Birthday celebrations

Garry booked a table at The International for my birthday last week. I’ve been keen to try this restaurant since it opened last year. It's replaced a popular but incredibly expensive steakhouse called the Botswana Butchery. I dined there once for a post-Forum dinner with my EO friends in 2022. The meat was flawless, and the BilliCart-Salmon champagne was divine. However, the final bill was eye-watering (and not just because of the champagne).

Roll the calendar forward. Last week we found ourselves seated in a plush corner booth at The International enjoying good wine and excellent service. It was a Thursday night. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so we basically had a four-seater table to ourselves in a quiet, secluded corner with an elevated view over MLC Square at Martin Place.

Garry ordered a hefty sirloin that met his expectations. I ordered fresh King George Whiting. Sadly, the fish came coated in a dense Panko crumb. It was a little much for such a delicate fish. However, the white peach and ruby grapefruit granita I had for dessert was sublime. Would I book it again? Probably not.

I must admit we’ve been dining out a little more than anticipated since our informal retirement began. In addition to The International, I also enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch with my good friend Jon at the new Sydney Fish Market complex in Blackwater Bay last Friday. We’ve been catching up for coffee every couple of weeks. Last time we decided to do lunch at one of the market’s new restaurants.

I booked us an outdoor table overlooking the ANZAC Bridge at Hamsi Taverna. Lunch kicked off at noon, and eventually wound down around 3:00pm. I bought a kilo of fresh prawns for a BBQ that Garry organised for my birthday last night. We had six friends over for dinner. The first guests arrived at 5:30pm; the last of them left around 2:00am. Garry ultimately canned the proposed BBQ and slow-cooked a delicious lamb shoulder instead.

I’m now taking Garry back to the fish market for lunch to celebrate his birthday next month. Garry is also talking about kicking off a monthly lunch club with our retired friends. Each month, someone would take responsibility for booking a new venue for us to try. It sounds like fun. Watch this space!