Lunch at Shiki

That's Shiki, the Japanese restaurant in Circular Quay; not Shakey's. With 31 years in the business, it must be good. For Japanese food, we normally go to our usual haunt - Manmaruya. However, since we received a voucher from the SIL, we decided to give Shiki a try.

Got there 15 minutes after opening. We were the first customers. Got a nice little table near the windows, which offered a great view of The Rocks and the food stalls. An hour later, the restaurant started to fill up, but still not full. I reckon the price of the dishes had something to do with that. The "lunch time special", which is a three-course meal costs $65. The deluxe lunch box, which comes with two mains, costs $38, so we went for the latter. The wife chose wagyu beef yakiniku (extra $7.50) and tempura prawn and vege. I had the ocean trout teriyaki and chicken kara-age. Deluxe lunch box also includes 2 kinds of sashimi (salmon and tuna), soft-shell crab, 3 pieces of spicy rolls, salad, fruits, and miso soup.

Specialty of the house is the pink salt BBQ. Basically, a slab of Himalayan pink salt is heated atop a burner, and that's what you use to grill your beef or seafood. $48 gets you 100 grams of premium wagyu beef slices, which you cook on your own. I must say this is the best-tasting beef I've had - soft, tender, juicy, a little salty, melts in your mouth.

In summary, accessible location, great views, excellent service, great food, albeit a bit expensive. I was so full, I decided to walk back to the office, instead of taking the bus.