Friday 19th December was a date I wouldn’t forget in a hurry. This was the day of our work Christmas do, a Christmas do that only our boss knew what was going to happen and the rest of us were kept in the dark. I wondered what we could possibly be doing?
12pm soon arrived and we were herded out of the office only to be picked up in a Porsche Limo – eeeeee, I was slightly excited about this prospect! Ok slightly was an understatement, this was going to be amazing!! This was the high life, being chauffeur driven around Sydney for an hour sipping champagne watching passer-bys waving at us no doubt wondering who we were, before arriving at the Regatta Restaurant in Rose Bay for our lunch.
I’ve not ventured to Rose Bay before, but this restaurant looked amazing and what a setting! We were welcomed by the restaurant staff and were shown to our seats. We were seated right at the end of the restaurant at a long table overlooking the gorgeous views of the harbour – this was perfect and the sunshiney day made it even better!
We soon ordered drinks and I started with a Regatta Mule (Grey Goose vodka topped with strawberry, apple juice and ginger beer) whilst checking out the menu. The surroundings had a slight nautical theme with lots of blues and whites and had a very contemporary and sophisticated feel about it. I felt right at home and comfortable here. It was a good job I chose to wear a dress, as I would feel a little out of place if I was in shorts or flip flops (aka thongs – a term I can’t quite bring myself to adopt!).
Back to the menu, I was having issues deciding what to possibly eat. The problem was, it all looked really, really good and I wanted it all! At first I was going to go for the scallops, but as I always go for scallops I thought maybe the pork belly would be good. In the end, I thought I would be adventurous and try something new so I went for the Moreton Bay Bugs which was served with ricotta gnocchi and garden peas and tomato. For mains, I was having similar problems deciding, but I ended up choosing the seared ocean trout, school prawns, chilli, apple eggplant and tom yum jus.
After we had all ordered we were graced with some warm bread and butter and also had this crisp with wasabi sauce brought out as a mini appetiser which was yummy and went down a treat! Then our entrees appeared after a little wait. It was quite busy in the restaurant and there were eight of us, so this was to be expected.
In the back of my mind I always thought bugs would burst in your mouth when you bit into them. (Too much time spending watching the English version of “I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here” I think). However, this did not happen (phew) and the texture was almost like lobster or a king prawn. After my first mouthful I decided I liked Moreton Bay Bugs very much and this gnocchi was absolutely delicious and literally melted in my mouth. I’m not the biggest fan of gnocchi, but this was seriously good and the sauce was out of this world. If it was good manners to lick your dish, I would have done so!
Everyone else seemed to enjoy their entrees, and the pork belly did look amazing too, but I was quite content with my dish. Our mains did take a little longer to come out, and we were on a schedule as we were going to be getting a boat! (Could this day get any better?) However, they eventually came out after about 20 minutes or so. My dish had a bit of a kick to it with the chilli and tom yum jus, but was not too overpowering. It was actually very flavoursome. There was good textures with the crunchiness of the fish skin and school prawns and the fish was cooked perfectly. We also ordered some chips and mash for the table and these were both tasty.
As we were on a schedule, unfortunately there was not enough time for dessert, but if the previous two courses was anything to go by, the desserts would have been equally as delicious I’m sure.
Overall, the food was beautifully cooked and presented, although there was a bit of a wait for food, which I suppose you would expect for a group of eight. However, the setting was wonderful and views spectacular, I’m pretty sure we had the best seats in the house!
The price is expensive, probably because of the views, but as the food is that good I don’t mind paying this price and I would definitely come back for a special occasion.