There’s nothing better than being taken out for meal. Oh hang on, there is one thing better and that’s being taken out somewhere for a great meal. As a birthday treat, Kel was taking me to Omega, Peter Conistis’ relatively new basement setup on King Street in the city. Having been to his old restaurant Eleni’s several times I was keen to try the offerings from this venture.

Named as last year’s ‘Restaurant of the year’ by the SMH Good Food Guide certainly piqued my interest, and so the booking was made.

Decsending down the stairs with sounds of Jazzanova playing and quite an interesting lighting arrangment, it was more like entering a slick bar than a restaurant. We were greeted and seated at the bar and ordered a couple of drinks to start the night off. One thing that many have who have visited this restaurant is the decor - I suppose you either love it or you hate it. Moulded plastic chairs that snugly fit your posterior, panels of mirrored bulbs across the far wall - I was in the group that loved it.

Anyway, since we’re here to eat - on to the food. It’s not often that I’m confronted with a menu that simply says “Eat me!”. I simply wanted to try everything tonight - however I did start with the anchovy baklava, which was accompanied by a salad of marinated sardines, fennel and tomato whilst Kel had the herb crusted seared Hiramasa kingfish on a bed of tomato kibbeh with basil tzatziki and fetta fritters. The baklava was sweet with a wafer thin pastry that was melt in the mouth.

Again, the selection for main course was just as difficult. Kel had the Humpty Doo Barramundi with ras el hanout, scampi, nicola potatoes, cherry tomatoes and baby fennel whilst I had the herb crusted king George whiting in kataifi pastry with a blue swimmer crab, cavalo nero and savoro sauce. And again, the dishes were just as good as the entrees. The pastry was most unusual - I have only seen a sweetened version used as a dessert item, however this gave a crunchy texture to the whiting with a hint of almond.

The wine list was excellent, a wonderful cross section of Australian wines with a support cast of NZ sauv blanc’s and even a couple of Greek reds. By the glass there was 4 bubbles, 4 white and 5 red varietals to select from - by the bottle, the selection is almost endless. The only thing that felt lacking on the night was the lack of suggestion strength from the acting Sommellier on the light. However, it would have been the only (minor) flaw of the experience; the wait staff were otherwise knowledgable and friendly, without being apparent.

Having eaten so much, dessert was a shared affair, plumping for the bitter chocolate, rosewater and Turkish delight ice cream slice with Turkish delight fillo cigar. The fragrance of the dessert was divine, and more than ample for 2 people. This, with two glasses of dessert wine (thrown in as a ‘birthday present’ from the restaurant) capped off a splendid meal.

Returnability: Without hesitation
Score: 16/20

Entrees $22 to $28. Mains $30 to $38. Dessert $17 to $21
BYO ($10 corkage) plus extensive, impressive winelist
161 (Basement) King Street, Sydney