Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney

By Franz Scheurer

It might have started out with an idea to transport the successful Melbourne formula to Sydney but instead of a sleek, modern space, Perry found an art-deco building in the middle of the CBD that almost defies description. A set of wide steps lead you from Hunter Street to an old-fashioned entrance and once inside you step into a different world with huge marble columns supporting an impossibly high ceiling, big, fancy windows placed up high, a visually wonderful (and very functional) open kitchen, taking up the length of the room on the right, and dark, warm coloured tables, chairs and banquettes, making this a dining venue which reminds me of a mix of the Montreux Palace with it’s opulent grandeur and the overall Old World feel and an extravagant sci-fi movie set. Nothing will prepare you for the experience that is Rockpool Bar & Grill.

The menu is divided into:

Cold Bar

with items like ‘New Style Prawn Cocktail’ or ‘Sashimi of Ocean Trout, Yellow Fin Tuna and Hiramasa Kingfish with Fresh Horseradish and Organic Soy Dressing’ or a selection of Spanish Jamón

Salads and Other Things

Which features dishes like the ‘Wood Fire Grilled Vegetable and Goat’s Cheese Salad’ or ‘Steak Tartare with Chips’

Hot Starters

Shines with dishes like ‘Slow Cooked Hen’s Egg and Bone Marrow with Red Wine Butter Sauce’ and

Pasta

Seafood from the Charcoal Oven Grill

Main Plates

From the Wood Fired Rotisserie

Beef from the Wood Fired Grill and finally

Sides

I love the ‘Four Raw Tastes of the Sea’ with its different textures and colours and the ‘Charcoal Roast Chorizo, Potato and Peas’ is a real comfort dish. The ‘Wood Fire Grilled Baby Octopus with Olives and Hand Pounded Pesto’ is beautifully tender and I understand why octopus is also called poor man’s lobster.

For mains you shouldn’t miss the rather upmarket version of the Aussie classic spag bol with the ‘Hand Cut Fettuccine with Wagyu Bolognese’. It’s everything your mum never quite managed. There is a large choice of different types of beef: David Blackmore’s Full Blood Wagyu, Greenham’s Dry Aged Yearling Grass Fed, Rangers Valley Dry Aged 300 day Grain Fed and Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 Months Old Grass Fed. I tried the Cape Grim ‘Rib-Eye on the Bone 350g, 57days’ and it was tender, juicy, well rested and very smoky. You know how for some reason a steak cooked on an open fire whilst camping tastes better than anything cooked at home? Well, this rib-eye was as good as anything cooked ‘in the bush’. A plate of addictive ‘Onion Rings’ and a terrific choice of condiments, from homemade Harissa to a gorgeously tangy Hollandaise, complete the meat dish. For sides we ordered the ‘Kipfler Potatoes Sautéed with Wagyu Fat and Rosemary’, the ‘Organic Carrots Inspired by St. John’ and the ‘Boiled Mixed Greens with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon’.

For dessert we marvelled at the texture of the ‘Crème Caramel’ and loved the simplicity of the ‘Apple Galette with Brown Butter Ice Cream and Candied Hazelnuts’.

The food at Rockpool Bar & Grill is excellent and does never come across as too worked or too fancy. It’s substantial comfort food and the portions are generous. Desserts are outstanding and leave you sated and satisfied.

When Rockpool Bar & Grill first opened it had an appropriate wine list with a decent selection of wines by the glass. The team at Rockpool Bar & Grill has been working on a wine list, which should be implemented in the next few days, that is without a doubt, one of the world’s most extensive and interesting lists. I had the privilege of seeing the lists, (two large tomes, one for whites and one for reds) and they’re amazing.

There are wines from around the world with over 3,500 different wines, going back as far as 1795. The lists focus on Australia, France, Italy and the USA. Some legendary wines, including the amazing 1921 Chateau d’Yquem, 1945 Romanée-Conti, 1945 Mouton-Rothschild, and 1931 Quinta do Noval Port are on the lists. There is a vertical selection of 34 wines from the famous Burgundy vineyard La Tâche, 55 different wines from Montrachet, 32 selections of Penfold’s Grange, and 22 selections of Chateau Petrus with vintages ranging from 1900 to 2000. There are more than 350 wines in a more affordable price bracket (below $100) and I’m impressed with the selection of wines from Wendouree. Sophie Otton has joined the Rockpool Group as head sommelier and what she doesn’t know about wines is probably not worth knowing.

This is a huge restaurant and I expected the service to struggle in these early days, but I was wrong. Service was smooth, professional and attentive without being overbearing.

Adjacent to the dining room there is a funky bar with a good selection of beverages (and soon a good selection of whisky/whiskeys). On the bar menu you also find the famous Wagyu Burger. You are going to have to try it to believe it!

All in all: Rockpool Bar & Grill is a fabulous venue, with great affordable food and with its many private rooms the perfect place for your next birthday party or business function.

Score: 8.5/10

(and be clear that this is, in my opinion, Australia’s most beautiful dining room!)

For more information or bookings:

Rockpool Bar & Grill

66 Hunter Street

Sydney

Tel.: 02 8078 1900