New Years Eve 2008: Flying Fish - Pyrmont, Sydney

Happy New Year everyone from team HCTF ^^! This year has gone by so quickly, too much to eat and with only 3 meals a day we have to squeeze in as much eating we can hee hee. Hope everyone had a good year and enjoyed the wonderful fireworks around the world :) I have seen some very impressive fireworks photos on other blogs which shows much dedication and patience since good spots fill up really really early! This year for me, instead of battling it out at Blues Point (Pupu's favourite spot), we enjoyed the family 9pm fireworks from Jones Bay Wharf at Pyrmont and the midnight fireworks a bit further away at Glebe.

Flying Fish at Jones Bay Wharf has a brilliant location and a stunning view being just a few steps from the water. The dining room is also a thing of beauty with an outdoor bar, an open kitchen and beautiful wooden features mixed with glittering lights and an impressive wine selection.

BUT one big problem that really bugged me (no pun intended :P) was that there were hordes of insects flying around the dining room. Which was definitely a dining experience killer, especially when one of them falls into my drink haha but they promptly replaced it. The service here is quite good except our main waiter was a bit rough with his service.

Outdoor bar with some cushy seats as well. Good place to chill with a sunset view and some cocktails!

Open kitchen downstairs with a second kitchen upstairs.

Complimentary champange wheee bubbly!
The New Years Eve menu was 3 courses with 3 choices per course so there was quite a variety of dishes.

MooBrew
Tasmanian beer which was had a striking resemblance to BeezNeez but not as sweet. I was hoping deep down that there might be a slight taste of beef since it had Moo in its name but then again, a beef-flavoured beer would be weird :S This reminds me of Pizza Beer... anyone tasted? It seems interesting.


Here Comes the Food.

Complimentary bread
A choice between soy & linseed and white. The white roll I had was cold so that was slightly disappointing but the soy & linseed was soft and warm.

Roast quail breast with puy lentils, braised leg and confit parsnips
I was not able to example this entree but it did look very good and tender.

Prawn tortellini with prawn consomme, scampi and vongie
There tortellini were actually quite similar to asian dumplings but with a big western twist. The pipis were not cleaned properly as there were sand crystals in them.

Seared yellow fin tuna with ruby red grapefruit and sweet pork crackling
The beautiful peppery sweet sauce enhanced by the sourness of the grapefruit really brings out the natural sweetness of the tuna. The slices were fresh and seared with great skill. The pork was tender and the crackling could not be improved upon, unless they increased the amount of it.

Sweetpea veloute with truffle cream
A creamy sauce and the truffle cream tasted beautifully buttery but with the mildest hint of truffle that I did not pick it up at first.

Sushi bar like area but since it was a set menu it was mostly empty

Fresh salad
Crispy salad leaves mixed with a sweet vinaigrette dressing makes for a tasty side dish.


Homemade chips
Hot with a crunchy outside layer, these chips are some of the best chips I have had in a long time. Very addictive, I could eat these all day long.

Pan roasted kingfish with cuttlefish risotto, sweet corn puree and chicken jus
Coming to a resturant called Flying Fish you have to try their seafood right? Their kingfish was good but nothing special mainly because it was cooked to a medium rather than the medium rare they said it would be done. The meat was still soft and flaky but the crackling kingfish skin was just perfect. The cuttlefish risotto was also very tasty of little chunks of soft but firm cuttlefish. The sweet corn puree accompany the fish very well as it had a delicious creamy texture.

Roasted duck breast with potato gratin, caramelized pearl onions and soubise puree
I did not try this either but it also looked very tantalizing with beautifully pink duck meat.

Glittering lights

Flying Fish lights

Ultra low angle extreme close up shot!

Wine wall

Wine wall 2

White chocolate parfait with raspberry sorbet and caramelized puff
Great contrast between sweet and sour, with the fresh raspberries and the white chocolate. There was not much of a puff but more of a pastry base but very tasty indeed.

Almond and pistachio torte with sesame and burnt honey ice cream
Deconstructed so you can try each part individually or combining the flavours to create an awesome blur of flavours in the mouth. I found the sesame crunch to be quite addictive haha.

Brulee tart with mango sorbet and lime jus
The crack of the caramelized sugar on the brulee is always exciting ^^! Creamy and smooth with specks of vanilla, this brulee gets a thumbs up from me. The mango sorbet was also cool and refreshing with a strip of lime jelly.

Petit Fours

Curse my shaky hand or else I would have had much better photos of the 9pm fireworks.


Overall Flying Fish was a very pleasant dining experience if there weren't any bugs flying around but the food was fantastic and definitely worth trying especially when there is not a set menu.

Happy Eating in 2009 everyone ^^!


Flying Fish
Jones Bay Wharf - Lower deck
19-21 Pirrama Rd
Pyrmont, 2009 (hee hee it is year 2009 too! Simple things entertain simple minds XP)
Ph: (02) 9518 6677
Head Chef Jodie Wallace and Peter Kuruvita

FFichiban