Criniti’s Darling Harbour, ($$)

Criniti’s, Darling Harbour

Address: Shop 461, 2-10 Darling Drive, Harbourside Shopping Centre,  Darling Harbour NSW 2000

Phone: 1300274 648

Website: http://www.crinitis.com.au/

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A half day at work meant the colleagues and I headed over to Darling Harbour (via monorail) for a day of food, drinks and bonding!

The monorail ride over was something different and as I hadn’t been on a monorail in a while. I thought that it was a great way to get another view of Sydney and although windows and building facades blocked the view some of the way, there was a fantastic view of QVB and Darling Harbour from the monorail.

If only the windows were cleaner and didn’t have pictures on them, we could actually see out of them better to take photos!

I can see why they are planning to take the monorail down this year- there weren’t many people on, the tickets are a little pricey considering you could walk the distance in the same time (it is quite slow), and it is hard to take photos out the window when there are stickers and pictures on them blocking the view.

That said, I wish they would have added it on to a hop on hop off bus price and use it as a bigger tourist attraction as it is definitely a unique part of Sydney.

Atmosphere

After our monorail trip, we walked over the Pyrmont Bridge to Harbourside shopping Centre.

As always, Criniti’s restaurants are very well presented. The decor is fabulous, taking you to Italy with the large woodfired pizza ovens, exposed brickwork and football jerseys.

The gorgeous view of Darling Harbour

On this occasion we visited during the day and sat outside. I had only ever been to Criniti’s at night so it was interesting to see what the place looked like by day.

There was plenty of bright light coming in from the balcony and while the restaurant wasn’t anywhere near as busy as it is at night, there were still quite a few tables of people around us.

Service

Service wasn’t as good as during the night. We had 2 waiters look after our table during our meal and, as we all ordered drinks and food at different times, some taking longer to peruse the menu than others (guilty!), there was some confusion over who had ordered and who had not.

Overall however, they were pleasant and professional.

Food

We all ordered a variety of things.

I went for the Chicken Skewers with Lemon & Herb seasoning. They were served with three delicious sauces which tasted like aioli, chilli and prego. They also came with a fresh half a lemon (I love lemon and the fact that they weren’t stingy with it!), and a large basket of chips which was more than enough for me.

The chicken was juicy and well-seasoned; the meat had really absorbed all the flavour of the marinade. The charred capsicum and onions added some smokiness and the crispy chips definitely hit the spot!

Despite the fact that this dish cost $36.90, which is a fair bit for a casual lunch, there was plenty of chicken in the dish, it was well-cooked, the chips were perfectly crunchy and well salted, and the sauces and dish were presented nicely on the plate. Definitely work the money!

Others in the group ordered a variety of things including:

Beetroot, pumpkin, goats cheese and walnut salad with grilled chicken $19.90 + $9.90 for the chicken

Pizzas from $26.50

The Prego Burger, $21.90

Chicken Schnitzel with chips and salad $33.90

Grilled chicken with side salad, $29.90

The consensus was that Criniti’s had fantastic portions, delicious food, and great presentation. Everyone enjoyed their meals and we left there very full!

Cost

All of our meals + soft drinks came to about $310.

Rating

Overall I would rate my dining experience (out of 10):

• Service- 6.5
• Food- 8.5
• Ambience- 6
• Value – 7.5

Gordon Lebanese Cuisine, Gordon ($$)

Address: Shop 9, Gordon Village Centre, Pacific Highway Gordon

Tel: (02) 9498 8773

Website: http://www.gordonlebanesecuisine.com.au/

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I have been craving Lebanese food for a couple of weeks now (yes, weeks!) and decided to try out one of the restaurants on the North Shore.

Atmosphere

The restaurant is quite spacious but there were only 3 tables (including ours) of customers. Not that great for a Friday night.

The decor is quite simple, cream coloured walls with framed he photos of Lebanon on hanging up. There was a red feature wall on one side which brightened the room a little.

Service

As soon as we entered the restaurant (without a booking too), we were greeted by a very friendly man (perhaps the owner?) who quickly showed us to a table.

He was our waiter for the night and was very friendly and helpful. Service was fantastic and he came to check on us a few times throughout the night, but not so often that we felt as though we were being disturbed.

The only thing I would mention in relation to service was that the skewers came out a little while after the dips and salad. I would have preferred if they all came out together or if the fattoush and skewers came out after we had finished with the dips.

Food

We decided to order the banquet at $28.00 per person (drinks not included).

The first dishes to come out were the dips: hommus and baba ghanoush with Lebanese bread and the fattoush.

I thought the dips looked lovely and appetising with the paprika and olive oil on top of them.

The Lebanese bread however was served in a small cane basket but was still in the plastic bag when they brought it out. I would have preferred it if they had taken it out of the bag and maybe laid it out on a serviette in the basket.

MC and I really enjoyed the hommus as it was creamy and flavoursome and the olive oil meant it wasn’t at all dry.The baba ghanoush was very smoky and had an interesting flavour. While it was nice, I preferred the hommus.

Both dips had large portion sizes for two people and we didn’t finish either.

A fattoush is a salad with crispy bread in it.

This salad was fresh and had a tangy balsamic dressing over it. The lettuce was not soggy and the vegetables were crisp. The toasted Lebanese bread provided some added crunch and I also enjoyed dipping it into the hommus and baba ghanoush.

We got a huge bowl of the fattoush which was more than enough for the two of us.

I enjoyed the salad overall, my only comment would be that there was a little too much dressing on the bottom, but hey, you can’t please everyone!

Next out was the plate of kebabs and koftas.

This was the main event but was not presented very well as it was simply piled onto an oval dish. with pieces of Lebanese bread on top of and under the skewers. Some extra effort on presentation would really improve this dish and restaurant.

Presentation aside, there were 3 skewers for each of us of:

• Lamb pieces;
• Mince beef kafta; and
• Chicken breast pieces.

They were served with a side of garlic sauce which went really well with the lovely meats.

The lamb and chicken skewers had large pieces of meat on them and all the meat was tender, well-cooked and juicy. Absolutely enjoyed these delicious and tasty skewers- they were some of the best I have had!

To finish off we were served a (very) small cup of Turkish coffee and some sweets.

I asked for the coffee sweet and although I generally don’t drink coffee without milk, I thought it was quite nice.

The sweets were two pieces of baklava, which is a kind of syrupy filo pastry filled with crushed nuts. Baklava is one of my favourite sweets and I really enjoyed it but thought that the presentation and the dessert overall could be lifted a little with the addition of two pieces of Turkish delight as well to brighten up the plate.

Cost:

Pretty cheap for quite a lot of yummy food. Decent portion sizes as well, so overall good value.

Rating:

Overall I would rate my dining experience (out of 10):

• Service- 8.5
• Food- 7
• Ambience- 4
• Value – 8.5