Cafe Sydney: Elegant Rooftop Restaurant with Million Dollar Views
From its glamorous perch atop the Customs House, Cafe Sydney's view of the harbour and the city skyline is jaw-dropping. If you’re looking for somewhere to take out-of-town visitors, to impress a date or enjoy one of the most luxurious cocktail hours of your life, Café Sydney certainly fits the bill.
Step out of the elevator and into Café Sydney’s swanky lounge and you know you’re in the domain of the city’s well-to-do. The room is intimately lit, with glowing tables, chocolate wood-panelled walls and sensuous black cane and white leather chairs. There are secluded corners perfect for looking deep into your lover’s eyes, while one end of the room is brought to life in a succession of fiery flashes from the open kitchen.
The vast Café Sydney balcony juts out over the Circular Quay promenade, capturing a bird’s-eye view of the bridge, the opera house and the parade of ferries and pleasure craft that ply the harbour. If you’ve come just for drinks, arrive before the dinner rush and enjoy the leisurely afternoon ambience and one of the city’s most extravagant cocktail menus.
The food is a contemporary take on simple and classic techniques, with a particular emphasis on seafood. The kitchen has its own crustacean section, responsible for creating Café Sydney’s most enduring signature item, the seafood platter. $135 gets you a two-tiered platter of succulent oysters, crab, Moreton Bay bugs, scampi, prawns and marron with mayonnaise and cocktail sauce.
The rest of the menu is equally as enticing, with appetisers including a Jerusalem artichoke and chestnut soup with duck confit, and pepper-seared tuna and poached veal carpaccio with caper and parsley mayonnaise. For mains, the freshwater salmon is roasted in an authentic tandoor oven and served with green lentils, buffalo yoghurt raita and spiced coconut salad. Meatier options include twice-cooked pork belly with prosciutto, caramelised apple, pistachio and jus. Finish off with the outstanding cheese platter or a chocolate and cherry trifle with double cream.
As you’d expect, the wine list is exceptional, geared towards showcasing local vintages, with a good selection by the glass. Service is well-mannered and attentive, and the atmosphere on Sunday afternoons (complete with live jazz) is hard to beat.
Posted by Fiona Davies
