Astral Restaurant, Star City Casino: My Review

My husband and I were very lucky to sample the food, view and service at the beautiful Astral Restaurant, in Star City Casino, last week. We had booked the musical that is now playing at the casino's Lyric Theatre, "West Side Story", and we thought it would be a nice excuse to get a little dressed up and go to a different restaurant we hadn't tried yet.



The service is perhaps the first thing you notice, as soon as you walk into the foyer of the restaurant. Then, as the host walks you to your seat, you realise the view! Around 270 degrees view of Sydney Harbour and the city skyline. Another striking element was the great cluster of cylindrical lights that reflect off the glass walls; they create a very striking impact. (You can see them in the below photo, to the top RHS)



You will have to forgive the photo quality in this post- I forgot my digital, and only had a phone camera, and in the dim lighting it didn't stand a chance!


I had three courses. As we were going to the show downstairs, they gave us a pre-show dinner menu- such a splendid idea!

First course: Semolina Gnocchi with fresh peas, Swiss brown mushrooms, and lettuce veloute'.



Second Course: Beef Cheek with potato puree and sauteed mushrooms. This was by far my favourite course out of all three (and considering I am a major sweet's addict, that is really saying something!). The beef was melt in your mouth, the potato puree was the best mashed potato I have ever had, and the mushrooms and sauce was just perfect!

If you decide to try this restaurant, I recommend you try this meal!


Third Course: Chocolate Dacquoise, passionfruit, coconut and champagne foam.

This was an interesting mix of flavours. I took the below photo to show you the layers involved in this dessert. The chocolate and passionfruit layers were like a thick mousse, then the foam on top, tasted to me a little like citrus. It was served with caramel and a sorbet.

By the time I was eating this, I was extremely full, and I couldn't eat it all!


My husband ate the Smoked Salmon for entree. and the Snapper for main, and he really enjoyed his as well.


Overall, I really enjoyed Astral. I think for the quality of service; the fairly large portions of food; the quality of the food; the view and ambiance of the restaurant; the price that you pay is very reasonable.

As we went during the week, we were lucky to sit right in front of the city view window. I would presume booking ahead for any night is essential.

Call Astral on 1800 700 700

Level 17 80 Pyrmont Street Pyrmont Sydney

I have previously created other reviews of other restaurants on my blog, and you can view them here:

Absynthe Restaurant

Tabou Restaurant

Sepia Restaurant and Wine Bar

And my review of Belle Epoque is in amongst our holiday to Hamilton Island.

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Absynthe Restaurant Review and Dream World!

Last week, my hubbie and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary in the Gold Coast, Queensland. (You can see pictures of my Wedding Dress here).

We are such big kids at heart! We love to giggle at anything silly (well, I do, Max just encourages me!), and we love our theme parks and rides! So we spent our anniversary screaming and laughing our heads off on all the rides at "Dreamworld", Queensland, Australia.


They also have a section named, "Tiger Island". They have about 5 tigers; 3 of which perform in a show, to help raise money to save them in the wild. Above, they are feeding them milk- how cute!


We went on so many rides, including this one, "The Claw". It acts like a pendulum, gaining momentum with each swing, to go higher and higher. As the pendulum is swinging, the circle (where everyone is sitting) is spinning. It freaked me out!

My favourite rides in the whole park, were the new water rides and slides. I guess with the roller-coasters and other mechanical rides, it is a complete adrenalin rush, and you kind of have to psyche yourself up to go on them. With the water rides, I found them easier to have fun- I giggled the entire time, and just had fun- without being scared at all.

If you have children, there are many kids rides, and there is a "Wiggles World" section which they will love.

Either way, we had loads of fun!

Afterwards, we dined at a beautiful restaurant in Surfers Paradise, "Absynthe".


The atmosphere inside is very intimate and romantic; the service was attentive, but not invasive; the food was beautifully flavoured. You could say that this restaurant adds French influence to a modern Australian menu.



I had an entrée of pumpkin ravioli- very nice with lots of flavours, although for a $30 price tag, I thought it was very small.

For the main, I had steak with an onion jam- it was fantastic! The hubbie had lamb.


I really enjoyed Absynthe. If you are looking for a romantic setting to celebrate something special; if you want fantastic food; if you want good service; then I would recommend Absynthe to you.

Next time I go, I think I will skip the entree, and order a main and dessert- the chocolate fondant sounds divine!



We have had a very busy week, and I will soon be able to post photos from my friend's wedding, which I had the pleasure of going to this past weekend. There is so much to catch up on!

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