Sydney weekend - Doyles on the Beach & Chinta Ria

Last weekend, I was away again, this time in Sydney for a dear friend's wedding. My companion and I took the day off on Friday and made it a three day weekend so that we could make the best of the opportunities that Sydney has to offer.


I didn't get to Adriano Zumbo's in Balmain, because we left it til Sunday, and then found that the ferry timetable was rather woeful in meeting our need to do other things and get back in time to catch our return flights, so that was left for another day.


However, on Sunday, we did have a wonderful lunch at Doyles on the Beach in Watsons Bay. The Doyles name is synonymous with seafood in Sydney, and while there are a number of Doyles establishments, I am informed that the one at Watsons Bay is the original and best. It is pricier than the Doyles cafe nearby, but for the authentic Doyles experience, it is worth it. Mains average at around $40, and entrees are around the $19 mark.


For your money, you get this fabulous view as you dine:

I don't own Photoshop, so everything truly is as bright and as sunny and as blue as it appears in the photos. It was a truly glorious day. It may have been autumn, but it felt like summer in every way.

My companion ordered the Doyles Selection, with a mixture of battered whiting, stuffed prawn, fresh prawns, blue swimmer crab and chips:

I orderd the Hahns beer battered snapper with old fashioned chips:

Both serves were very generous (we could not have fitted in entree or dessert), and came with soy chilli, tartare and tomato sauces. We washed it down with a Boags beer (in my companion's case) and a Semillion (in my case) while admiring the marvellous view and general holiday ambience.

Our bill was just over the hundred dollar mark for two (including a weekend surcharge), but it is not something you do every day, and was a very enjoyable meal.

While in Sydney, we also went to the Chinta Ria Temple of Love restaurant in Cockle Bay. The food was very good, although on a Friday evening, we were lucky to get a table without booking and without waiting long. I recommend booking if possible because it seemed to be a very popular venue. We even did some celebrity spotting, as Angus Sampson (for international readers, he was The Bull in Where the Wild Things Are movie) arrived as we dined. I selected the chilli scallops - and man, they packed some punch - while my companion chose the Sassy Duck (duck in soy sauce). We had Pisces Toast (lovely toasts topped with ling, which you dip in sweet chilli sauce) for entree. Again, this was not a cheap meal (just over $100 for two with wine and beer), but it was very good food.

On a different note, I want to thank Gloria of Canela Kitchen Recipes for awarding me the Happy 101 Award and the Honest Scrap Award:

and Lily of Lily's Kitchen Window for awarding me the Kreativ Blogger award:

The rules for the Kreativ Blogger award are:

1. Pass it onto seven other blogs you love.

2. Let everyone know seven things about yourself.

3. Notify the awardees on their blogs.

4. Link to the awardee's blogs when giving the awards.

I am unsure of the rules for the other two awards, but I am going to roll them all into one and pass them onto the following blogs that I enjoy reading regularly:

1. A Duck in Her Pond

2. Green Gourmet Giraffe

3. Cooking for Comfort

4. Food Baby

5. Jill's Blog

6. The Caked Crusader

7. Kopiaste

And ending with 7 things about me:

1. I have lived in 3 states, 2 countries and 2 hemispheres.

2. I did not travel overseas until I was in my mid twenties.

3. I did not fly in a plane until I was sixteen.

4. For me, it is dogs rather than cats, although this very sweet cat followed us to the ferry in Sydney last Friday (when it really was not in its best interests to do so given the heat, the distance it walked, and the fact that we could not take it with us):

5. I cannot live without chocolate - the panacea for everything - and I usually have some every day.

6. I regularly do clinical pilates to help my poor old back.

7. My current favourite shows are Mad Men and The Circuit, both of which are thankfully available on DVD.

Have a great Wednesday!