Quarter Twenty One (Sydney)

I went to Becasse for last year’s Let’s Do Lunch at its old Clarence Street site. Since then it has moved to the new Westfield shopping mall with a more casual Quarter Twenty One spin off. So that’s where we went to for this year’s Let’s Do Lunch.

The slow-cooked short rib of beef was extremely tender; almost melt in your mouth. It was complimented well by the spring vegetable ragout and fondant potato. We shared a raspberry soufflé for dessert which, along with the light humoured service staff, made a satisfying lunch.

Details:
Quarter Twenty One
Westfield Sydney
Level 5, Shop 5018, Cnr Pitt St Mall and Market St 
Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.quartertwentyone.com.au/

Fix St James (Sydney)

October is my favourite time of the year due to the Sydney International Food Festival. I already had a couple of Let’s Do Lunch booked. To kick off the month we went to Fix St James wine bar & restaurant for its Esk Valley free-range suckling pig.

The meat was tender and was perfectly balanced by the salad and tangy juices. Portion size was decent. My friends enjoyed the light Brown Brothers red wine which came with the meal. Service was friendly which was perfect for a working lunch.

Will definitely come back for a full meal next time!

Details:
Fix St James Wine Bar & Restaurant
St James Centre
111 Elizabeth St 
Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.fixstjames.com.au

Sailors Thai Ivy (Let's Do Lunch)

Does lunch between meetings with workmates constitute a power lunch? If so, there were many of them at the Ivy as we dined at the new Sailors Thai. As much as I like Ivy's décor, the dining room (formerly Teppanyaki) could do with an update. The communal table reminded me of the boardroom.

The Let’s Do Lunch menu certainly added some spice to the workday: pork belly was still crisp despite being drenched in a well balanced hot and sour Sriracha sauce. Curry chicken was tender and the clean flavours of the curry sauce had us scoffing down extra rice.

Details:
Sailors Thai Ivy
330 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
http://sailorsthai.com.au
http://www.merivale.com/#/ivy/sailorsthai

Tea Room QVB (Let's Do Lunch)

My first private dining experience at the Tea Room allowed me to look at the dining room in daylight (previous occasion was a wedding). The high ceiling adds a greater sense of space to the already large dining room, with views of the busy city life through the little windows on top of QVB.

I had the Let’s Do Lunch pastry-wrapped salmon dish. The fish was cooked perfectly but its natural taste was overpowered by the Middle Eastern flavours. My companion chose the blue-eye trevalla red curry which had a better balance in flavour of seafood and spice.

Details:
The Tea Room QVB
Level 3, North End, Queen Victoria Building
455 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.thetearoom.com.au/


Let’s Do Lunch - http://www.cravesydneyfoodfestival.com.au/events.php?intcategoryid=51&linkid=101

Becasse (Let's Do Lunch)

I visited Becasse for my first “Let’s Do Lunch” experience in 2010. As per previous years the restaurant was packed with diners for lunch. This year they offer a risotto of South Australian prawns and prosciutto as their dish. The seafood flavour of the risotto was intense with the prosciutto providing the right level of savouriness.

To round out the meal we had the Lemon Meringue Pie at $15 each which complimented the main course very well.

Looking forward to dinner at Etch (Becasse’s sister restaurant) later this week!

Details:
Becasse
204 Clarence Street, 
Sydney 2000
http://www.becasse.com.au/


Let’s Do Lunch - http://www.cravesydneyfoodfestival.com.au/events.php?intcategoryid=51&linkid=101