The Sydney Harbour view from the restaurant. Naturally, only a handful of tables get the front seat row of the view. As you can see, the iconic Opera House is blocked. Even though it is still easily one of the most beautiful views that a Sydney restaurant could have, honestly, the Sydney Harbour view is more spectacular down at the bench at Circular Quay where you could have a full panoramic view. 

Admittedly, dining at a restaurant with a view is different than taking a stroll at the wharf. However, if you’re looking for a romantic experience, you are likely to be disappointed unless you are lucky enough to be seated right by the railing of the terrace.

Maybe, just maybe, if we were seated on the terrace, I would’ve overlooked the waiter’s attitude problem.

Seared scallops, skara bacon, corn puree, faro, basil salsa, $28. My friend wanted to upsize this to a main course, but they didn’t have this option. “Unless you want to order two of the same entrees but that’s going to be very expensive and not worth it”, the waiter suggested without much of a facial expression. Although I felt it was not thoughtful enough for a restaurant of this class, restaurants are free to set their rules so we didn’t take this to heart.

The scallops were delicious.

Grilled Morton bay bugs, garlic herb butter, mixed leaves, $40. I thoroughly enjoyed the tender, juicy and perfectly grilled Morton bay bugs. It was of a decent portion, and it came with a small salad.

Rocket, pecorino, red apple, white balsamic (Side), $10.

Blue eye trevalla, pea puree, asparagus, zucchini flowers, pickled mushroom, snow pea shoots, $43.

We were actually quite happy with the food. Just when I thought Cafe Sydney had redeemed itself, the most bizarre thing happened when we requested for the bill.

First of all, it took forever for the waiter to get the bill to our table. When the waiter finally got it, he placed it at our table and left (which was fine), but it took him forever to return. When we finally got his attention again, he opened the bill pad of which my friend had already slid her credit card inside – the international sign language of “I will pay by credit card” – pointed to bottom part of the bill and asked my friend to specify how she was going to pay. Then he left again.

What? Why would she have put her credit card in if she wanted to pay by cash? It was such an illogical request, but when we looked at where he was pointing, we realised he just wanted to remind us that there is a “tips” section on the bill. I was so stunned and speechless. This is Australia, your boss is supposed to pay you Award rates, your customers will tip you if they want to, and you’re not meant to harass your customers by throwing around unintelligent excuses!

Anyway, my friend, being a really nice person, didn’t kick up a fuss and actually wrote in some tips on the bill. We halted the waiter the third time to give him the now-completed bill pad. Guess what he said? He basically then told us he was a quite busy at the moment and it would take him a while to get the payment through, however, if we are in a hurry, he can escort us to the cashier so we can sort out the payment with the cashier ourselves.

….

No class, no class at all. (and if that’s the case, why didn’t he tell us earlier before all the charade?)

I was just glad that my friend crossed out the tips before we walked off to the cashier.

Another word of caution – they claim that their “Sydney’s most stunning private dining rooms with terrace access, views of the harbour” can fit a maximum of 30 people for a cocktail event with a small section of the terrace access for $2500 + 10% gratuity.

The truth is, it was the most claustrophobic function room that I have ever seen (as shown in my photo, the table took up 2/5 of the room and there was not much room left for standing, the whole time I felt I was in a cloak room). The terrace access was indeed very limited with many tables of guests on the terrace eating quietly in front of us.

The finger food was a meh.

Bye, Cafe Sydney. Not coming back again.

{Cafe Sydney}
Address: 31 Alfred Street, Sydney NSW
Website: http://www.cafesydney.com/