Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Mosman

I first visited the Middle Harbour Yacht Club a few years ago for a work Christmas party and if memory serves well, the food wasn't that great. Last time, my (vegetarian) work colleague was served half a cooked eggplant, along with a drizzle of sauce, on a plate as his 'main' dish and the meat-y mains (i.e. barramundi or roast chicken) was either cold or overcooked... but will history repeat itself?

On this occasion, we were promptly served drinks on arrival at 1:30pm but unfortunately the (alcoholic AND non-alcoholic) beverages served from the street-level bar, facing the enclosed beach, were seriously watered down. Great views though.

View from Club

Two different canapes were served whilst we were waiting - deep fried pepper & lime squid, and mini vegetarian Viet rolls. The deep fried squid was good - crunchy and well-seasoned - whilst the Viet rolls could have done with some more filling, as they all ended up being rather flat.

Eventually we were ushered to an upstairs dining area (different from last time) with a bar that served much better (but still watered down) beverages. After the precursory speeches, food was finally served after 3pm! The portion sizes of the two entrees were significantly disparate - I was served the smoked salmon salad, which was dismally small, whilst the alternate dish was roast chicken (maryland) on cooked cabbage.

Smoked Salmon with Quinoa Salad

There wasn't wasn't much to comment on the salad but the quinoa was overcooked and the dish could have done with some seasoning (sadly no salt or pepper grinders in sight).

After an hour long wait (after which everyone was starving since it didn't arrive until past 4pm!), the mains were finally served. This time round, the options were either a chicken roulade (rolled chicken breast with feta and tomato, wrapped with bacon) on a bed of roast potatoes, or a grilled barramundi served with a snow pea & cucumber salad on a bed of gnocchi (the vegetarian option being this dish minus the fish). I'm not sure who picked the menu internally but anyone who didn't eat seafood (i.e. almost half my table) was served a second chicken dish and somehow seven out of nine people on my table, including myself, ended up with the chicken.

Chicken Roulade served on a bed of Roast Potatoes

The chicken was served warm and also could have done with some seasoning but surprisingly, the roast potato was well seasoned. However, I wasn't quite full after eating this.

Fortunately, my hunger was sated by the array of dessert options including lemon meringue tarts, fruit platters, cheese + dip + flat bread platters, as well as the much-well-received deep fried churros (although not quite cooked through).

Lemon Meringue Mini Tarts

My work functions are notorious for late 'lunch' - a term that can easily translate to a meal that is eaten mid-afternoon - but this one takes the cake. Overall, I have to say that the food quality has much improved since my last visit but they seriously need to address their drinks situation. Given that they're in prime location, they must already be making a killing from serving food and drinks to customers but they should not be watering down their drinks from the tap to that extent.


Food: ✰✰ (deducted a ✰ because of the drinks)
Service: ✰✰✰
Atmosphere: ✰✰✰✰
Overall: ✰✰ 1/2
Summary: Avoid drinks served from the tap