In April, George’s Mediterranean Bar & Grill at King Street Wharf opened up their restaurant to 2012 My Kitchen Rules contestants, siblings Steve & Helen, who hosted a magnificent Greek feast! This was a four course meal featuring custom made dishes from Steve & Helen, along with some favourites off George’s menu, to celebrate the Greek Festival of Sydney, and it was definitely an unforgettable celebration.
Filed under CBD - King Street Wharf, Greek
King Street wharf is home to some fairly overpriced restaurants but it’s undeniable that the view from most of the restaurants is gorgeous and sometimes worth the premium. One of the longstanding restaurants on that strip is Casa di Nico, which has been a bit of a hit and miss during the few times I’ve been there, but it seems like they’ve improved their offering lately.
We gravitate immediately towards all the seafood based dishes on the menu and order the daily special of mussels steamed with chilli, tomato and white wine as well as prawn fettuccine and homemade gnocchi with scallops.
We found that the mussels were actually great value; there was quite a generous amount of mussels in the pot and they were well-sized (not the mini ones you get sometimes). The soup that they had been steamed in was slightly different from the conventional Belgian sauces usually offered with mussels – there was more of a kick to it with the chilli and we lapped it all up, wishing that there was some more bread to dip it in.
Mussels steamed with chilli, tomato and white wine – $22
The prawn fettuccine lived up to the high bar set by the mussels and featured fresh and juicy de-shelled king prawns (a godsend for us lazy people), tossed in a tomato sauce with garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil and chilli. There was plenty of flavour in the pasta thanks to the delicious sauce and the fettuccine itself was nice and al dente.
Prawn Fettuccine – $28.00
Our final indulgence was the homemade gnocchi with Queensland scallops and smoked salmon, rocket and red onion. The succulent scallops were lovely and smoked salmon always adds a welcome hit of savouriness to any dish, especially when paired with red onion (one of my favourite flavour combos ever). Overall, the gnocchi was very appetising and filling.
Homemade Gnocchi – $29.50
We really enjoyed the food at Casa di Nico on this night and will keep it in mind next time we’re thinking of going to Darling Harbour/King Street Wharf area, if we’re feeling like some hearty and tasty Italian food.
Casa di Nico Italian
The Promenade, King Street Wharf
Sydney, NSW 2000
Filed under CBD - King Street Wharf, Italian
It has been a couple of years since I last visited Baia the Italian at Cockle Bay wharf, but I was pleasantly surprised by the revamp that the place has undergone in that time. It used to be a restaurant with mediocre Italian food that was fairly overpriced but they have really upped their game now.
We’re shown to a harbourfront table with comfy cushions on the lounge type seats and have a fantastic view of Darling Harbour, to peruse the menu with many Italian dishes on offer. It’s a bit hard to get our waiter’s attention because we’re seated away from the main restaurant area as a result of our harbourfront location but he eventually comes over.
We’re in for a treat tonight – the food is much better than I remember and tastes just as mouthwatering as their descriptions on the menu suggest. My favourite dish was the housemade ravioloni with prawn and scallop, shellfish cream and salmon roe. Ravioloni is like a larger version of ravioli; basically they’re pasta parcels filled with a juicy scallop and prawn each and drizzled with a creamy sauce. It was a shame that there were only 5 ravioloni parcels because I could have definitely eaten more.
Ravioloni, $28
We also had the Arctic crab risotto with roasted squash puree and basil. Unfortunately, I couldn’t taste any of the other flavours except for the crab and potentially some squash which turned the risotto yellow, although that could have been because of the saffron. It wasn’t bad and was quite a well portioned serving which left us fairly full.
Arctic crab risotto, $26
My friends are fans of meatlover pizzas, so we got the more gourmet version of that called “The Butcher” pizza which came with tomato, mozzarella, roasted leg ham, Italian sausage, pepperoni and BBQ chicken. All the toppings tasted great and fresh and I liked the thin crispy base.
The Butcher pizza, $26.50
We also had the housemade gnocchi with basil, cherry tomatoes, ricotta and white wine sauce, which was light but fairly filling due to the potato inside the gnocchi. After all the flavour overload with the ravioloni, this pasta dish tasted a bit bland in comparison.
Gnocchi special of the day, $24.50
It was lovely to spend a few hours with friends by the glistening harbour, as the sun slowly went down and I would recommend this place on a warm, balmy summer’s night to make the most of the location. I also had a glass of 2007 Italian moscato which was the cherry on the cake, capping off a great experience here.
Italian 2007 Moscato, $15 per glass
Want to save 20% off your bill at Baia the Italian? Sign up and book through InsideEats to start saving now.
Baia the Italian
Shop 114 Cockle Bay Wharf
Darling Harbour, NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9283 3434
Filed under CBD - King Street Wharf, Italian
One of the many restaurants lining the classy King Street Wharf is Kobe Jones, an upmarket Japanese fusion restaurant with a black, red and gold themed decor facing Darling Harbour. We had visited Kobe Jones earlier on in the year after purchasing one of their vouchers and tonight we returned for a similar deal, lured by the promise of more mouthwateringly tasty volcano rolls and other fusion delicacies.
We are seated at a table next to their showy teppanyaki bar, facing a window which gives us a nice view of the wharf and the service is quite prompt as they take our drink orders. We are dining in a group of 6 tonight and we order a mix of hot green tea, a cocktail, beer and a lemon lime and bitters – it is only when we receive our bill at the end that we realise how overinflated the prices of their drinks are ($6 for a LL+B? Really?!).
Filed under CBD - King Street Wharf, Degustation, Japanese
Excuse Me Waiter is a documented food adventure run by two hungry Gen Y food fanatics DK & Yvn. We can often be found roaming Sydney in search of interesting foods from food courts to high-end restaurants.
Read more about us here.
Got a question? Suggestion? Leave us a comment or contact us at:
Email: admin (at) excusemewaiter (dot) com
Or via social media below!
