Sydney Fish Market: Pre-Christmas Shopping at Midnight, Pyrmont (23 Dec 2011)

Sydney Fish Market, Bank Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009
http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au

Midnight seafood shopping

Continuing the family tradition of midnight shopping for Christmas lunch I head down with my dad and brother to Sydney Fish Market to buy some St Helen's pacific oysters (Nicholas Seafoods), tiger prawns (Claudio's) and octopus (Peter's Seafood Market) this year. The car park was again full and there was hardly a seat available outside under the umbrella seating. Traffic outside wasn't too bad and we managed to find a free car spot on Wattle Street next to Wentworth Park. The crowds were again busier than a normal Saturday trading as expected. De Costi Seafoods had a line outside to get in and Claudio's was a very tight squeeze due to hardly any traffic area to move. I tend to get my oysters from either Nicholas Seafoods or Christie's Seafood depending which ones look good. If they have either Coffin Bay or St Helen's then this tends to influence my decision at the time.

Other visits to the Sydney Fish Market:

• 23 Dec 2011 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

• 23 Dec 2010 – Pre-Christmas Shopping, Oysters, Mussels

• 23 Dec 2009 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

• 26 April 2009 – Whitebait, Mussels, Oysters, Prawns, Calamari

• 23 Dec 2008 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

Video of shoppers

Checking out Claudio's and De Costi Seafoods

Nicholas Seafood

I've bought the Alaskan King Crab from here before and it's been quite good

I tend to get my oysters here if they are good instead of Christie's because they give you the oyster tray to keep them all nicely organised. I bought 2 dozen St Helen's Pacific Oysters ($19.99 per dozen)

Peter's Seafood Market

These prawns were super large

Christie's Seafoods

Musumeci Seafood

It always seems a tight squeeze in this place

De Costi Seafoods

Claudio's

I used to buy oysters from Claudio's but tend to prefer Nicholas Seafoods or Christie's Seafoods now

Late night dining

Midnight crowds

St John First Aid Volunteers in case you get overwhelmed by the crowds

I sometimes buy Orchids from this flower shop

Full car park at midnight

Dining at midnight

12.17 am shopping

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Flying Fish: Wine Selectors Marriage of Food & Wine Event, Pyrmont (6 Sept 2011)

19-21 Pirrama Road, Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont NSW 2009
http://www.flyingfish.com.au

Real wine, producers & regions

“There's a great wine for every occasion — it's all about epxloring, finding what you like and what suit the event. There's nothing worng with having an affordable bottle of Shiraz with your sausages on a Monday night”

Thanks to Carla Carafa from Keep Left PR for inviting me as a guest to this Wine Selectors event. It was an educational dinner where I discovered that even though there's over 3000 registered wineries in Australia probably half the volume of wine is bought from only 8 mega wine companies. Which apparently means the majority of the smaller wineries are never discovered by the general wine consumer that only visits places like Coles and Woolworths. I also learnt the supermarket giants actually own places like Dan Murphys, Cellarmasters, Vintage Cellars, 1st Choice Liquor Superstore and BWS which I always thought were independent — so sneaky. There's only a small number of independent wine cellars in Australia that help to sell a wider choice of wines to the consumer. I've noticed the Wine Selectors stands at airports and always thought they were just selling marked up wines to tourists that you could get cheaper in your local bottle shop but I know understand they're helping to sell wines from some of the smaller producers which you wouldn’t find in most liquor shops. They tell me their pricing guarantee matches what it would cost to buy directly from the winery so that's good to know as I hate paying more than I have to.

A selection of wines were matched with the Flying Fish dinner menu. Out of all the wines sampled the 2009 Coriole Vineyards Sangiovese Shiraz certainly had some ‘presence’ as it was described. The tiny Cornet of ocean trout tartare with chive crème fraiche ($5 each) was enjoyable and the Freshly shucked Sydney rock oyster with soy and ginger ($5 each) was pretty good but seemed to be missing a fair bit of its fresh brine I was hoping for. A nicely presented Roasted blue eye trevalla ($48) looked great and I really enjoyed the flavours of white anchovy & herb vinaigrette topping. For the hot chip fans the Flying fish hand cut chips with chili salt ($12) are definitely worth trying. Fair amount of noticeable spice but perhaps could have been a little more crunchier for my liking. Cabot cloth bound cheddar ($15, Individual portion 40 grams) seems to be popular these days in restaurants which had the right amount of bite. I really enjoyed the Delice de Bourgogne from France — more please. My Affogato with Frangelico ($19) comes at a steep price but worth it for a special occasion. Look out for the Ginger and cardamon chocolate petit four which was my favourite of the selection offered.

Check out Noodlies for some video footage of Chris Barnes explaining the wine selection

Other visits to Flying Fish:

• 2 Sept 2011 - Wine Selector Marriage of Food & Wine Event

• 2 March 2011 - #summermenu Tweetup and Blogging Event

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Greater access to wines from different regions, Water views and glimpses, Nice decor, Interesting and well-presented dishes, Quality ingredients, Professional service, Private dining sections available

CONS: Expensive, Restaurant located a bit off the beaten track with limited free street parking for only limited time, I still don't like the toilet setup

WORTH TRYING: Cornet of ocean trout tartare, Hand cut chips, Affogato with Frangelico, Dishes that tickle your fancy, Delice de Bourgogne cheese, The Ginger and cardamon chocolate petit four

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Acqua Panna mineral water, Prosecco di Valdobbiano Sorelle Bronca; 2005 Chrismont Riesling

2010 Dandelelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling; 2010 Riposte by Tim Knappstein No 1 Pinot Noir

2008 Tarrawarra Estate Reserve Pinot Noir; 2009 Coriole Vineyards Sangiovese Shiraz

Girls and boys bomboniere

Cornet of ocean trout tartare with chive crème fraiche ($5 each)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Freshly shucked Sydney rock oyster with soy and ginger ($5 each) — missing a bit of the brine I was hoping for

Toasted brioche with duck rilletes and foie gras mousse ($5 each)

Garlic butter, plain butter with bread

Roasted blue eye trevalla with textures of potato, white anchovy & herb vinaigrette ($48) — nice condiment flavours

Flying fish offers a complimentary green leaf salad with main courses

Dutton park duck breast & confit leg pastilla with buckwheat, quince & pan juices ($47) — tender meat, nice flavours

Flying fish hand cut chips with chili salt ($12) — nice amount of spice although could be a little more crunchier for my liking

WORTH TRYING :-)

Cabot cloth bound cheddar, cow’s milk, Vermont, USA; Delice de Bourgogne, Burgundy, France ($15, Individual portion 40 grams)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Affogato with Frangelico ($19)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Petit fours — Mandarin and guava jelly, Passionfruit meringue really nice

Ginger and cardamon chocolate

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Small camera, big camera

Chris Barnes explaining Wine Selectors

Open kitchen

Seating and bar upstairs, Goodie bag of wine, Selector magazine and Lindt caramel chocolate

Looking through the wooden decor

Table setting and wall feature

Nice little lantern lights

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