Walsh Bay Cafe, Hickson Rd, Dawes Point

Walsh Bay Cafe, Hickson Rd, Dawes Point

Monday 21 May, 2007

Tonight we were off to see 'The Art of War' at the Sydney Theatre Company. Our last minute dinner plans were decided over the phone at 5.15pm and went something like this....

'Fancy dodgy Chinese?'

'Sure, first there grab a table'.

We've come to know the Walsh Bay Cafe as dodgy Chinese as we've had some serious hits and misses at this venue and the staff just don't care.

We arrived tonight to find no-one in the restaurant. I could have cleared out the furniture, dismantled the fridges and taken down the art work. The staff were gathered in the kitchen or next door (they also look after the bottle shop and supermarket in the same building). After a good 5 minutes in which we had helped ourselves to menus a staff member appeared. Completely oblivious to concept of customer service she wandered past not acknowledging us.

I called out and explained we would like to order. This got a reaction and she shuffled over with notepad in hand. The order was really simple:

- Salt & pepper tofu

- Chicken, chilli and peanut stir fry

I'm pleased to report that the food tonight was really good. The salt & pepper tofu was fabulous with soft, silken tofu covered in a light, crispy salt & pepper coating. Served piping hot with a smattering of shallots and fresh chilli on top we thoroughly enjoyed it. Likewise, the stir fry was also very good - the thick chilli paste was very spicy and generously covered the chicken, peanuts and vegetables.

We didn't receive enough cutlery, bowls or plates and when we asked the staff they looked at us blankly. Embarrassingly, on my behalf, one of my theatre buddies called halfway through dinner and I loudly explained that we were 'seated inside the dodgy Chinese' - oops! Thankfully no-one, apart from my other theatre buddy, had heard this so we were off the hook.

How was the play? The Art of War is a Chinese military treatise written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time. Throughout the play this is applied to management/ business practices with a parallel story occurring about Iraq. I enjoyed it.

Walsh Bay Cafe - 16A Hickson Rd, Dawes Point - (02) 9241 4365