Flying Fish and Chips

Flying Fish and Chips
Level G Café Court
The Star
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont
NSW 2009
Ph : (02) 9518 6166

The Star, previously known as Star City, has been rebadged, renovated etc etc and so forth. We all know what happened, we all know the new eateries, so let’s move onto one of them. An offshoot of Flying Fish, it is situated in a food court that feels quite separate from the gambling and entertainment part of the complex, making it easy to forget that you're at a casino.

An expansive space split into food and bar sections, the menu, which is not available online at Flying Fish, is divided into “classic”, “oven roasted”, “salads”, “burgers & rolls”, “ocean bar”, “stone bar” and “sushi + sashimi bar”, with 3-8 items in each section. The bar list features four champagne/ sparkling (glass or bottle), nine whites from around Australia, with a Farnese Pino Grigio from Italy, a rosé (Serafino Goose Island), four Australian reds and half a dozen beers.

At a fish and chippery, what else to order but a “classic fish and chips”? Priced at $14.90, it is described as being cooked in beer batter and served with tartare sauce and lemon.

The batter on the well-sized fish was not too thick, had a good crunch, golden colour and flavour. It was well seasoned, the flesh itself tender and not overcooked. The chips were also quite good, with a nice crisp exterior and soft interior. It was a decent rendition of fish and chips.

A “barra burger from the top end” ($14.90) was ordered on a subsequent visit. It is described as being served “with rocket, tomato, cilli jam, tartare and fat chips”. Between this and the fish and chips, the latter was the better item. In terms of fish burgers, the one at Katzy's was a lot better than the Flying Fish and Chips example. There was nothing wrong with the bun, or the tartare (the chilli jam appeared to be an addition to the tartare, rather than a substitute) but the fish fillet was a bit dry from being overcooked, and under-seasoned. The chips, on this occasion, were rather oversalted.

This food court is quite comfortably designed. There are sectioned areas, booths, tables are well spaced, and it’s not too glaringly bright. Whether or not I try any of the other eating places remains to be seen, but unfortunately, I was (unexpectedly) underwhelmed on these two visits.

[AP]