What’s the point?
Due to its preponderance of celebrities, Happy Valley is a happy hunting ground for the paparazzi, which might explain the prevalence of similar high-end restaurants, catering to those with a hole to burn in their wallets. Every expensive dish you can think of – rock oysters, Wagyu steak, foie gras – is on the menu at these almost identikit establishments, differentiated only by their addresses.
Point Pie, for instance, has a location slightly off the beaten track, up one of the Valley’s numerous side roads. This makes it ideal territory for celebrities who wish to avoid being caught on camera messily slurping down a Sydney rock oyster, but doesn’t help it attract the average passerby on Sing Woo Road. Better signage might help, but would probably defeat the entire point of visible invisibility. But enough of the geography, what of the restaurant?
Well, your meal begins in a dark faux wood exterior, beyond which a curtain shields patrons from curious passersby (presumably bearing cameras). It’s a small space, with room for only six or so tables, notable for its dim lighting and close quarters dining. An oyster counter lines the preparation space behind the dining room, with the kitchen beyond – a private room (for the rich and/or famous) lies up the stairs to the side. The menu is a one page affair, divided into pastas, meats, seafood, and a raft of appetisers; while the wine list runs onto two sides – we settled on a bottle of 2006 Innocent Bystander pinot noir ($328) from Australia’s Yarra Valley.
We kicked off proceedings with a simple dish of buffalo mozzarella and organic tomato in a balsamic dressing ($148), which, while delicious, seemed a little overpriced considering its uncomplicated nature. Next up were the clams soaked in sake ($198). We were expecting more of a kick with this one, considering its alcoholic content, but the broth was moreish if a little gritty – the kitchen needed to do a better job on cleaning the shellfish. However, it still made a pleasant precursor to the mains, a rack of Australian lamb ($248), and spider crab and mushroom linguine ($188).
The lamb – medium rare, of course – was honestly some of the best we’d had in a long time, it was gnaw-off-the-bone good. The spider crab pasta, however, seemed to be lacking something – attention to detail perhaps, there were still unintentional pieces of shell in the serving. It’s also difficult to stomach paying a high price for something that you could, perceivably, make at home from supermarket ingredients.
The desserts, served fresh out of the fridge, were nonetheless charming – and the pinot helped smooth out most bumps.
All in all, Point Pie offers a very pleasant, occasionally romantic, meal, at prices that will break the bank. Perhaps it would’ve been worth the cost if we’d at least seen a celebrity, but alas. Ou Runyi
G/F, 8 Cheong Ming St, off Sing Woo Rd, Happy Valley, 2575 6883. Daily noon-midnight . Meal for two: around $900.