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Flying Fish, Pyrmont

Not quite the ‘catch of the day’

For most people, Friday nights are reserved for meeting up with friends and drinking away the stresses of work. For me, last Friday, with the glorious weather radiating late into the night, I was confined to sorting out hundreds of food photos on my hard drive. Laboriously sifting through each of the photos and categorising it, I came across a dozen or so of pictures which as a result of frantic December, I accidentally abandoned. Looking at these pictures, I remember the night as if it had happened yesterday.

Throughout November, I researched a couple of restaurants I would surprise Howard for his 25th Birthday. Ambitiously, I had booked for 5 restaurants, with each falling on a Saturday night, which meant 5 consecutive weeks of fine dining with the last being what I thought was the best. As the weeks etched closer to the beginning of our gastronomical journey, I experienced cold feet, how in the hell will we survive 5 weeks of 3 hours dining experiences. To negate the anxiety, I cancelled two reservations, leaving us with three in which I thought he would enjoy most. Assiette, Flying Fish, and finishing off with Azuma.

On the day that Flying fish was booked for, I made up a story about meeting up with friends who have organised an early christmas dinner. Arriving at Pyrmont, walking down the pier, we were met by a lovely waiter who asked for our details. We were guided upstairs to our table of two seating. Looking suspiciously at me, a smile once again made its way on Howard’s face. Once again, I’ve succeeded in suprising him. He’s either really gullible, or I’m an excellent liar, either way, I achieved the intended effect. With the resolution of some initial complications, we were finally served our booked degustation menu.

Waiting a while for the arrival of our amuse bouche, we were both kept entertained by the skills of the sushi chef. We monitored him for a few minutes. It seems he has a routine he religiously sticks to when preparing his sushi and sashimi. Each time he is finished with something, he would put all his ingredients and tools back into their original positions. All lids would be put back on its containers and put into the fridge, or onto a rack.

Reading reviews about Flying Fish, one word is mentioned prominantly, “Fresh”. The freshness of the oyster in this instance did not dissapoint. The succulent flesh bathed in its salty brine accompanied by the flavourful pearls of salmon roe definitely set the standard for the night.

The salmon used for the amuse bouche was deliciously fresh. Mixed with the quail egg yolk resulted in a creamy coating for each morsel of flesh. Despite its notoriety as a luxurious commodity, I find that avruga caviar sides its glistening black colour is nothing to shout about. Looking back at this, I can’t help but notice that this amuse bouche appears to be very similar in ingredients to Tetsuya’s famed smoked ocean trout and avruga caviar.

First up on the trio of seafood tapas was the salmon tatiki. Extremely fresh pieces of salmon marinade in a creamy sauce. Refreshingly clean, however, very similar to the amuse bouche.

Second item on the platter was the scampi tail. With minimal preparation and additive flavouring, the sweetness of the scampi was prominent. With one mouthful, the scampi disappeared, leaving nothing but a distant memory.

With everything being so good so far, there was a lot of pressure placed on the last of our tapas. Unfortunately, the last item did not live up to expectation. The fact that I can’t even remember what it was says a lot about its imprint on my experience. From memory, I just remember it being cold and tasteless.

This dish was first sighted on Jenius’s blog. The combination of the perfectly seared tuna in conjunction with the slightly salty pork crackling was brilliant. Hidden beneath the layers of tuna were sweet juicy grapefruit which did well to balance the pork crackling. For me, the most outstanding aspect of this dish was the tuna. Not only did it emulate a beautiful piece of steak in the looks department, but surprisingly the melt in your mouth taste of wagyu as well.

As previously mentioned time and time again, I love all things seafood. With the mere mention of scallops, my ears perked, my eyes glistened and my mouth started salivating. Presented to us on a large white canvas was two perfectly cooked scallops. I like my scallops cooked simple with minimal flavouring, therefore allowing me to savour the natural sweetness of the scallop. It pains me to say that I was quite disappointed in the caramelisation of the two gems, with the artificial sweetening agent overpowering the scallops. The accompanying beef cheek terrine although packed with beefy goodness was quite dry, rendering it difficult to swallow. Lobster, what lobster?

This is my first experience with souchong, therefore I was quite excited to see it being incorporated in this beautifully presented dish. With each piece of the flathead, the aromatically smoky flavour of the tea was quite dominant. It’s crunchy texture complimenting the softness of the fish well. Bathed in the concentrated broth, you would think this was the dish that a seafood lover’s dream were made of. Once again, the dish as a whole failed to impress. Side the souchong tea and the prawn consomme, everything else was too dry and overcooked. It appears that the broth had sucked all the flavours out of the tiny clam, piece of lobster and pieces of flathead, leaving behind lifeless aftermaths.

Based on the description on the degustation menu, I expected the next dish to somehow contain a tart. When presented to our table, the tart was nowhere in sight, only to be replaced by some caramelised onions and a sesame infused some what tasteless cylindrical wafer filled sparsely with fresh herbs. Disappointed by the Lyonnaise tart, I focused all my attention onto the generous portion of pan roasted kingfish. Upon the first bite, I was happy with this inclusion. Perfectly cooked, crispy skin yet soft moist flesh, paired with the slightly salty anchovy, the saving grace of the dish.

Mid way through our pan roasted kingfish a big plate of the famous hand cut potato chips was placed on our table. According to most reviews, the hand cut chips were a must for every Flying Fish dining experience. I’m happy to announce that I agree with that sentiment. Each thick piece of potato consisted of a crispy salty exterior encasing a delicate fluffy interior, cooked in a way that devoided any oily residual. I wouldn’t mind substituting my regular packets of original thins with these, however at $9.50 a plate, I might just push that thought aside.

To prepare us for the onslaught of the dessert platter, our palette cleanser was presented to us. The multi tonal texture of smooth vanilla bean laden cream neutralised by the cooling and refreshing white tea granita was sublime. Not only did it erase my palette of previous invasions, but set the mood for what is expected to be one of the best dessert platters I have had.

Usually I’m not a real big fan of goats milk cheese, however in this instance I did not mind this full bodied version at all. Rich, strong and bold, just how I like my cheese. Like the Coulommier cheese served at Restaurant Sojourn, the Manchego is also AOC certified, maintaining its quality. To contrast the piquancy of the cheese, the Manchego was cleverly paired with the sweet chewy date. To some people, the intensity of such unique flavours may be too overwhelming, hence the addition of the crostini and salad.

No different to the services from Azuma and Assiette, the chefs at Flying Fish were more than happy to help celebrate Howard’s Birthday. Not only were we impressed by the wide array of desserts on offer, but the beautiful penmanship of the chef.

Prior to my visitation to Flying Fish, I was warned to save my stomach for their dessert. With a total of 7 different things to sample, I’m sure this platter would cater for anyone’s taste. Soft airy souffle served in a cute copper pan for those who do not like eating things that are overly sweet. Rich, vanilla flavoured ice cream made from clotted cream, for those who just appreciates the simple things in life. Valhrona manjari chocolate mousse for the little chocoholics in most of us. Slightly sour passionfruit jelly combined with the creamy coconut sorbet for the day dreamers who are itching for a tropical island getaway. Pink grapefruit parfait with a unique rose petal shortbread for the ‘girly’ girls. Confit pineapple with milk panacotta for those that just have to have everything. Caramelised banana tart with coffee crumble for those always looking for a caffeine hit. Finally, brown sugar ice cream, for those that just wants to be different.

I don’t know about you, but I think each and every one of those people exist in me. Suffice to say, this dessert platter satisfied every core of my being. Despite the fact that I was filled to the brim, I soldiered on to victoriously abolish the platter like any good solider would.

Just when I was ready to roll out of my chair and be wheeled of to the car, the waiter walked to a table with what looks to be another plate of dessert. Fearing the worst, both Howard and I eyed the waiter to take the plate back to where it came from. Possibly missing our gaze, the plate was soon on our table.

Despite the beautiful presentation, we could not bare to look at another dessert, thus unfortunately I did not touch any of the petit fours. Looking back at the pictures now, I’m kicking myself for not sampling those morsels. Mind you, Howard did manage to finish both servings himself.

Flying Fish at Pyrmont is synonymous with fresh seafood. Time and time again, I’ve read reviews and articles which harps on about how great the seafood selection is. Reflecting back on our experience, I can vouch for the freshness and quality of the seafood served, however on that night I left the premises feeling slightly disappointed. Being a seafood lover, I guess I may have had too great an expectations on Flying Fish. When compared to the ingenuity of the dishes served at both Restaurant Sojourn and Assiette, I found that Flying Fish paled somewhat in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, all the dishes were good, however for the price of $150 per person, I expected more than half of the dishes to be “fall out of your seat” outstanding, which in this case were not.

All the waiters were no doubt very knowledgeable and attentive, although the pretentious nature of the maitre’d who initially suggested that we could not have the degustation as our table had been double booked irked me then and still now. Having confirmed my reservation with them prior to our visit, I found it as a piss poor excuse to try and get us to finish our meal earlier so they could fit in extra customers (I assume).

The views are nice at least. I’ll have to come back again, I might of just had a bad night.

Flying Fish
Pier 21, Jones Bay Wharf
Level Lower Deck, 19 -21 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW 2009
Ph: (02) 9518 6677
Fax (02) 9518 6699
Web : http://www.flyingfish.com.au