Moussaka
For a long time, John has been wanting to see Billy Elliot the musical before it pack up and head for Melbourne. I went online, as one would these days, and lo and behold, they were offering A Reserved Seats for $75 a piece (usual $125) and I thought, oh why not, and got us two tickets.
When the day arrived, we found ourselves in the city dodging raindrops and rubbing shoulders with the backpacker milieu, looking for a place for tucker.
At that moment, I was too preoccupied with fending my Gaultier blouson from the rain and couldn't care less where we eat as long as we can get out of the rain, pronto. And then I saw it, an art-deco looking hotel straddling Pitt and Goulbourn streets, and thought pub food would be okay for the occasion.
"We are (only) open at six.", announced the waiter whom we almost ran over when we presented ourselves at the entrance of the restaurant located on the first floor. One glance into the restaurant sends a chill down my spine, this place look swanky and nothing like the art-deco stuff you see on the outside and I felt decidedly under-dressed, notwithstanding the Gaultier blouson. John was eager to eat and so it was point-of-no-retreat.
We were invited to have drinks at the Terrace while waiting for 6:00 pm to arrive. No can do. It was draughty and freezing out there! So we (kinda) arm-twisted the waiter to give us a table and sat down to check out the menu. Nothing below $19. A lot more than what I was mentally prepared to pay for but what the heck, we are here, it doesn't have to be queer, let's eat.
It took us seven minutes to decide on sharing three entrees - the slow-roasted squid, the moussaka and the pomegranate roasted quail. It took the waiter fifteen minutes to saunter over to take our order. It is going to be a long night. Which I (kinda) hinted to the waiter that we do not have the luxury of a long night, we have a rendezvous with Billy (Elliot). He smiled understandingly (?) and then left us with our drinks. Another twelve minutes gone by before he reappeared and presented us with a plate of warm sliced bread and a dish of (extra?) virgin olive oil. The bread looked deliberately ordinary but was deliciously crusty on the outside and warm and soft and moist on the inside. I would have been happy just to eat the bread and go but John said no, we are committed (to our order). Damn.
Half an hour gone by, no food. And then suddenly it all appeared together, the three entrees we ordered were thrust onto our cocktail-size table. Just like that. Nice white crockery I noted, which seems to be de rigueur these days. I suppose white is a perfect canvas for food presentation and without sounding pompous, the food served in this kind of ambience have to look its part too.
We attacked the squid first. The squid was cooked to perfection, soft and non-rubbery and if possible, almost melting in the mouth. The crunchy pork neck tasted suspiciously like bacon bits, the saltiness contrasting sharply with the squid. The baklava offered just a hint of honey sweetness, bridging the bland squid and salty pork. Very clever.
The moussaka was our next target. Traditionally, this dish would have been made with ground lamb so the seared scallops was a delightful tweak. Ingenious! I love the eggplant and ate every bit of it, although John hated the charred skins and left them untouched. Naturally, I helped myself to these; his loss. The tomato chunks drizzled in olive oil were ordinary but did gave the moussaka dish a moist sweetness. We polished off every bit that was served on the plate, even the black stuff which looked to be ocean trout caviar but John said, "Fat hope!" He is always a cynic, isn't he?
Sadly, the best wasn't saved for last. The quail have gotten cold by the time we gave it our attention. Nonetheless, the flavours were again cleverly put together and its been a good while since I have had pomegranate so you can imagine my joy in crunching every seed. Very yummy.
And no, we didn't loiter for dessert nor coffee. It was time to leave for the theatre to see Billy (Elliot) which will be another story for another time. But if you want to catch Billy in Sydney, you have up to 9 November 2008 to do it, after that you will have to go to Melbourne where we will be heading next month for Wicked.
Civic Dining @ Civic Hotel
Corner Pitt & Goulbourn Street
Sydney 2000
+61 (02) 8080 7000
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