30th birthday part 1: SYDNEY
Tue, Sep. 15th, 2015 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annarti
FINALLY I got all my photos edited. Really it was just a matter of finding a solid... 4 hours or however long it took to get it done. There are 128 in total, trimmed down from 180 because several are similar enough that it's pointless putting them online. I'll split it into a few parts to preserve my sanity :D
Here we set the scene for much of the holiday at the Queen Victoria Building, more commonly known as the QVB because we're Australian, for a champagne brunch. My bestie Alex's birthday is also on the 17th (though she's not 30 yet) so we had a high tea for her birthday meal on the day before, which was the day after I landed. Four of us--along with Cassie and Alex's friend Meredith--went the full champagne, which for some reason came in four screw-top piccolos instead of just a full bottle, and it was delightful.
DELIGHTFUL! That was for me and Alex. Meredith and Cassie each got allergen plates. It was all so delicious and delicate. The best savoury was the little cracker you see on the middle tray with the sandwiches, which was VERY cheesey and with avocado on top. Whole thing was gorgeous.
Desserty bits! That chocolate thing was SO RICH omfg. The cheesecakey thing on the right was my fave.
Centrepiece of the room. Those chandeliers were the size of my living room. Probably bigger.
Dessert with the actual tea part of high tea. Mine was vanilla of some description and it was lovely.
After that we wandered around Sydney for a bit, no photos because I've already got plenty of the Bridge and the Opera House in gorgeous weather and I don't really need another one. Headed down to the Rocks markets (right under the Bridge) and bought sparkly things, and lost Cassie like five times. From here I bought a steampunk necklace similar to this but mine has a round bottle and wings and no sand. It's so pretty. I deliberately retrict myself to one thing from the Rocks every time I go cos otherwise I'd just drop $300 at the place every Sydney visit. That place is DANGEROUS.
Next morning (my birthday!), view from Cassie's place. Good god what an expensive view.
We didn't do a whole lot, just walked down the hella-steep hill from Cassie's place to the little beach down on the harbour. Idk if this harbour has a name. There are that many little inlets and things around Sydney that I don't know if all of them are named. Anyway. It was sunny and there were more people than Cassie's EVER SEEN down there because it's such a tiny secluded beach. But sun was happening, which isn't generally a thing that happens in the middle of winter, even in Sydney, so they were out in force. There were, like, 8 people at least.
GLORIOUS.
CONTINUED GLORIOUS. I'd love to have a spot like this so close to where I live. That said, I do love my Hills bushland.
Bummed around the house for most of the day, being introduced to Orange is the New Black and generally getting excited for the evening. ALSO birthday presents! Remember when I said we kept losing Cassie at the Rocks? Sneaky girl was going back to all the stalls I stopped at going, 'NOPE I'm keeping myself RESTRAINED here I'll look at something from this stall next time I'm in Sydney.' And she bought all the things. ALL OF THEM. Earrings to match my steampunk necklace, with wings and a turquoise bead, from the same shop, and a gold gumleaf necklace because I bloody love that shop. I already have a silver pendant and matching earrings. Next Sydney trip, the gold earrings to match X3 AND. Yoshi's New Island. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL and so adorable and omfg I love so much. If you die too many times on the level (like, 5) it gives you the option to have wings so you can fly and if you STILL stuff up then you get to be invincible to enemies as well. And the bits where you turn into a helicopter or a submarine or whatever are controlled by turning the DS around. And did I mention it's adorable and holy shit I love Yoshi. THANK YOU MY CASSIE <3 <3 <3
AND THEN THE DAY ONLY CONTINUED WITH THE AWESOME. Okay really the entire holiday continued with the awesome, but this, THIS, is the reason for it.
Conveniently, the ferry stops fairly close to Cassie's place, so her dad kindly drove us there so we wouldn't have to worry about blood alcohol limits. Last time I was in Sydney I got this journey in daylight, so here we go again, Sydney Harbour and the CBD at dusk :D Centrepoint Tower (which is apparently not called Centrepoint anymore... wtf Sydney) on the left and the Opera House on the right.
Now with 100% more ferry.
Some random weird Sydney architecture, idk what it is I just thought it looked pretty.
Clearly an accident but gosh it looks artsy and pretty :D I think that's the Opera House on the top left there.
SHUT UP I'M A TOURIST. Also it was still really pleasant outside. In freaking AUGUST at NIGHT. Screw you, Sydney.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Quay. Right on the Rocks. We pretty much had the second best table in the restaurant. So nice how they set us up, too, so it wasn't that our table was right up against the window, but rather the third side was out to the harbour. Nobody had a view of just the docks that were straight out the window while having their back on the Opera House. It was perfect.
TADA Opera House. Also Cassie who hated that photo but it's the only one I have of that view so she gets censored. Cos I'm nice like that :D
And Alex and some giant coathanger to my left! Just around from that little slip over her left shoulder is where the Rocks Markets are.
Aaaaand here we begin >D With cocktails! I forget what this one was apart from the star anise, and I belieeeeve it was Galliano that made me order it. Idk, it was a Quay specialty and it was amazing. Cassie had three. I got the premium wine matching and Alex had the classics so we just had one each.
The menu! Or rather, my menu. Cassie and Alex are WEIRD and don't like seafood, and Cassie also had the gluten free version, but do not be fooled: these were not compromises. For example, here are some of them as taken by the said Cassie. The gluten free wasn't just substituting the gluten-y part of the meal with a sub-par replacement, it was a whole different course. You're not missing out at this place.
Featuring the dress and necklace/earrings I bought just for this night.
And again. Reasonably small room but the restaurant continues right back down along Circular Quay. RIGHT. Ten courses, let's get started >D
This one wasn't on the menu so I can't remember the exact description as they told us, but basically smoooooooth creamy (I THINK it was) potato sort of pudding thing with oxtail broth. It was SO warming and beautifully rich, full of flavour, full of everything you can't put into words unless you're a food writer.
Marron, dory caviar, cultured cream, nasturtiums, white flowers
So my premium wine matching started with a glass of pink Bollinger 8DDD Which was just... homg. Grinning ear to ear already. And then the marron arrived! Marron is a freshwater crayfish with claws from Western Australia, extremely delicate, sweet flesh you can just sit chewing for ages and getting all this flavour out of it. The orange you can see is the dory caviar. The whole thing was just so delicate and beautiful. EVERYTHING was delicate and beautiful.
Congee of mud crab, palm heart, egg yolk emulsion
So most of what you can see here is the egg yolk emulsion but there was also an amazing broth there (oh god I love a good broth and these were AMAZING. How they manage to be delicate and yet so full of flavour idk but they were) and of course the crab. So so good.
XO sea
Again with the amazing broth. So this had~ various seafood bits. I remember a scallop and some octopus? And such finely sliced jamon (cured pig fat, basically makes prosciutto look like the cheapest bacon you've ever had) that you could see through it. Rich and salty and BAM flavour. I had a really nice crisp white to cut through it. Perfect.
XO sea again. That is jamon on top there looking like toffee, you guys.
Smoked and confit pig jowl, roasted koji, shiitake, kombu, sesame, sea scallop, milk curd, smoked broth
I forgot to take a photo until I was halfway through, whoops. But look at the BOWL. The crockery was all amazing, too, I should point out. Anyway, piggie. So much Asian influence on this menu, which is of course why I picked it Quay X3 So flavourful and delicate again. It just falls apart in your mouth. Homg.
Slow cooked duck, black rice miso, celery heart cream, black garlic, ice plant buds
DUCK 8DDDD Probably my favourite meat. The textures on this one were great. The duck was just amazing it was like butter it was so tender. Homnomnom.
Blackmore wagyu rump cap, oak grown shiitake mushrooms, golden orach, seaweed
This ain't just steak and mushrooms. It was PERFECT. My favourite 'main' for want of a better word. Technically we didn't get wagyu because apparently they were out of it that night, but the cut was still superb. Another where I just took little bits and chewed the same mouthful, not because it was tough but because I just didn't want it to go away.
Being as I'm on the steak here, I'll natter a bit about the wine. Our sommelier was fabulous. For each match he told us where we were 'travelling to' and just painted this picture of Austrian slopes or French valleys, totally indulged us three young ladies having fun at an expensive restaurant. We were talking at one point about how much none of us want kids and why we would each fail at being mums, as he was pouring our next round of beverages. When he stood at the head to take us away to New Zealand or wherever our beverages were taking us, he mentioned that there were some ladies over the other side of the restaurant who would have been HORRIFIED at our conversation XD We did lol.
For the classic wine selection (which Alex had) two of the matching wines on the list of eight came from the Barossa Valley. We were proud little South Australians. Also we thought her Barossa red was better than my Italian red that went with the steak. Possibly worried the sommelier at that point but damnit I have state pride. And it WAS. Everything on my list was international except the sticky at the end from Victoria. Also, to go with the snow egg (coming up), Alex got a cider which was just so good we passed it around the table. And then they brought out another glass for Cassie, too, which was jolly nice of them. Didn't even charge! I mean, I know we spent over a grand, but it's still the little touches that make you feel like you're more than just the dollars you're spending =3
Snow egg
Epic. Just. Epic. This is Quay's signature dish, the reason many people go there, just for this dessert. The fruit changes seasonally but for us it was jackfruit, which in a beautifully runny yellow cream forms the centre of the egg. Around that is a really light meringue which is blow torched to give it a thin, crispy shell, then set in jackfruit granita. Granita? Is that the word? Like ice shavings. Anyway. It was the most beautiful, delicate, amazing dessert I've ever had. Just. Amazing.
Chocolate ethereal
The waitress told us to moosh it all together to give it the right texture X3 I had to nibble bits of the chocolate and toffee and rice paper first, though. Cos this is what you do at a dégustation. The cake was really rich, though, so you really did need to moosh it all together or it would've been too heavy. All these little crunchy bits of toffee and the rice paper, so good. And just LOOK at it, it's beautiful.
Petit fours
Totally forget what each of them were. Pistacio was one, and the lumpy cocoa one at the back was really nice and dark and bitter, mmm X9 They gave me a little box with four more as a birthday present to take home, too :D
My awesome people <3 <3 Thank you so much to you both for such an amazing night, and the high tea the day before! Best birthday ever. Everything (except the running back to the ferry terminal to make sure we weren't waiting an hour for the next one XD) was perfect. I love these girls <3 <3
Just cos I didn't get it on the way in.
Here we set the scene for much of the holiday at the Queen Victoria Building, more commonly known as the QVB because we're Australian, for a champagne brunch. My bestie Alex's birthday is also on the 17th (though she's not 30 yet) so we had a high tea for her birthday meal on the day before, which was the day after I landed. Four of us--along with Cassie and Alex's friend Meredith--went the full champagne, which for some reason came in four screw-top piccolos instead of just a full bottle, and it was delightful.
DELIGHTFUL! That was for me and Alex. Meredith and Cassie each got allergen plates. It was all so delicious and delicate. The best savoury was the little cracker you see on the middle tray with the sandwiches, which was VERY cheesey and with avocado on top. Whole thing was gorgeous.
Desserty bits! That chocolate thing was SO RICH omfg. The cheesecakey thing on the right was my fave.
Centrepiece of the room. Those chandeliers were the size of my living room. Probably bigger.
Dessert with the actual tea part of high tea. Mine was vanilla of some description and it was lovely.
After that we wandered around Sydney for a bit, no photos because I've already got plenty of the Bridge and the Opera House in gorgeous weather and I don't really need another one. Headed down to the Rocks markets (right under the Bridge) and bought sparkly things, and lost Cassie like five times. From here I bought a steampunk necklace similar to this but mine has a round bottle and wings and no sand. It's so pretty. I deliberately retrict myself to one thing from the Rocks every time I go cos otherwise I'd just drop $300 at the place every Sydney visit. That place is DANGEROUS.
Next morning (my birthday!), view from Cassie's place. Good god what an expensive view.
We didn't do a whole lot, just walked down the hella-steep hill from Cassie's place to the little beach down on the harbour. Idk if this harbour has a name. There are that many little inlets and things around Sydney that I don't know if all of them are named. Anyway. It was sunny and there were more people than Cassie's EVER SEEN down there because it's such a tiny secluded beach. But sun was happening, which isn't generally a thing that happens in the middle of winter, even in Sydney, so they were out in force. There were, like, 8 people at least.
GLORIOUS.
CONTINUED GLORIOUS. I'd love to have a spot like this so close to where I live. That said, I do love my Hills bushland.
Bummed around the house for most of the day, being introduced to Orange is the New Black and generally getting excited for the evening. ALSO birthday presents! Remember when I said we kept losing Cassie at the Rocks? Sneaky girl was going back to all the stalls I stopped at going, 'NOPE I'm keeping myself RESTRAINED here I'll look at something from this stall next time I'm in Sydney.' And she bought all the things. ALL OF THEM. Earrings to match my steampunk necklace, with wings and a turquoise bead, from the same shop, and a gold gumleaf necklace because I bloody love that shop. I already have a silver pendant and matching earrings. Next Sydney trip, the gold earrings to match X3 AND. Yoshi's New Island. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL and so adorable and omfg I love so much. If you die too many times on the level (like, 5) it gives you the option to have wings so you can fly and if you STILL stuff up then you get to be invincible to enemies as well. And the bits where you turn into a helicopter or a submarine or whatever are controlled by turning the DS around. And did I mention it's adorable and holy shit I love Yoshi. THANK YOU MY CASSIE <3 <3 <3
AND THEN THE DAY ONLY CONTINUED WITH THE AWESOME. Okay really the entire holiday continued with the awesome, but this, THIS, is the reason for it.
Conveniently, the ferry stops fairly close to Cassie's place, so her dad kindly drove us there so we wouldn't have to worry about blood alcohol limits. Last time I was in Sydney I got this journey in daylight, so here we go again, Sydney Harbour and the CBD at dusk :D Centrepoint Tower (which is apparently not called Centrepoint anymore... wtf Sydney) on the left and the Opera House on the right.
Now with 100% more ferry.
Some random weird Sydney architecture, idk what it is I just thought it looked pretty.
Clearly an accident but gosh it looks artsy and pretty :D I think that's the Opera House on the top left there.
SHUT UP I'M A TOURIST. Also it was still really pleasant outside. In freaking AUGUST at NIGHT. Screw you, Sydney.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Quay. Right on the Rocks. We pretty much had the second best table in the restaurant. So nice how they set us up, too, so it wasn't that our table was right up against the window, but rather the third side was out to the harbour. Nobody had a view of just the docks that were straight out the window while having their back on the Opera House. It was perfect.
TADA Opera House. Also Cassie who hated that photo but it's the only one I have of that view so she gets censored. Cos I'm nice like that :D
And Alex and some giant coathanger to my left! Just around from that little slip over her left shoulder is where the Rocks Markets are.
Aaaaand here we begin >D With cocktails! I forget what this one was apart from the star anise, and I belieeeeve it was Galliano that made me order it. Idk, it was a Quay specialty and it was amazing. Cassie had three. I got the premium wine matching and Alex had the classics so we just had one each.
The menu! Or rather, my menu. Cassie and Alex are WEIRD and don't like seafood, and Cassie also had the gluten free version, but do not be fooled: these were not compromises. For example, here are some of them as taken by the said Cassie. The gluten free wasn't just substituting the gluten-y part of the meal with a sub-par replacement, it was a whole different course. You're not missing out at this place.
Featuring the dress and necklace/earrings I bought just for this night.
And again. Reasonably small room but the restaurant continues right back down along Circular Quay. RIGHT. Ten courses, let's get started >D
This one wasn't on the menu so I can't remember the exact description as they told us, but basically smoooooooth creamy (I THINK it was) potato sort of pudding thing with oxtail broth. It was SO warming and beautifully rich, full of flavour, full of everything you can't put into words unless you're a food writer.
Marron, dory caviar, cultured cream, nasturtiums, white flowers
So my premium wine matching started with a glass of pink Bollinger 8DDD Which was just... homg. Grinning ear to ear already. And then the marron arrived! Marron is a freshwater crayfish with claws from Western Australia, extremely delicate, sweet flesh you can just sit chewing for ages and getting all this flavour out of it. The orange you can see is the dory caviar. The whole thing was just so delicate and beautiful. EVERYTHING was delicate and beautiful.
Congee of mud crab, palm heart, egg yolk emulsion
So most of what you can see here is the egg yolk emulsion but there was also an amazing broth there (oh god I love a good broth and these were AMAZING. How they manage to be delicate and yet so full of flavour idk but they were) and of course the crab. So so good.
XO sea
Again with the amazing broth. So this had~ various seafood bits. I remember a scallop and some octopus? And such finely sliced jamon (cured pig fat, basically makes prosciutto look like the cheapest bacon you've ever had) that you could see through it. Rich and salty and BAM flavour. I had a really nice crisp white to cut through it. Perfect.
XO sea again. That is jamon on top there looking like toffee, you guys.
Smoked and confit pig jowl, roasted koji, shiitake, kombu, sesame, sea scallop, milk curd, smoked broth
I forgot to take a photo until I was halfway through, whoops. But look at the BOWL. The crockery was all amazing, too, I should point out. Anyway, piggie. So much Asian influence on this menu, which is of course why I picked it Quay X3 So flavourful and delicate again. It just falls apart in your mouth. Homg.
Slow cooked duck, black rice miso, celery heart cream, black garlic, ice plant buds
DUCK 8DDDD Probably my favourite meat. The textures on this one were great. The duck was just amazing it was like butter it was so tender. Homnomnom.
Blackmore wagyu rump cap, oak grown shiitake mushrooms, golden orach, seaweed
This ain't just steak and mushrooms. It was PERFECT. My favourite 'main' for want of a better word. Technically we didn't get wagyu because apparently they were out of it that night, but the cut was still superb. Another where I just took little bits and chewed the same mouthful, not because it was tough but because I just didn't want it to go away.
Being as I'm on the steak here, I'll natter a bit about the wine. Our sommelier was fabulous. For each match he told us where we were 'travelling to' and just painted this picture of Austrian slopes or French valleys, totally indulged us three young ladies having fun at an expensive restaurant. We were talking at one point about how much none of us want kids and why we would each fail at being mums, as he was pouring our next round of beverages. When he stood at the head to take us away to New Zealand or wherever our beverages were taking us, he mentioned that there were some ladies over the other side of the restaurant who would have been HORRIFIED at our conversation XD We did lol.
For the classic wine selection (which Alex had) two of the matching wines on the list of eight came from the Barossa Valley. We were proud little South Australians. Also we thought her Barossa red was better than my Italian red that went with the steak. Possibly worried the sommelier at that point but damnit I have state pride. And it WAS. Everything on my list was international except the sticky at the end from Victoria. Also, to go with the snow egg (coming up), Alex got a cider which was just so good we passed it around the table. And then they brought out another glass for Cassie, too, which was jolly nice of them. Didn't even charge! I mean, I know we spent over a grand, but it's still the little touches that make you feel like you're more than just the dollars you're spending =3
Snow egg
Epic. Just. Epic. This is Quay's signature dish, the reason many people go there, just for this dessert. The fruit changes seasonally but for us it was jackfruit, which in a beautifully runny yellow cream forms the centre of the egg. Around that is a really light meringue which is blow torched to give it a thin, crispy shell, then set in jackfruit granita. Granita? Is that the word? Like ice shavings. Anyway. It was the most beautiful, delicate, amazing dessert I've ever had. Just. Amazing.
Chocolate ethereal
The waitress told us to moosh it all together to give it the right texture X3 I had to nibble bits of the chocolate and toffee and rice paper first, though. Cos this is what you do at a dégustation. The cake was really rich, though, so you really did need to moosh it all together or it would've been too heavy. All these little crunchy bits of toffee and the rice paper, so good. And just LOOK at it, it's beautiful.
Petit fours
Totally forget what each of them were. Pistacio was one, and the lumpy cocoa one at the back was really nice and dark and bitter, mmm X9 They gave me a little box with four more as a birthday present to take home, too :D
My awesome people <3 <3 Thank you so much to you both for such an amazing night, and the high tea the day before! Best birthday ever. Everything (except the running back to the ferry terminal to make sure we weren't waiting an hour for the next one XD) was perfect. I love these girls <3 <3
Just cos I didn't get it on the way in.