Nick’s Seafood Restaurant, Darling Harbour

My brother and sister-in-law, along with my adorable niece, was in town for the week and it was so great catching up on what they’ve been up to. And the best part was, my 3-year-old niece remembered me without being prompted! TOTALLY made my heart smile.

We decided to head to Nick’s Seafood restaurant for dinner on a Friday. I know it’s situated in the “tourist trap” of Darling Harbour, but aside from heading to Doyle’s at Watson’s Bay, Nick’s was pretty much THE option for Aussie seafood right around the city.

There’s a certain buzz on a Friday night at Darling Harbour that I really enjoy. It was still early autumn and daylights savings hasn’t kicked in yet, so the day was still long, with a cool breeze blowing at the harbour, and people were dressed up to the nines for a night out to kick off the weekend.

I think almost every table around us ordered the platters to share, simply because it was a headache looking through the menu and trying to decide on which seafood to have. I’m not sure if it’s actually the most value-for-money option, but what it is, is the quickest option to the biggest variety.

We ordered two platters for the adults to share. And of course a set of Fish and Chip for the l’il one!

Nick’s Entree Platter for Two ($62) – Grilled Baby Octopus, Chargrilled King Prawns, Florentine and Kilpatrick Oysters.

The entree platter looked verrry yummmy. Not too big a fan of chargrilled prawns (the best ones are the cooked prawns at the Sydney Fish Market!) but these are fresh and good. The Florentine and Kilpatrick oysters were also very tasty – good and cheesy and bacon bits. (Though my faves are still freshly shucked with lemon or Tetsuya’s oyster vinagerette). I thought the star item was the grilled baby octopus. You might remember that I’m not a fan of squids of any form, but these were soooo tasty! Just the right amount of chewy/crunchiness too! Very goood.

Nick’s Seafood Platter for Two ($145) Fresh Cooked Lobster, Steamed Mussels, Fried Calamari, Catch of the Day, King Prawns, Blue Swimmer Crab, Freshly Shucked Oysters, Avocado.

When the platter arrived, it pretty much took up the entire table! A two-tiered set was brought to our table, with the gorgeous seafood affair at the top, and seafood-crunching contraptions at the bottom.

The Catch of the Day (fried fish) was lightly battered such that you can still taste the freshness of the fish. We weren’t really fans of mussels so that was lost on us. The oysters and blue swimmer crab were really good, but the randomness of the avocado couldn’t really be explained. Bro calls it the “filler” dish. The calamari stuffed on top of it was overly spicy!! Left my tongue burning and gulping cups of water. The real letdown was the lobster. Looking so full of potential in their bright red shells, the flesh was oddly… tasteless. And probably the most expensive item on the platter too! So disappointing! But they served as good entertainment for the little girl The bright red shells made them look like toys.

We also ordered their special catch of the day, which was the flounder. I think it was about $30/kg. It was really fresh and so enjoyable! I polished off most of the remainders!

Service was also excellent and non-intrusive, with a very good sense of humour. At one point, the waiter came by and announced that “no outside food were allowed” and we thought he was referring to my niece’s baby food and cough medicine! Was going to launch into a tirade when he continued, “and so I have to take away this box of chocolates!”, referring to the box of choccies that they had got for us earlier in the day from Hunter Valley. He left our table chuckling and he clearly had a good laugh at our expense too!

There are a lot of places to blow your tourist dollars on around Darling Harbour, and I don’t think Nick’s is going to be your worst choice. In fact, the next time I have a visitor in town, I might bring them to Nick’s for good Aussie seafood (but only if they can’t make it to the Sydney Seafood Market – which still dishes out the best seafood of course!).

Obviously a place for special treat, but if I had to recommend a location in the city for good Aussie seafood, Nick’s will be at the top of the list.