Flying Fish, The Star – Pyrmont.

Bianca: I never had the pleasure of visiting Flying Fish in its former location at Jones Bay Wharf. Highly regarded as one of the best seafood restaurants in Sydney and after our recent visit, it was easy to see why they have stood the test of time after 15 years. Flying Fish 2.0 has made the hop, skip and jump, across to The Star, residing in the old Balla site.

Seafood has definitely become an acquired taste for me, something I’ve had to persevere to enjoy (please put your tiny violins away) but I came away from this meal blown away by the quality, delicacy and inventiveness of the dishes.

We started with a Caribbean Tojo – a rum based cocktail that was well balanced and VERY easy to drink. Anf the Kampai Pyrmont.

After a delightful chat with owner Con Dede, we tucked into the complimentary loaf of Bread & butter, if no-one doesn’t know it yet, the way to my heart is with carbs & churned butter! Even after a few minutes of chatting and photo taking, we pulled apart the loaf to be welcomed by puffs of rising steam, there’s nothing better!

Perhaps an odd choice for a seafood restaurant but you won’t want to miss the Glazed Pork Belly -w/ cherry radish, prawn stuffed eggplant $29. Absolutely luscious and easily pulling apart. The caramelisation on top added a whole other depth of flavour. Combined with the prawn stuffed, fried eggplant this was a fantastic entree.

Vanella Burrata -w/ roast tomato, fennel & pangrattato $29 is a combination that just cannot be beaten. The Chilli oil was a great addition to add some heat without overpowering the delicate flavour of the burrata. Make sure you save some of that bread to mop up any remnants of the cream.

I have a feeling I either misordered or there was a communication issue with our next dish. I presumed I had ordered the Spencer Gulf king prawns, wakame butter & macadamia $34. But was given Spencer Gulf King Prawn Cavatelli $32 (off the bar menu) Now, I’m Italian, so I’m never going to complain about carbs, namely pasta! The prawns were plump, sweet and juicy. The pasta, al dente and the tomato based sauce well developed but I found this too fishy for my tastes.

Also off the bar menu, some must orders. The Spencer Gulf prawn toast $8. Is a refined version of the popular Aussie Dim Sum. But the favourite was the Spanner Crab & Mayonnaise Toast $8, pure elegance and a joy to eat. Crispy toast, sweet and moreish crab, I could have eaten several of these to myself.

I do generally expect seafood mains to be on the higher end of the scale, so expect to pay $40-60 for a main. After reading Lorraine’s post at https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/01/22/flying-fish-the-star/ I had pinpointed which dishes to try. Perhaps too sophisticated for my palate, I found the Murray cod, peas, Jamon cream, asparagus, fig leaf oil $58, lacking pizzaz. The cod was incredibly soft and flaky but lacked real punch, if possible, it was a little underseasoned.

The Snapper, miso pumpkin, prawn, macadamia $48 on the other hand, revelatory. From the intensely rich umami flavour of the miso pumpkin/ sauce. To the melt in the mouth tender Snapper, the outer caramelisation and the texture of the roast macadamias and prawns.

Look, you can probably get away with just mains. But really, who are we kidding. You need to order the Hand cut chips $12, cooked and seasoned beautifully. To hit the vegetable quota, Heirloom tomato, halloumi, cucumber $10.

Defying all logic, I bypass my kryptonite, chocolate. Opting instead for two of the lighter desserts on the menu. Mango, coconut ice, pandan cream $20. I struggled with this one, I love mango but this was perhaps a texture issue for me.

No such qualms with the Charred lemon parfait, salted butter crumb, toasted meringue $20. I had to pull myself away from scraping the entire plate.

There’s a lot to like about Flying Fish 2.0.

Bianca

https://www.star.com.au/sydney/flyingfish