quay

there’s been quite a bit of fanfare since quay 2.0 opened its doors after a few months of renovations last year with a revamped menu and a sleek new look. we booked ourselves in to celebrate a special occasion and were treated to the best seat in the house – with stunning views of both the harbour bridge and the opera house (once the carnival cruise ship sailed away…) as we dined on the six course degustation menu (priced at $225 a head).

beautiful night celebrating my partners birthday. the view was just so lovely and the service was impeccable. we had the 6 course meal which was pleasant but nothing amazing for the price paid. overall we were happy with the experience as we loved the view and service but in terms of food and pricing we felt it was a little overpriced for the food we had.

you know a restaurant is good when they provide a vegan menu that is full of creative options and an abundance of flavour.

i went here with my partner and mum who aren’t plant-based. they tried my plates along with their own and were also very impressed!

unfortunately we didn’t get to experience the harbour views everyone raves about as we went in cruise ship season which runs pretty much all through summer, so a ship blocks the view. but as a sydneysider, i was more excited about the food than the views, anyway.

wonderful service and a bright atmosphere, too. this was my first fine dining / degustation experience and i really enjoyed it, despite being more of a hearty, cheap feeds, home-cooked vibes kinda gal.
would definitely return!

the ambience and customer here is subpar so i feel kind of bad for giving it a 3 star. but the food was honestly just average. nothing had a wow factor except the white coral dessert. i would recommend you try the 6 course menu first because even that alone costed us $530 + one drink. if you just want a nice view and great service then i would recommend coming here, staff are really nice and welcoming, and gave us complimentary chocolate to bring home.

quay australia in sydney. we celebrated our wedding anniversary dinner there. great location and nice service. definitely a good place to celebrate for special occasions but the food is not my type compared with the cost. anyway harbour view is priceless.

i attended the quay’s big night out event to celebrate my partner’s birthday! it is relatively pricy for the usual 6 and 10 course meal, so we opted for the event’s 5 course menu at a more reasonable price.

the entree’s that we had were the highlight of the lunch, with the oyster dish being a very creative take on an actual oyster. when the head chef peter gilmore first tried oysters, he loved the taste of it, not so much the texture. so, to reinvent an oyster the way he did was divine! you could taste how an oyster would taste like, yet there was a crunch to it that added to the texture of the plate!

the main dishes were a bit disappointing, and the roast duck with the winter sauce really was the only saving point for the menu at that point. the moo dessert was also really nice on the tongue as it was light and not overly sweet.

while the dishes were nice to have, i would say it was a bit too pricy for the value of the dishes.

first fine dining experience & did not disappoint!

it was my cousins’ and my birthday. each and every dishes was packed with unique flavour that left me longing for more.

the snow egg and the sashimi was my favourite. i was quite surprise how filling it is!

one of the dish - truffle & oxtail was a bit too salty for my taste - but regardless, the service and experience was amazing.

would recommend my friends and family to experience once in their life.

well what can i say?! i guess all that's there to it is just spectacular and beyond amazing!

had the one of the best night's out ever with a good friend of mine.
being a former chef at the restaurant and coming back to experience it from the other end was just fabulous!

the level of care and attention that it put into it all and the treatment that you get screams the highest levels of finesse and fine dine: and of that were not enough the food that's smashed out of those doors is perfection! the flavours, pairings and combinations just accentuate the whole experience!

but wait, might i had the vital elements of prime views of the harbour, the bridge and the opera house!?

sincere gratitude towards the entire quay family and to my kitchen team back of house, for all the really surprising and over and above gestures towards us that made the dining experience one of the most memorable ones ever!

what a view! i wanted to experience sydney during the day and quay did not disappoint. it was a beautiful sunny day so it really doesn't get any better! we went for the 10 courses so we can experience a little of everything. one thing i noted about quay and the dishes was that it was like a fashion show. there were elements of each dish that repeated in others so you know that it was a series of goodies that all tied together.
highlights: the hand-harvested seafood and white coral dessert. the seafood was delicate and yet packed a punch. the white coral was a mixture of flavours and rather plentiful! 'moo' the last dish was exactly like the name suggests.
lowlights: the service was impeccable - friendly and so knowledgeable. if i had to be really really picky then perhaps i thought it was missing the finesse that i would expect from a top rated restaurant? but this is really looking for things with a magnifying glass because everything was excellent.

clearly one of the best restaurants in sydney. if you ever get the chance book their christmas lunch, it will be a meal to remember. their famous “egg” desert is everything.

not as good as we thought. food was salty and flavours lacking. except for the saltiness. there was one dish... polish bread with fish roe.... seriously this feels like a poor man's dish. what the hell lol??

there was also a little bug in one of the dishes, the mudcrab one. they immediately took it away as we brought it to their attention. replaced with another one and did well to make up for this mistake with complimentary drinks. seriously though in a restaurant of this high calibre??

the duck meat was tough. a replacement was given. but still some of the meat was not chewable, not sure if it's due to unfresh produce or poor cooking skills.

the price is really not worth it, food lacking and we won't be back. cannot recommend this to anyone, it would just be a lie if i did.

in addition we were hit with a surcharge. at this level you need to have a surcharge?? come on.

before we left they gave us a gift of choc and menu in a nice box which was nice. so not all negative.



food 1.5/5
service 4.5/5
view 4/5
price value 1/5

overall 2/5

good service as always. i was a little bit sad when i know the dessert snowball is no longer there, they have ‘white coral’ instead which is also good. the food for this march and april i feel it is just okay. the view is fabulous. while these two month i have been there twice there is always a big cruise there, seldom can see opera house.

i made the reservation almost 6 months ago for my birthday. my husband and i didn’t get the window seats but we still had a good view of opera house. it’s a shame that the view is partially blocked by building pillar.
we ordered 10 course tasting menu. every dish had a very tiny portion of food but big plate. we weren’t feeling full until the dessert was served.
i have been to quite a few fine dining restaurants and had high expectations for quay. but the food was just ok. nothing surprised me.
i have to say that the service was poor! every time the waiter changed the plates or served our dish, he never gave me heads ups. he just suddenly reached his hand in front of me from my back! i was talking to my husband and i didn’t even realise he was approaching me! he also couldn’t care less to explain the food to us. i was very disappointed at the service.
i don’t think this dining experience is worth $285pp. sure won’t come back.

quay will have to be one of my favourite five dining restaurants in sydney. nearly renovated. stunning food. there's not one dish that i can pick any fault on. definitely pricey but it's all worth it. 12 course menu but i've also added a cheese dish making it 13. can really pick my favourite course but i had to it'll have to be the pig jowl. it's quay's (or head chef peter gilmore's) signature dish. no wonder! the final dessert dish was also my favourite. mango and coconut ice-cream with shaved white chocolate on top. delightful finish! i would give it 10 stars if i could :)

we celebrated our anniversary here and this restaurant made it special! the quality of the food and service was one of the best if not the best we had experienced.