As 300 spartans descended upon this venue all in traditional garb I wondered how they would handle our motley crue. Simmer on the Bay is a big warehouse style function hall attached presumably to Simmer Cafe next door. With ample standing room and a dancefloor and toilets upstairs. It's aptly named given that you literally simmer inside and outside; and it is on Walsh Bay. It's not a bar per se. It is just a long trestle table loaded up with store bought bottles of booze dragged out from the coolroom as well as glasses and flutes for wine and champagne. Ottinger Pils was beer of the day so I grabbed two of them big boys, strapped on the gaffa tape, and thus started an epic night of Edward Fortyhands. By evenings end I was certainly being hailed as Beercules! To ease the pain the staff wandered around throughout the event with several different canapes. The cheese + fig toasts were just weird. Normally thats a wicked good combo but not here. The sausage rolls were ok but the sauce they were paired with was an apprentice chef's mistake attempt at tandoori. Seriously stick with the ketchup! The squid was actually quite tasty, nicely seasoned and presented in little cups with a well chosen sauce. But the pick of the night was the gigantic railway sleepers requiring one staff member at each end, to walk around laden with diff pizzas. The presentation was actually a lot better than the product unfortunately, but kudos for trying! The venue's ok for a big thing like office xmas parties; I guess that's what it is designed for - you couldn't and wouldn't take a date there. I might try the cafe there sometime during the day. The downside... The next day at work was dah-red-full. read more