It’s a bird; it’s a plane; it’s Flying Fish and Chips

The opening of The Star, formerly known as Star City, has been flying a little low on some radars. Despite colourful banners throughout the CBD (perhaps somewhat overshadowed by Art & About’s ‘What If’ banners), a few people were on the lookout for a new tabloid newspaper rather than the multi-million dollar renovated Sydney casino.

Curiosity gets the better on me on a Friday night after a cocktail or two. The cab ride from the city is a possible deterrent for rat racers, but if the weather was nicer – but not too hot either – the walk over Pyrmont Bridge could be quite pleasant.

The new casino layout is decidedly different – it’s best to go in as if it’s a completely new place, otherwise there could be confusion. The main entrance, now facing the water, is glitzier and shows off new restaurants Balla by Stefano Manifredi and Black by Teage Ezard, as well as a line of designer store fronts.

Natural oysters from Flying Fish and Chips, The Star, Pyrmont

Turning a corner past Balla leads to the food court section; and now that Westfield Sydney has essentially redefined food court eating, expect nothing lesser. There’s still work going on and some empty shopfronts, but on the whole – no-one seems to know about the place on this empty Friday night.

Which means placing an order at Flying Fish and Chips requires no waiting beyond our making selections from the pretty good looking menu. Cold and hot seafood options are available, as well as wines by the glass and bottle.

Post some minor technology teething problems, we grab a dozen natural oysters to share. The Sydney rock oysters are served on a bed of rock salt with lemon wedges and seafood sauce. They’re passable, though by no means the freshest in the suburb.

Classic fish and chips

It’s hard to go past good ol’ fish and chips here. It’s the first on the hot menu, and should probably be the signature and/or best seller given the store’s name. The white fish fillet is unidentified and we forget to ask, and is served with thick cut chips and a side salad – the latter quite a pleasant, balsamic-dressed surprise.

The batter on the fish is top notch, if not a smidgen thick and oil retentive, but well-seasoned and audibly crunchy. The fish is a good-sized fillet, still moist within while the uniquely seasoned chips are mostly good, with just a few looking in need of a solarium or further cooking.

Seared Petuna ocean trout with jasmine rice and curry sauce

An intriguing main-like dish, and one possibly familiar to Flying Fish diners, is a seared fillet of ocean trout, served with seasoned rice and oddly enough, a side salad as well. It’s also a generous serve and looks beautifully cooked, with just a hint of golden brown on the flesh.

Though sadly, looks can be deceiving as the fish was desperately underseasoned, even with extra curry sauce (which comes from a squeeze bottle), while the rice had a gluggy feel which one might also put down to kitchen teething issues.

Prawn cutlets with chips

I came out victor of the night with my choice of prawn cutlets from the hot menu. When I ordered, I already had heightened expectations for something far superior to the frozen, crumbed ones you can get at many a takeaway food store that are more bread than prawn. My expectations, and rather unhealthy choice, were justly rewarded.

The little bowl could barely contain the huge battered specimens of my prawns, beside my well-coloured thick chips and side salad. The prawns, instead of being butterflied, were completely split down the centre and remained joint at the tail – a nice structural divergence from their frozen cousins.

As such, there was probably more batter per prawn, which wasn’t an issue given the incredibly tasty (potentially beer) batter, which still held more oil than I would have liked. A touch of tartare sauce completed my winning meal, as too the very crunchy and filling chips, washed down with a glass of Italian pinot grigio.

Sadly, I think the chips took away my opportunity to have dessert at Messina Gelato, though we still managed to detour by the gaming floor – which is the whole point. If The Star can just get every diner to drop just a few dollars on the tables or at the pokies, they’ll probably soon be recouping renovation costs and flying high.