Cirrus Dining, located on the waterfront of Barangaroo is one of those venues we’ve had on our list for a while now, and we finally made a visit. Cirrus is named after the cloud like apartment that sits above it. This restaurant is absolutely incredible and certainly deserves all the accolades it has received.
Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week, you can sit inside or alfresco, enjoying views of our breathtaking harbour. A crisp and stylish place with minimal decor, yet it feels classy with its floor to ceiling glass.
The Chefs know upmarket dining, having experience from the Bentley, Monopole and Yellow restaurants. Chef Brent Savage has put together an array of seafood delights with incredible flavour combinations and the freshest selection of seafood, sustainably caught. Don’t fret, if you have a non seafood eater amongst you, there’s vegetarian and meat options as well.
The waitress informed us that the dishes at Cirrus were designed to be shared. As a party of 6, she recommended 6 entrees, 6 mains and 4 sides. We ordered one less main than her recommendation and we were extremely full. The meats were served in generous portions. We also shared 3 desserts.
We began with a few oysters, served with a vinaigrette and these were a beautiful start to our dining experience.
We shared a number of starters including their famous Ocean trout with smoked beetroot, pepperberry and toast. The smoked beetroot lay atop the ocean trout mixture, almost like a starfish and the texture was simply divine.
The small plate of raw Cobia (like a sashimi) with salted apple, turnip and sesame was quite refreshing.
We shared two plates of the roasted King Prawns and Koji Butter. These prawns were were beautifully cooked, and a generous lashing of the butter sauce.
We also really enjoyed the Fremantle octopus with kohlrabi and green chilli salsa. The octopus was super fresh, tender, with a nice crisp charred outer and topped with ribbons of kohlrabi.
Given Cirrus is primarily a seafood restaurant, we couldn’t go past having a number of fish for our mains. We enjoyed the the Hiramasa kingfish with grilled cucumber, buttermilk and mint. Nice and soft fish with a pleasant sauce.
The cone bay barramundi was also lovely and was presented with some beautiful coils of charred onions and watercress.
The roasted swordfish was another winner, served with fennel, buckwheat and bottarga.
The Grilled black angus rib eye, 500 g was a big serving, and served with kombu butter, a very good comfort choice to please the masses. We ordered it medium and it was perfectly cooked to our request.
The barbecued lamb neck may not be something you’d expect at a seafood restaurant but for the meat lovers amongst us, it is a brilliant dish.
We shared all the sides; chips and aioli, radicchio salad, an absolutely beautiful plate of grilled asparagus with fresh curd and black olive, as well as a lovely serve of zucchini with hazelnut, yoghurt and turmeric.
We were pretty full but wanted to try the desserts too, so we shared 3 between the group of 7. We tried the Coconut Sorbet with Kiwi Fruit and Black Cardamom Custard. We also tried the Rosemary Ice Cream with Hazelnut Granola and Rhubarb. Both were beautiful, nice and light.
The favourite of the group was the cream Cheese Parfait with Roasted Strawberries and Lovage.
As for the drinks, Sommelier Nick Hildebrandt has also organised a wide selection of wines, 500 from around the world where you can get advice on the best to pair with your food selection. We chose a bottle of Riesling, which was a lovely pairing.
All of this amongst 6 diners and including 3 bottles of wine and bread came to $130 each, which is pretty reasonable given the size of the servings and amount of food. If you’d prefer, the tasting menu is available for $110 each for the whole table, though we preferred to order so we could try a greater range of options.
We absolutely loved dining at Cirrus and can’t recommend it enough!
10/23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW
Phone: (02) 9220 0111
Open 12pm-10pm 7 days a week
http://www.cirrusdining.com.au/