Summit, Australia Square, Sydney

Summit, Australia Square, Sydney
Tuesday 30 October, 2007

OK - here's the thing....the Summit offers one of the best views across Sydney Harbour. So, why on earth wouldn't they showcase it????? My lunch buddy and I arrived today to take advantage of one of the last days of Good Food Month. I had previously dined here back in 2005 and felt the service let the entire experience down.

Upon exiting the lifts we were whisked to a table in the near empty restaurant looking out South East i.e. we couldn't see the harbour. The greeter was wearing a far too tight black dress and was merely going through the motions - she couldn't have cared less if we were having a good day or planned to enjoy our lunch and this was paramount in the way she delivered these lines.

Our waiter promptly arrived with menus and enquired if we wanted drinks....sparkling water, tap water. When we settled on tap water he dissapeared. It became obvious straight away that the Summit doesn't offer any complimentary starters/ extras e.g. bread, butter, salt. So we sat there looking at the view wondering if we would make it from South East to North in less than 60 mins.

The Summit is positioned as, "A famous icon on the Sydney Restaurant scene, find Summit Restaurant and Orbit Lounge Bar in the heart of Sydney CBD on level 47, Australia Square. Sydney's best 360 degree view, a revolving panorama of city skyline, Sydney Harbour Bridge and sparkling harbour waters and back to Sydney Opera House in 105 minutes. Sydney's premier dining experience for lunch and dinner, an exciting menu presents only the best Australian ingredients and seafood and finest international wines. Owned and operated by acclaimed international chef and restaurateur Michael Moore, Summit Restaurant is absolutely the best Sydney Restaurant experience."

We noticed immediately that our menus did not contain any mention of Good Food Month. This was surprising given they are listed in the Good Food Month guide. We asked our waiter when he returned and he looked around nervously and dissapeared again. A short time he returned with the 2006 Good Food Month promotional flyer. This listed the lunch special as tasmanian salmon.

We knew that the lunch special for 2007 was, 'Seared ocean trout, feta and spinach rotolo, tomato passata and crushed sweet herb pesto' and a glass of Brown Brother wine plus coffee/ tea for $35pp. We had come specifically to enjoy this so when we ordered we requested the Good Food Month special and this is what we received. I don't think the waiter even realised they were still using the 2006 flyers as he certainly didn't acknowledge it.

With prompt delivery of our meals we still hadn't made it around to the Harbour by the time we had finished. This was dissapointing. We couldn't quite grasp why they weren't using the side of the dining space that commanded the Harbour views. Our meals were very lean and light - the ocean trout was lovely and the highlight for me was crushed sweet herb pesto. It wouldn't have been fabulous with some crusty bread.

It didn't take long to finish our meals and we were still hungry. Rather than order one of their $18 desserts we decided to stop off at the newly opened Lindt Cafe for some $4 ice cream - divine.

Summit Restaurant - L47/ 247 George Street, Sydney - (02) 92479777

http://www.summitrestaurant.com.au/