Wednesday 9th Jul '08

After spending most of the day sleeping in, I felt like stretching the legs out by heading out with my Mum to the casino. She was going for the draw in the hopes of winning the $50,000 prize. Not being able to find someone to come out to dinner with me at such late notice, I went on my own. I was looking forward to some fantastic food from Allure, but alas, as I approached, I heard someone doing a speech and the restaurant looked packed out with people standing around. Upon asking the guy at the counter, I found out there was a function going on. Bugga.

I braved the cold and walked outside to Sirocco. There were only several tables with people on them so I was glad I wouldn't have a problem getting a seat. However, I was just as disappointed as I was last time I was there. The staff seemed oblivious to myself and another couple waiting to be seated. They just seem so unorganised and inefficient everytime I go there. When a group of five or six people turned up and stood in line behind me, I secretly wished them goodluck and I left the line and walked off, much to the surprise of onlookers. I must email my complaints to them someday.

Not hungry enough for a buffet dinner at the Atrium, not wanting pub food at Paddy Hannan's, and not in the mood for Chinese food at Yu, I decided on Victoria Station.

To start, I ordered a bottle - yes a whole bottle - of the Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. A beautiful drop.

Entree
a dozen natural oysters with white balsamic and shallots

Main
red emperor with a macadamia nut crust,
orange fennel salad and thyme beurre blanc
Side: rocket, parmesan and walnut salad
with lemon dressing

Dessert
chef's selection of cheese served with caramel figs,
grissini, crackers and walnut bread

I was a bit disappointed with the oysters. They tasted a bit dull, if that makes sense. They were really large oysters though - if I had known they were going to be that large I would have only ordered half a dozen. As it was, I couldn't finish them as I wanted to save room for the rest of my food.

I did not like the main very much. I wanted to have the seafood platter but was told it was a really large serve and usually shared between two people. The waitress recommended the red emperor, but I did not enjoy it. The salad was terrible. It consisted of a few slices of orange and some sort of pasta or little bits of dough? They tasted odd and I didn't think they went well with the fish at all. The fish was also rather dry. I didn't order a side dish to begin with, but I needed something to go with the fish.

The cheeses were okay. Rather ordinary. Nothing special about the cheese platter at all.

All in all, I thought the food was rather mundane. The restaurant is very dimly lit and although it filled up pretty quickly while I was there, I didn't feel comfortable. The ambience wasn't very inviting. I think had it not been for the bottle of wine, I would have had a very boring dinner!

After dinner, I met up with Vicky and we hit the Ruby Room for a few hours before calling it a night.