Epicurean at Crown Sydney — EAT IT AUCKLAND

I recently staycationed at the Crown Sydney, mainly because I wanted to try the buffet at Epicurean. Staycationing has never been something that appealed until now. But pick the right place and it is the best thing ever!

In these financially challenging times the all-you-can-eat-buffet has had a renaissance and people are spouting all kinds of advice about how best to tackle it and get your money’s worth. Here is my take on Epicurean and what I did:

If you’re planning to stay at the Crown and breakfast at the Epicurean is included, then it’s best to do lunch the day before and not dinner. Yes, somethings offered at dinner can’t be found at lunch (it costs more for one). But there is no way you’ll be able to enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast the following morning if you did dinner as well.
Preparation is key: don’t starve yourself beforehand, have a light breakfast that morning, think of it as a stomach warm-up.
For once in your life, pay for the sparkling water. Contrary to popular belief, fizzy drinks with meals increases the amount one consumes and is a tactic utilised by competitive eaters to get themselves over the finish line, and you should do the same.
Seafood is king. Let’s be honest, everybody goes for the fresh seafood and sashimi. It is light, doesn’t make you feel sick, this should be most people’s main focus. If you don’t eat any seafood, maybe consider a different restaurant... There were oysters, pipis, prawns and spanner crab by the truck loads, but sadly no lobsters.
All other proteins are the next best thing and desserts is where it’s at.
Carbs and salads are for suckers.
The range of cuisines at foods at Epicurean is astounding and I say with some confidence I don’t think anyone could try everything single thing there in one meal. So know what you want, and what you’re willing to sacrifice, and live with your decisions.

The service at the Epicurean was excellent. The staff are watching like hawks, and swoop in to disappear your old plates and replace them with fresh ones the moment your bum leaves your seat in search of more food. I love that they have bowls at each table to discard shells in (I like they also assume everyone will be having seafood) and little lemon-scented finger bowls to wash your piggies in after. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten with my hands so much at such a fancy restaurant. They even have utensils like crab crackers to allow you to hack and slash your way into that juicy white meat.

At lunch there was an extensive array of Asian dishes including dim sum and stir-fried black pepper crab as well as many Indian curries and accoutrements. For once in my life I had to glance past the salads, cheeses and cold cuts (forgive me) in lieu of the Japanese station which had a selection of sashimi, sushi, pickles and salads. What was in the Western section? Couldn’t tell you, except I did have some caramelised lamb ribs with pistachio and some deliciously crispy panko-crumbed eggplant.

The dessert section is almost Wonka-like with not one but two chocolate fountains boasting both milk and dark chocolate. There’s an ice cream sundae station, and the very tangy blood orange sorbet is an ideal palate cleanser / starting block for your confectionary journey. The passionfruit mousse encased in a dark chocolate cup was my favourites as was strawberries drizzled (or rather doused) in chocolate sauce. I ate several passionfruit halves as well, one because I love them, two because they were the biggest passionfruit I’d ever seen, and three because I felt slightly less like a piece of shit for having had some fruit.

Breakfast is it’s own thing and well worth another meal again for the fantastic variety of foods to be had. Several staff emphasised arriving early (like at 7am, the opening time) to avoid queues and you should heed their warning. We waltzed straight into Epicurean, albeit bleary eyed, and had a calm and unfrazzled breakfast. The same can’t be said for the queue of people we blew past on the way out an hour and a half later. For those who lack imagination, you can order eggs to your liking and eat yoghurt with fruit and all that, or you could eat congee with all the trimmings (including century eggs and pickled mustard greens) and a deep fried Italian sandwich (mozzarella carozza). My highlights were the son-in-law eggs (deep fried hard boil eggs dressed with chilli, spring onion and a nahm jim dressing), steak with chimichurri (because why not), Indian lentil pancakes with masala potatoes and the french toast with berries and maple syrup. With the seafood out of the way, the previous rules do not apply here.

That’s my take on Epicurean, I loved it, if I lived in Sydney permanently I’d honestly make an annual visit to the place.

Have you visited Epicurean before? If so, what are your go to options? Do you have a hot tip on how to best tackle the buffet? Let me know in the comments!

Epicurean
Level 5
1 Barangaroo Ave
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
Ph. +61 2 8871 7171