ECQ, Circular Quay

This little known bar and restaurant has a picture perfect view of Sydney Harbour, with the Bridge framed through its clear glass windows facing Circular Quay. It’s hidden 2 levels upstairs at the Quay Grand Suites on the walk over to the Opera House and is a secret gem for those who work in the area.

While the modern lounge vibe of the place is well suited for after work drinks, it’s also a decent backdrop for a corporate lunch as it has a reasonably sized menu with a variety of shared dishes, light meals as well as more substantial mains.

Guava juice, $5

I sip on my refreshing glass of guava juice as we wait for our mains to be delivered. I spotted the amusingly named Lollipop Fried Chicken on the menu and just had to order it to share with my colleague. But since we’re not sure what we’re in for with that dish, we decide to balance it out with some truffle fries which I’ve tried before and was impressed by last time.

It was quite a long wait before our dishes were served and when the dishes did arrive, we discovered that the “lollipop” part of the fried chicken was simply the drumstick bone. The fried chicken was nothing remarkable, except that it was served with Korean chilli mayonnaise which gave it a nice kick but all that crunchy fried chicken got a bit dry after awhile and we should’ve broken it up with some greens.

Lollipop fried chicken, $17

The truffle fries were unfortunately not as tasty as I remembered. I couldn’t taste any trace of truffle in the thick cut fries this time and these regular tasting fries were only saved by the aioli sauce that the dish came with to give it some much needed flavour.

Truffle fries, $8.50

All in all, ECQ is a relaxing and chic place to catch up with friends or colleagues with one of the world’s best panoramas as a backdrop. But some of their food can be inconsistent at times and it might be best to stick to their drinks and bar nibbles.

ECQ Bar
61 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000


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ECQ Bar on Urbanspoon

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