Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Crystal Boudoir Cabaret in SYD

My wife and I will be in SYD from Thursday-Sunday next week (August 2-5). Has anyone been to the Saturday Night Crystal Boudoir show at the Crystal Bar at the GPO Sydney (http://www.gposydney.com)? They have a deal that includes dinner at one of the restaurants followed by the show and dancing.

*bump*

Saturday night we had a great night out in Sydney. The Westin in SYD is in the old post office building, GPO Sydney (http://www.gposydney.com/). There are several restaurants, lounges and bars in this facility and the space is absolutely beautiful. Wanting a night out for some dining, entertainment and dancing, I decided to surprise my wife with the Crystal Boudoir cabaret. From the GPO website I found that they have a package deal where you can eat in one of three different GPO restaurants and then have reserved seating at the cabaret. The GPO website is all flash so there is no way to link to the individual venues I'm listing.:td:

The restaurants are at different price levels so I chose the middle level, the Italian restaurant, Intermezzo. This restaurants has a very nice vertical wine cellar and has seating indoors in the restaurant and 'ourdoors' in the enclosed open space of the GPO which is also the shared with lobby of the Westin. They presented us with a subset of the full menu specially prepared for those attending the cabaret. While we were looking over the menu the waiter informed us that the large group next to us was also attending the cabaret. He suggested that if we could get our order in before theirs we would have less of a wait on the food. An excellent tip for a waiter to give!

When I suggested that being in Australia we should look at the Australian wines, the waiter pointed out that while we may be physically in Australia for this meal we were deep in Italy. We ordered a bottle of red wine, Dolcetta d'Alba Fontanazza, Marcarini. It was very nice.

For appetizers we ordered the Tortini di Melanzana (an eggplant parmesan) and Capesante con Salsa di Tartufoe Fontina (scallops wrapped in pancetta) and both were delicious. The pine nuts in the eggplant parmesan are something I really need to try at home.

The main courses were Fagotti di Vitello (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOMxwWgvZOo) (veal wrapped around spinach), which I'd actually seen presented earlier in the day on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOMxwWgvZOo), and Merluzzo con Lenticchie (seared cod with baby lentils). We shared a side of sautéed green beans. The mains were delicious although the spinach in the middle of the veal could have been a bit warmer.

Espresso and Latte with a traditional warm pastry desert with vanilla gelato crowned a delicious meal.

Upon paying we received the entrance tickets for the Crystal Boudoir in the Crystal Bar downstairs. The space is very nice and for larger groups they have very nice booths around the outside of the room. Initially they'd seated us at a high table with stools but it was right in front of the entrance. The problem with this is that there was a cold draft coming in from outside. We asked to move and were offered seats closer to the center stage. Close to the stage they have low stool and table seating which is a bit tiring for a 2.5 hour show. We could still feel the draft but it was definitely warmer. The cocktail menu was quite nice with a mix of 'modern' cocktails and classics. I set up a tab and we waited for the show. The show was to start at 9:30 but it probably didn't start until 10:15. Meanwhile there was a DJ playing music which was accompanied by a great saxophone player. The atmosphere was very nice and the place filled up pretty well.

The show itself was very nice. We'd never been to a cabaret show before so the best I can describe it is that it is somewhat like a variety show. There were 6-7 acts with music in between them. To our taste the time between acts was a bit too much. The costumes and themes were racy and tasteful but it was definitely high class and not sleazy. Some of the acts included were a contortionist, a few acts with some dancers in various costumes, a vocalist singing modern tunes in Billie Holiday-esque style, ec. It was quite enjoyable and something I'd go to again with a group of friends.

After the show was over and the crowd thinned a bit they removed the stools and low tables and people started dancing. We were even coaxed to come up on the stage with some of the other patrons to dance. it was a great evening and it looked like lots of people were out celebrating birthdays and special occasions. I definitely recommend this place for a FT DO in Sydney!

Thank you for the review of the show and Intermezzo, yosithezet.

Last night was unusually cold compared to the past week but the days are pretty pleasant in the sun. With a forecast of sunny weather throughout the week, I hope you get to see the best Sydney has to offer.

With the days getting longer, hopefully you will have some pleasant harbour views as the sun sets around 5.20PM.

I've been hesitant to recommend Prime as the service is not up to some peoples' expectations, so it is good to know you chose another option.