For those of you that have never had the privilege of being on The Pontoon, you can get a glimpse of it when it's docked at King Street Wharf or perhaps when it's filled with revellers whilst travelling through Darling Harbour. The ship is distinctive with its enormous glass exteriors and rooftop balcony, and is not to be confused with its smaller sister ship - The Starship.
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| The Pontoon |
We were initially advised that we would be boarding the ship at 1:30pm but we ended up lingering at the Pontoon Bar for ~15min before we were herded onto the ship. Once on board, we walked up the stairs up onto the rooftop deck, which gave some awesome 360 degree views of the harbour.
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| Inside of The Pontoon, On Route To Rooftop |
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| Dance Floor with 360° City Views |
Canapes weren't served until 20min in on the boat ride and we were all starvvinngg. I'm telling you - unlimited drinks and no food is not a good combination but we survived and were certainly happy when the food finally made an appearance on the deck. Options were limited to prawn & scallop wontons and some cheesy mushroom arancini balls - overall a pretty good start to the afternoon:
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| Prawn & Scallop Wontons |
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| Mushroom & Cheese Arancini Balls |
An hour into the boat ride, we were ushered downstairs for our sit-down lunch, which I have to say was a little disappointing.
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| Table Decor |
Dishes were served alternatively at the table. For entrée, I was served a salad with half of an heirloom tomato, asparagus, feta and rocket:
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| Heirloom Tomato, Asparagus and Feta Cheese on Rocket (asparagus spear fighting, anyone?) |
I thought the dish was overall lacking in flavour and rather small in size. It could have been improved with more food on the plate and perhaps additional ingredients like pumpkin.
The other dish served was a creamy risotto but the rice wasn't cooked through and was a little too salty:
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| Risotto with Peas, Cherry Tomatoes and Shaved Parmesan |
Interestingly, the bread rolls were served between the entrées and mains - at least they were toasty warm:
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| Assorted Bread Rolls |
After filling some stomach space with bread, the mains came out:
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| Chicken Thigh with Smashed Chat Potatoes |
The serving size of the chicken varied from plate to plate and wasn't even quite a Maryland piece (thigh?). The potatoes under the chicken were parboiled before they were briefly roasted in the oven - but not long enough to give it a crispy exterior - and then were drowned in the chicken juices. I didn't feel full after this and was so tempted to grab a second bread roll. A work colleague joked that he could have easily had 4 more of the chicken dishes.
On the bright side, the salmon served to my neighbour was cooked perfectly, served on a light cous cous salad:
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| Pan-Fried Salmon on Cous Cous Salad |
After the mains, we returned upstairs for more booze and partying, slowly taking in the sights of Sydney Harbour.
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| Sydney Harbour |
Shortly afterwards, dessert was served along with an endless line of cocktails that were continuously mixed by staff:
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| Cheese & Fruit Platter |
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| Chocolate-Filled Donuts | Chocolate Mousse | Coconut Panna Cotta with Kiwi |
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| Mini Gelato Cones (I swear we have had these for dessert at every Christmas party for the past 4 years) |
By this point in time, we were barely 3 hours into the boat ride with no end in sight nor any escape route aside from a 2km swim to the nearest shore, or a water taxi ride from The Pontoon (if you're willing to chip in $100+ to get back to a city wharf). Let's say I was very happy to get my legs on solid ground by the end of the Christmas party.
Overall, the canapes and drink options were good but the sit-down menu was rather lacking and could definitely be improved. Guess you're paying more for the views.
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| Cocktail with City View |
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