Hello everyone -- I have narrowed down my list of special occasion restaurants a bit and was hoping to get some insight from some of you who may have already eaten at these places. Any thoughts on the below:

Est (in Establishment)
Level 1, 252 George Street

Catalina
Lyne Park, Rose Bay 61-2-9371-0555

Aria
1 Macquarie St East Circular Quay

Otto
6 Cowper Wharf Rd Wooloomooloo

I have been to all of them and would say that EST is a lovely place but no view from there . ARIA is great too AND has a lovely view of the Opera House, Harbour bridge and harbour. The other two are good too but , for a Sydney experience, if you have to choose one, I would look at ARIA if I was you. EST would be my choice but I live here!

great thanks so much. I actually went ahead and made a reservation at ARIA since it looked so nice and have great reviews

Another vote for Aria - and I'm a local too.

I think it's the total "Sydney" experience for someone interested in good food - owner & chef Matt Moran has a well deserved place in the top echelon.

Tip: Approach from Circular Quay side,then go around the corner to No.1 Macquarie Street.

Just walking along beside the harbour towards the Opera House is something special, people enjoying the evening in the bistros & bars; ferries & little boats skimming across the water in the sunset. Across the harbour, the laughing face at Luna Park lights up. One for your memory bank

Peteralan and Bokhara2 - thanks so much for the insight.

On the topic of restaurants, can either of you comment on these Chinese/Thai/Malaysian places? All were also recommended but curious to see what you locals would suggest:

The Malaya
at King Street Wharf

Spice I Am.
90 Wentworth Ave., Surry Hills;

Billy Kwong
3/355 Crown Street, Surry Hills,

Longrain
85 Commonwealth Street, Surrey Hills

kristin the last two have a good name but I have not been to either. Malaya has been around for years and is good Malaysian food in a nice setting. Spice I Am has really good authentic Thai stuff but you need to be happy with the unwatered down food. Also it is in a TINY place not much more than a roadside stall. It is one of the very few places my Thai ( chef) friend will eat at as most here are not what he calls authentic.Good luck!

I realise that you have mad ea booking but I would like to add a suggestion and as a possible alternative to Catalina or just to add to a list of options for you or others .

Pier , in Rose Bay .

Set on an old pier surrounded by glass , not large , seafood specialty but caters for all .Australian Gourmet highly recommends it and rates it as one of the best lunch venues in Sydney .

On the strength of that I booked a table last year for a special birthday lunch .

It was wonderful .A perfect Sydney day with the sun glistening on the water .

Lovely , careful ,interesting food .Excellent wine list and attentive service .

Cost for lunch - 3 courses each and side orders (including the top priced starter / entree), 2 glasses of Veuve , 2 wine and 2 dessert wine , coffee came in around A$250 incl.tip .It was worth the money .

It also has a bar with a tasting /tapas type menu that is cheaper .

Spice I am would be at the top of that list for me for the food, it's very casual so don't expect much in terms of decor. Style-wise its spicy Thai food.

Billy Kwong (modern Chinese with an emphasis on ethical produce), would be a very close second, the food is fantastic, decor is stylish but it can be very noisy and crowded and the stools for sitting on get uncomfortable. In the case of both of these get there early--they don't take bookings. You can also leave your mobile phone number with Billy Kwongs, go to one of the pubs across the road, and they will ring you when a table is ready.

Malaya has a fantastic view over Darling Harbour, it's the most comfortable of the four, and the tables are well spaced (best acoustics of the 4). Longrain I think is noisy, overpriced and the food is uneven, I've been to several times and each time we have ended up with one great dish, 3 ordinary.

for a local's perspective / review on eating out www.eatability.com.au is a good guide also grabyourfork.blogspot.com/

have fun on your stay!

I know you have an occasion restaurant in mind so this is just an aside for a restaurant for another time.

But I just returned from wonderful 5 days in Sydney. We stayed in Darlinghurst (Chelsea B&B) and happened upon an apparently new restaurant called ONDE.

We really liked the food and the restaurant is kinda small & non-descript but inside it was bustling with people.

ONDE is located on Liverpool St. kittycorner to BILLS restaurant, which we also recommend for breakfast.

Hi Nannabee,
I'm glad you discovered Onde; it's one of my favourites, too. I usually don't recommend on here it as it is so tiny and can be difficult to get a table. Not new though -would be 8-10 yrs old at a guess.
Where else did you eat & what was your impression?

What did you think of the Chelsea?

Hey Bokara:
RE: Onde
I thought they said they were new but my husband looked at me as if I was crazy. He said to me, "Remember I told you they'd been there for about 8-10 years. YOu never listen to me." Which is of course true. LOL

We went to Bills for lunch. Which we enjoyed because of the nice vibe and atmosphere there.

Anyway, the Chelsea was great. Small, cozy, in a nice neighborhood. We would definately go there again. The only drawback was that it was farther out from the tourist areas. We knew this of course, but it was a bit of a distance (about 20 minutes one way by bus) to go into the Circular Cuay, and Rocks area everyday. If I had it to do over I'd stay at someplace like The Russell for a first visit to the city. Then for subsequent stays I do like the neighborhood feel of the Chelsea (and I love the Darlinghurst area).
We also ate at Sailors Thai Restaurant in the Rocks area (106 George St).
There was another Italian restaurant on George St. but we paid by cash and can't remember the name.
Cheers!

Further to my response thought I ought to let everyone know that Pier , in the just released Gourmet Traveller Awards for '08/ '09 , is rated 5th in their ranking of the top 100 restaurants in Australia .

Catalina is number 52, Est number 7, Aria number 11 and Otto number 73, Billy Kwong is number 65 .

The top 4 are Quay , Tetsuya's, Rockpool ( all in Sydney ) and 4th is Vue de Monde in Melbourne .

Just wanted to report back that we went to Aria while in Sydney.

We LOVED it! Thank you to everyone for all of your help.

We also went to a sushi place in the Ivy that was delicious. It was a casual place w/ a conveyor belt of sushi. Fun place

Always nice to read that the choice was right .

Glad it worked out kristin. It is a nice experience isn't it?