Cine, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park

Cine, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park
Saturday 9 December, 2006

I'll get this out of the way up front.....I love Robbie Williams. Oh how we had anticipated this evening. The best concert I have ever been to was Robbie's last concert tour in Australia in 2003. It was sensational.

Tonight, six of us gathered at Cine for a pre-concert meal. The Entertainment Quarter was beyond busy - it was actually chaos with people queuing for every single restaurant and spilling out of every bar and pub.

Fortunately, we had booked a table at Cine. It was unbelievable to me that other concert goers didn't think to do this either as the thought of queuing for up to an hour was ridiculous (especially in high heels and not much else........the standard uniform of most women attending the concert).

We were met with evil stares by the queuers as we cruised through the entrance and were seated immediately. The vibe in Cine was loud - the buzz of laughter, chatter and the Robbie Williams CD playing over the sound system was enough to get anyone pumped about the concert.

Our table of 6 ordered a garlic pizza to share first (it was swimming in garlic and cheese and was served piping hot - not bad) because let's face it..if we all eat it it doesn't matter and it's not like we were going to camp outside the Park Hyatt and wait for Robbie after the concert (unlike the table behind us).

The food at Cine is described as Italian and it has something for everyone from seafood, steak, risotto and pizza. Even though there were plenty of staff in the restaurant it was very difficult to attract service at times - we didn't have a waiter assigned to our table so just grabbed anyone that went past. It was a tad frustrating but we managed to order the following:

- Oven baked salmon fillet served on chat potatoes & topped with mediterranean salsa & a drizzle of basil oil
- 300gm t-bone steak with your choice of baked potato or chips x 3
- grilled milk fed veal back strap served on sun dried tomato risotta with beetroot puree & topped with sweet potato crisps
- risotto di gamberesi sauteed prawns tossed with rocket, goats cheese & pinenuts finished with shaved parmasan

There was a delay with our meals but when they arrived we were pleasantly surprised - the servings were huge and it was value for money - with the mains averaging at $23 each. Our steaks were cooked well and our request for a double serve of bearnaise was met however they didn't bring it in a side dish just slathered over the top.

The layout of Cine is awkward - the indoor and outdoor sections are cramped as they have tried tosqueezee way too many tables and chairs into the space. For example, we couldn't move our seats in or out as they were so tightly locked against each other. This was not only uncomfortable but very awkward every time someone moved.

We had no intention of going to see the Support Act for Robbie, so stayed at Cine and ordered dessert - 2 x Cherry Ripecakess to share. These were sickly sweet and chock full of desiccated coconut.

The concert? Robbie was on fire....what a performer.

Cine - Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park - (02) 9332 1409

http://www.cine.com.au/index.html