Flying Fish

5.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  4     

I went to this restaurant on 17 Dec 2011 and we went for the degustation menu. The food was very tasty although the hygiene in the bathroom was very poor. The floor and the basin were very dirty and by 9.30 pm no tissue left in the dispenser to dry your hands. I believe attention to details is paramount in a restaurants that highly rate themselves especially when one is willing to pay over $200 per person for a dinner. I will not go back again.

Jan 22, 2012 

5.5 Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  4     

It was sheeting down with rain when we go there so the view was kinda gone. The wait staff were good and didn't interfere with the four of our conversations.
Can't comment on the fish taste, though the portions looked small.

The Sashimi looked good and the other three enjoyed it. I had the beef which was very soft, had some flavour but was completely ruined by a sauce that burnt my mouth with the amount of salt in it, not just reduced flavour but salt upon salt upon salt, I tried it with a chip, but it even made that salty. So ended up trying to eat of the bread plate. Everything else was coated in this salty gravy. The beef again was small.

Dessert I had some kind of chocolate dome, looked nice but the taste was disappointing. For starter the Oysters were Ok, all in all, won't go back. Best thing about the meal was the coffee and the Negroni was good but then they're good at home too!

Dec 20, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  8      Service  3      Value  2     

It is such a beautiful restaurant that we had high expectations. Unfortunately, the seared tuna was over cooked and the blue eye dry. Pushy waiters interfered with our experience trying to sell us wine while the glass was still full and to hurry us on to dessert. What a shame! We would pay the very high prices for the food on special occasions but it needs to be cooked right and, perhaps, somewhat larger portions. Staff need to lose the attitude.

Dec 11, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  1     

15 of us for a business dinner at $270 plus a head meals nice but not exceptional very small portions well below expectation although edible, bizzare wine list and very expensive poor service with a lot of atittude an experience I would not repeat and certainly would recommend against a shame given that it is nice venue which is just as well given the amount of time spent waiting with empty glasses, have no idea how it got any hats certainly does not perform like a hatted establishment.

Dec 05, 2011 

5.8 Average

Food  4      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  1     

Lovely atmosphere with an outstanding water view. Very over priced. Food was rather ordinary. Plate of battered prawns was $90.00. Ridicules! I must say service was outstanding. Wine very over priced. I took a business client there and I left feeling quite embarrassed. I wouldnt eat here again nor would I wouldnt recoomend it.
Valet parking meant we will park your car and charge you and good luck finding it later because attendant has gone home. Valet? I don't think so. Total disappointment!

Nov 15, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Had a dinner date with my fiance here for my birthday. The service was generally lovely although for one guy who was obviously too cool for his job.

Food was nice but not outstanding or anything different from other places, was a tad disappointed with that. The beef was terrible, it was meant to be a marble score of 8, it was chewy and tough. The other dishes were all very nice. I had some dietary requirements which they managed to change for me to very good alternatives.

Desserts were definitely winners and the ambience, well you can see the harbour, can't complain. I also could not see any true influence of Peter Kurvita's Sri Lankan flavours in any of the degustation dishes.

One note though to be careful of. They do offer valet parking there but at the gate the security guy on the intercom said that parking was free. I figured it was too good to be true and yup it was $25 bucks which was fine but wish I wasn't lied to in the first place.

Nov 09, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Fabulous. Organised and attended a corporate product launch event at Flying Fish today which was excellent. Our group of 36 was accommodated upstairs and the whole experience was just sensational. Holly and the team at Flying fish did a great job. They accommodated us effortlessly after a previously booked venue had a fire in their kitchen. Nothing was a problem. Organising the event was easy. The food was excellent. The service (thank you Rachel) was perfect and our clients loved it. Can't speak highly enough of the whole experience. Thanks again.K

Oct 26, 2011 

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  4      Value  5     

We had the degustation menu at flying fish and it was relatively disappointing. The food was reasonably good but the experience overpriced! Some of the dishes were worth noting like the ocean trout with beetroot mousse, the wagyu beef and the roquefort cheese dish. Interestingly I was most impressed with the dishes which were not seafood based (the palette cleanser was one of the best I've ever had). The soft-shell crab was soggy and the tuna and pork dish too sweet for my liking. My main negative criticism goes to the service which was definitely sub-standard. The waiter got confused several times with who had sparkling and who had still water...

That's a beginner's mistake! The sommelier was rather rude and not helpful and the dishes were not always presented properly. It looked like we were offered and extra dessert as it was not listed on the tasting menu but no one told us whether it was additional or a replacement for the dessert we were expecting. We felt confused and we over-ate (the servings were rather large for a tasting menu)! All that said, we still had a rather pleasant evening thank to a lovely view and atmosphere. However, a pleasant evening doesn't have to come at that price!

Oct 15, 2011 

4.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  3      Service  7      Value  2     

A group of 4 of us dined at Flying Fish last night (Thursday night). The reservation was made some time ago as we made a request to sit upstairs. We were told that there were no gtd's but they would do their best.

The booking was confirmed by them the day before and we made the request again.
We arrived (had our car Valet parked). The entire top section of the Restaurant was closed, I guess to make the downstairs area look busy. This should have been explained to us as not only does the space down stairs lack atmosphere it seems to be where they place the tables with children, of which we had a small child next to us.

I am not against children in a fine dining restaurant but it does change the atmosphere and the dining experience. Perhaps, the needs of the guests should be considered before management take decisions to close the top section. We have been to this restaurant on many occasions and always found the food pricey but well worth the effort.

Unfortunately, this time we were really let down. Not only was there limited choice on the menu it really lacked the pizzazz of previous visits. The food was well cooked but nothing too amazing for the $47 (main) excluding sides, price tag.

After paying the bill we asked about our car and was told the Valet person had gone home and we could collect our car 'around the corner". At this stage I queried the $25 valet parking charge, afterall valet means it is parked and returned to you. They graciously voided the charge and I must say the car was just around the corner of the restaurant but the point remains, don't call it valet when it really isn't.

We probably would not have even bought this up if we had a great night out... the downstairs allocation of the table did not start the evening off on a good note. We dine out often and have no problem with paying good money but if you claim you are extraodinary then you need to be able to back it up. I would expect more of a restaurant with this price tag. There are plenty of choices in Sydney and we won't be back to this one in a hurry.

Aug 19, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  2     

Two of us attended the early 6.00 pm session on a Saturday night. It is quite hard to find but once there it is classic waterfront Sydney (aren't we spoilt?), although only a few of tables actually get the direct view. While the cuisine is good quality and slightly different the serves were tiny and thus expensive.

Our wine was arranged by the helpful food waitress because the wine sommelier did not come near us except to top up one serve towards the end of the meal. Wine very expensive and food expensive. No warm fuzzy feeling, overrated and will not return.

Aug 18, 2011