Bennelong Restaurant - Sydney Opera House

This is a very special place right in the world famous Sydney Opera House looking out onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the boats on the Harbour. I am sure there are not too many locations as good as this around the world. Add to this a master chef in Guilluame Brahimi and you have the recipe for a great restaurant and dinning experience.

It's Friday in December and the place is rocking inside and out with people everywhere taking in the sites of Sydney and great weather to boot. We are seated not too far from the window so we have a great view of the bridge and the Harbour. We don't have a lot of time because we have to be out by 3pm as my guests have a plane to catch.

For entree I have a lobster salad with foie gras which was absolutely delightful, freshly shucked oysters and shallot vinegar, and we washed this down with a lovely savingon blanc from NZ. 


For mains we had crispy barramundi on a bed of pureed cauliflower with a Shiraz jus, Waygu steak with mushrooms and confit of shallot merlo sauce, and Blue Eyed Trevalla with summer vegetables.



Some of the guests had desert which consisted of a chocolate mouse cake, chocolate souffle with white chocolate and cherry ripple ice cream and petit fors. everything was delicious and delivered flawlessly. service was a little slow and they got one of the dishes incorrect which reduced their score.




I would always recommend this restaurant and I scored them a 8/10 for food and 6/10 for service for the reasons above.

Sea Level - Cronulla Sydney

Taking time out to dine in your own area can sometimes prove to be a good decision. So when I had some business colleagues from the UK out I decided to local and show them something other than the city.

One of the best restaurants in the Sutherland Shire has been Sea Level however I have had some poor experiences there but I thought I wold take the chance. The restaurant is located right on the beach at Cronulla and has a terrific outlook and a relaxing ambiance without being too casual. The menu of course is mainly seafood but they have some meat, duck and chicken options. The prices are quite reasonable and best of all their wines are not over priced.

There were 9 of us and many had different dishes for entree like scallops in the shell,
Vitello tonnato; thinly sliced rare veal with beans, anchovies, shaved lemon, baby capers & tuna mayonnaise, Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with four cheeses, tomato ragout & pounded basil dressing.

for mains We had Green lobster tail roasted in cafe de paris butter, creme fraiche herb potatoes, watercress & citrus salad,Baked atlantic salmon fillet with baby beets, persian fetta, quail eggs, crisp pancetta & hazelnut dressing, Char grilled fillet of beef with sweet corn puree, potato fondant, fried shiitake mushrooms & asparagus.

Overall the food was very well presented and cooked just right with excellent service being provided. The restaurant was busy but timing of the dishes was good and all in all an excellent night was had by everyone. The bill was also fair and reasonable.

This is one place you should put on your to do list during summer and have a lazy breakfast on a Sunday, a long lunch or just a romantic dinner as the sun sets over the beach. Great for people watching if you are into that and watch the world go by. I rate them a 7/10 for food and a 9/10 for service.


Sealevel Restaurant + Bar
2 The Kingsway
Cronulla NSW 2230

P. (02) 9523 8888
F. (02) 9523 9518

Trading Hours
Breakfast
Sat & Sun,
8am-10:45am

Lunch
7 days, 12:00pm


Dinner
7 days, 5:30pm

Aria Restaurant

A sunny day and a Friday is a great reason to find some good clients and have a lunch by the harbour. I had planned ahead and booked Aria which is a restaurant I had not been to for at least 18 months, no real reason just so many new ones to try. But I am alwayS impressed with this place which basically has not changed since it opened which must be 15 years ago.

The ambiance is quite special very posh and at the same time very relaxed. this is one place where you can have a romantic dinner date or a corporate lunch. It was also great to see some of the old favorites were still on the menu like the Duck and Pea Pie.

To start all 4 of us had the special entree which was a salmon sashimi with a tea smoked herbs , tapioca and wasabi with a jelly that I can't remember what it was. It was very good but I thought it could have had a little more taste.

For our main I could not go past the duck and pea pie which was better than I remember, great pastry a little sweet which I loved. Lots of shreded duck and peas in a moist pie. one had the pork belly which was an entree but had it as a main. The pork looked crispy and juicy and my guest commented on how well it was cooked. The other person had grilled Barramundi which was Also cooked to perfection. There was a good choice and something to please everyone.

I was not going to have desert but my guest wanted one so I had to take a bullet for him and have one myself. We both chose the passionfruit souffle which was to die for, literally. we finished off with coffee and petit fors which consisted of a co nut rough, raspberry jelly and a chocolate truffle.

This was an excellent lunch choice not only for the food but also for the view and for those who don't know where the restaurant is it is next door to the Opera house on Circular Quay, looking out at the best harbour in the world and the Harbour Bridge. What a way to spend Lunch on a sunny Friday.


May I surest you grab a friend, customer or anyone and head down to Aria for a magnificant experience. My score for both food and service, which by the way could not be faulted is 8/10.



ARIA Restaurant Sydney •
1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 9252 2555

Baroque Bar - Bistro - Patisserie

This has been on my list for some time and I thought let's go and try it out. this I am sure used to be a bar maybe even a pub in the rocks area of Sydney. It is right on the corner of George St as it begins to wind up into the rocks area. Just across the road is the Quay restaurant . This was a Saturday night and a nice night not too hot and not too cold, so finding a car park is nearly impossible, however we found one under the Harbour bridge which is not too far away. I had eaten at Felix bistro on Friday and was looking forward to comparing the two.

We turned up and I was somewhat surprised that it was so casual and a patisserie to boot. However we were shown to our table ( no tablecloths) of course. The menu is not exhaustive and they were already out of most of their specials. But we were able to choose some excellent dishes. I started off with a scallop dish which I had never seen before. the scallops were joined together to make it look like one large scallop and it was served up with mushrooms and pea. The other entree was fresh asparagus with a poached egg, not very inventive but was cooked to perfection.

Because there were no specials left and neither of us felt like fish so we both had the beef cheeks which were very good and served with mash, again nothing out of the ordinary but what they did they did well.

The deserts were more exciting than the rest of the menu and you could ether choose something from the menu or what was in the patisserie we chose a couple of macaroons and a white chocolate berry Mouse cake.

The service was good and friendly, the food cooked very well, the menu was unexciting and ordinary as was the wine list. I would rate this a 5/10 only because there were limited items on the menu for us to try. would I go back, probably for lunch.

SpiceTemple -Sydney

This is a place I hadn't been before and many people have given it a great wrap, so I decided to try for myself. I have only in the last few years begun to love chili and this was going to be a hot experience. Accompanying me was a very good friend and work colleague. Firstly, when you arrive the front door is a video screen with curtains giving you the impression you are entering somewhere mysterious. A great start. Once you enter you go down three flights of stairs remembering you enter at street level.

At the bottom of the stairs it is dark with each table with their own small downlight, dark wood and an ambiance which tells you this is going to be special. We are shown to our table and immediately start reading the menu which is chinese /asian based.

There are many options to choose from all of which sound great. The waitress advises that we should share each dish and that for two people we should look at two entrees and one main as the entrees are quite large. There are dishes in red writing which signify that it is a very hot dish. We decide to stay with the normal dishes.

We started with squid in five spices, Chilli, and other spices with a dark Chilli sauce. This was very tasty and quite hot for me. We then had the scallop dish with flat noodle and peppers. Again this saucy dish was not as hot but the scallops were cooked just right.

For our main we chose the hot prawns which came with some Chinese vegetables, this was reasonably hot but we decided we would go for a second main and one written in red, so we went for the chicken with Chilli done 3 ways. The chicken itself was not hot but the Chilli was bringing tears to the eyes of my lunch companion, a seasoned Chilli lover. This was washed down with a Grosset riesling.

After lots of water we decided to have desert to cleanse the pallet. We had a cherry jelly and peanut chocolate dish and a chocolate, peanut, caramel ice-cream, which was like a giant snickers bar for you chocoholics.

It turned out to be a wonderful experience and we have already booked to go back again to try some of the other dishes. The service was excellent, the menu was creative and well written, the lighting was fine even though it was very dark it added to the experience. I would rate this 9/10 for service and 8/10 for food.

My suggestion is try this Neil Perry establishment and you won't be disappointed.

Spice Temple
Bligh St Sydney 2000

Kinya Japanese Restaurant Docklands Melbourne

Visiting Melbourne these days has more on offer than ever, in particular their restaurants. Apart from the obvious places to eat they also have many small restaurants that are worth a visit. Some are in Hardware Lane and some are just in small lanes throughout the city.

This time my business client wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant in the new Docklands area where the convention centre is. They are still doing some building there but it will be the next restaurant district once completed.

He had tried this place once before and decided I may like it considering I love Japanese food. the Restaurant is called Kinya and is quite a traditional Japanese with an excellent fit out. We started with Tempura prawns, a spinach dish and a Asali Chawan Mushi which was steam egg custard with clams and Japanese mushrooms.

We then had a mix platter of Sushi and Sashimi and finished it off with Golden Fish which was grilled marinated snow fish with the chefs special miso. The fish was cooked to perfection and had a smooth finish with that sweet miso taste. The skin was very well caramelised and crispy which was the piece I left for last.This is their signature dish and was sensational. The sushi plate was like a work of art and needed to be included on my food blog for all those people who click on my site. The scallops you can see were wonderful, juicy and tasty, not sure what the sauce was but it was also a little sweet. How good does the large prawn look !

Sushi Plate

Golden Fish

The service and food was excellent and I will be going back. I rate them 9/10 for service and 8/10 for food and the experience. When ordering the sashimi plate ask for the special scallops to be included.

Kinya

70 Lorimer St Docklands

Telephone: 03 96462400

Fax: 03 96461388

Otto Ristorante - Finger Wharf Woolloomooloo

24 degrees, no wind a beautiful sunny day, where else would you rather be than at a wonderful restaurant in a wonderful location. It always amazes me that it doesn't matter what day it is there are always people dining at one of the restaurants on finger wharf.

Today we chose Otto's as our guest had not been there for some years. For those of you who haven't been there it is an iconic restaurant with many tables outside and you get a fantastic view looking back at the city. And there are always beautiful people to look at.


Today was no different, so now that the atmosphere has been created what did we choose for lunch and what wine did we wash it down with. We started with half a dozen oyster natural, the special lamb pappardelle and a Porchini Soufle. The Lamb rageout was excellent with home made pasta and a taste that was rich and well rounded. The portion was small but very filling and just the right size for an entree.

The porchini soufle was presented on a plate covered with melted cheese and the soufle stood up on it's own in the middle of the plate, wobbling around like a jelly. The taste was very light and moist with more cheese taste than mushroom, but was worthy of the special.

For mains 2 of us had the grilled barramundi fillets and one had a spagetti seafood dish. The fish was cut rather thin for Barramundi which I liked as I don't particularly like fat fish. The sides were beans with pancetta, chips and a caprese salad. The spaghetti was an entree size and was full of small pieces of seafood with the home made spaghetti melting in the mouth.

All of this was washed down with a bottle of Polish Hill Grosset Riesling and a few beers. No one had enough room for deserts but they had some on the menu which made me wish I wasn't full. All in all a very rewarding dining experience with great service and wonderful food. I would rate this a 7/10 for both.

I suggest you wait for a few more weeks and when spring is here do yourself a favor and go to Otto's for a great afternoon out. But remember it is hard to go back to work if you have to.

Woolloomooloo Wharf
6 Cowper Wharf Road
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Tel : +61 2 9368 7488

District Dining - Surry Hills Sydney

The best way to describe this place is funky. the decor and ambiance is busy and bistro like. the food is quite different and is made up of small tapas plates which you share. this is well known chef Warren Turnbull's newest restaurant. his other restaurant is Assiette in Albion st. The service was excellent and the wine list not as extensive as most, which is good as you don't have to wade through pages of wines from around the world.

We started off with;

Crispy quail eggs tarragon mayonnaise,
Crispy courgette flower Kervella goats curd truffled honey
Seared scallops jerusalem artichoke crispy pancetta, prune.

These dishes were all the size of an entree and good to share.

There are some heavier dishes as well which we had
Rabbit ragout, pappardelle, green olive, pangrattato,
Cone bay barramundi, celeriac, peas and bacon, sherry vinaigrette.

and then finished off with a

Dark chocolate brownie, macadamia brittle, white chocolate ice-cream.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes something different but it is a bistro so not a romantic dinner for 2. it's somewhere you would go to before going to the theatre. The only bad point for me was it was a bit rushed as they have 2 dinning times and they need your table. My rating is 6.5/10 for food, service and overall dinning experience.


17 Randle Street, Surry Hills
Sydney, NSW 2010
(02) 9211 7798
info@districtdining.com.au

My Top 10 Restaurants

1. Berowra Waters Inn
2. Cutler & Co
3. Quay
4. Sepia
5. Universal
6. Nu's Thai
7. Otto's
8. Est
9. Comm
10.Saki

Peacock Trattoria Kyle Bay NSW

This is an Italian / modern Australian restaurant even though I think of Chinese when I see the name. This is run by 2 chefs which have had experience at the Riverview Hotel in Balmain. The restaurant is painted on the inside with plenty of colour apparently by a tatooist. This is a gem set in thew middle of the burbs in the southern suburbs or St George area.

The food is delicious but I did not take any photos so I will try and explain the dishes. We had the chefs choice which was $60 per head and gave us 2 starters, 1 entree. a main and a sweet. This was real value for money.

The starters were a duck salad with ridichio, apple, roasted hazelnuts and vincotta. I will come back just for this. The other starter was a pizza with anchovies. The next course was rabbit done in a shortcrust pastry with poppy seeds. The mains were Pork belly and a Barramundi both were cooked to perfection. The sweet was a cappacinno cassata which was true to its name.

Overall the service was terrific and the food as good as a fine dinning restaurant anywhere in the city. This was a real experience and one to go back time and time again as the menu changes weekly. Well done to owners. I give this an 8/10.

If you would like to go you will find it at 25 Kyle Bay Pde Kyle Bay phone 9546 6900

Atlantic Restaurant. Crown Casino Melbourne

Last week I was unfortunately stuck in Melbourne due to the ash cloud, so whilst I was there one of my customers called and invited me to dinner. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said let's go to Atlantic if you haven't been. This had also been recommended to me by my son a wonderful chef.

I knew where it was because it had taken over from a previous seafood place near Rockpool etc. So on arrival the waiter took us through the restaurant which I must say is well laid out, modern with an open kitchen and quite lively. So far the experience was very good. The menu is interesting and has a variety of different seafood options which should satisfy everyone.

The waiter came over to advise of their specials and went to great length to tell us about the risotto with scampi and black truffle making sure we liked truffle before we ordered. 2 of us ordered the risotto which sounded wonderful and one had soft-shell crab. That is where the experience came to a holt. The risotto came out without the scampi on top of the dish but rather a few small pieces buried in the rice. And as for the black truffle you could hardly taste it let alone see it.

The waiter took the orders for the main and convinced one to have the salmon special and one person had the kingfish and I had the ironbark smoked steamed baby Barramundi. However when the meals came out I was given a salmon as well which I kindly said that is not what I ordered. The waiter started to argue with me that he had convinced me to have the salmon, so you can imagine how I felt, no apology just an argument, eventually he said ok and my fish came out about 10 minutes later. Now for the review, the salmon came out in a broth and was excellent as was my smoked fish however the kingfish was so overcooked it was like carving a well done steak. Overall my fish was very very good and worth the wait.

Unusual as it may sound I also had desert which was a beautiful lemon tart with basil ice-cream again there was one desert not available and the other guest had a panacotta which was served in a glass with a berry granita. Very inventive and tasty.

Overall it is very hard to judge this place as the food was excellent but the service very ordinary and inappropriate. THerefore i have decided to give this place 2 scores. 8.5/10 for their food and 4/10 for service. I big question is would I go back and the answer is no.

You can find this restaurant in the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne and you should go and try for yourself.

Kingsley Steakhouse in king st sydney

This is an oldie but a goodie so my visit recently did not let me down. Firstly we started with a half a dozen oysters natural which were delicious. Trying to manage my waist line is difficult but I try to minimize my carb intake when I can so no sourdough bread. Bugger.

I chose the petite filet as it was only 160 grams and no fat. It was cooked to perfection medium rare to the point I had to say something to the chef as it could not have been any tastier. This was served with a salad but you can choose a number of mouth watering extras like chips, baked potato, plus some exciting sides. We had fresh steamed green vegetables. But they have many others and in the past I would have had the caramelized onions and chips. I did have the mushroom jus for my steak.

No sweets but for those who go to Kingsleys know they have chocolate coated coffee beans with coffee so we got stuck into them. No photos today as my camera is broken but I rate them a 7/10 for both service And food and they would have rated higher but their wine list by the glass is poor. I do suggest that if you are after a good steak then it's hard to go past Kingsleys or Stearsons. Contact them on wWw.kingsleyausteak.com.au 029295 5080

Auge restaurant 22 Grote street Adelaide

I had the pleasure of dinning at this almost hidden away Italian Ristorante with a client who we were celebrating their 10th anniversary with us. The atmosphere was excellent and they were very busy for a Wednesday night. Lots of attention by staff and some wonderful appetisers.This is a place I will return to try some more dishes. We started with scallops which were cooked to perfection.

Cape Sante della Baia di Harvey (Queensland) scottate in padella con mousse di pomodoro, crema di cetriolo e olio al peperoncino

seared harvey bay scallops with tomato sugo mousse, chilled cucumber soup, chilli oil & baby herb salad

Although the next course was steak it was exactly what I was looking for nicely pink in the middle and a good carmelised colour on the outside. The pea mouse was also different and was very tasty.

Filetto di Manzo al forno servito con vegetali estivi 250g beef fillet with summer vegetables - kipfler potatoes, baby carrots roasted cherry tomatoes, pea mousse & micro radish

Meringa con fragole alla sambuca nera e mascarpone alla vaniglia soft baked meringue, black sambuca poached strawberries with vanilla mascarpone

Kenzan Japanese Restaurant Collins st Melbourne

I was in Melbourne with some Japanese business colleagues who had just flown in from Japan and they suggested we go and eat some Japanese food which is unusual for these gentlemen as they normally want a good old Australian steak or some delicious seafood. They booked Kenzan in Collins st with a private room.I was very surprised at how busy they were on a Monday night but I now understand why. They ordered and the following was delivered.

Sushi dinner (or Deluxe Sushi Dinner)$75.00

Kobachi - A small appetizer
Sunomono - Seafood and vegetables in sweet vinegar
Sashimi - Thinly sliced fresh pieces of raw fish
Chawanmushi - Steamed egg custard with shrimp and vegetables
Ebi Shumai - Steamed prawn dumplings
Sushi - Vinegared rice, topped with varieties of fresh fish
Miroshiru - Soya bean soup
Kudamono - Fresh fruits in season

The food was excellent ans we washed it down with a Cloudy Bay Sav Blanc. The interesting dish for me was the Chawanmushi ( Steamed egg custard with shrimp and vegetables) which was sensational, hot and tasty. The word basically means teacup steamed  which is how they cook it. Believe it or not we also ordered a tempura plate as they were still a bit hungry.


During dinner I found out some interesting facts about Japan eg fruit like Rock Melon sells for about $90 each as does most tropical fruits. If you are visiting Melbourne I can recommend you try Kenzan (meaning Mountain) and try and book the private room to complete the experience. I have rated this an 8/10 for food and service.

Etch Restaurant - Intercontinental Sydney

The first thing I will say is boy was it hard to find the restaurant inside the hotel. We walked around for about 15 minutes going from one floor to another before one of the hotel staff pointed us in the right direction. What we found was a small quaint private dinning type of place. The lighting was very low and I would put this place in the romantic category. Unfortunately I was dinning with a male business associate, oh well. The good news was that it was very quiet and therefore we were able to have a good discussion without the excess noise which you get at most restaurants today.

Now the food. Being a Justin North restaurant I was looking forward to the menu. The menu was small but had excellent choices for all courses. For entree they had caramelised pigs head, scallops and a Kingfish Tartare. I had a mushroom ragout with a slow cooked soft hens egg with parmesan cheese. Absolutely delightful and the only complaint was that there was not enough. My guest had the Duck terrine with pickled cherries and coffee reduction. The terrine was a bit too salty but the cherries were sensational. For a main we both had the slow cooked blue eye trevalla, spanner crab scallop ravioli with sweet corn & roasted spring onion. This was very tasty however it looked quite untidy on the plate which is not what you would expect at one of Justin's restaurants. The sauce was probably a little creamy for me but I still enjoyed the dish. Other mains included Pumpkin Lasagne and smoked eel risotto.

To accompany the food we had a Petaluma Grosset Riesling which was beautiful. Neither of us had sweets but they all looked delicious. The service was a little over the top and overall I would rate this a 6.5/10. This is definitely somewhere you would go with romance in mind. Not a business lunch or dinner. The cost is mid to high so expect to pay about $160 per couple plus wine. They also have a Degustation  menu for $90 without wine and $135 with wine which is good value.

There are no photographs as it didn't seem right.

Sydney Rowers Club - Dedes Restaurant - Australia Day

Last minute decisions on where to go on Australia Day. Unfortunately I have just had a knee operation and I can't walk around for very long so what else can one do, but to go somewhere nice and have lunch. So we caught up with some good friends Narelle and Steve and we took off towards Balmain. We first stopped at the sailing club at Drummoyne but it was too busy and we had to sit outside. too hot. So we decided to go  to the Sydney Rowers Club at Abbotsford. We had been there once before but had not eaten in the restaurant only in the bistro. It was also busy but we managed to get the last table in the restaurant. It is very nicely appointed very spacious and good large windows so you can take in the water views. It was also very cool which was fantastic as the temperature was rising into the mid 30's.

After settling back and having a cold Corona we looked through the menu and decided on our selections. Service was good given it was quite busy. We decided to share a Smoke Salmon Brucetta and order a main. There was a good selection for mains from whole fish to Pork cutlet to steak, seafood platters  etc. We decided on The Pork chop, whole snapper and I had the grilled John Dory. One side only of Fetta, Peppers and Eggplant which my wife said was the highlight of the meal (not that the fish wasn't good either). In fact the fish was excellent moist and tasty. The John Dory was also cooked to perfection. The wine selection was a Watershed (Margaret River) Savingon Blanc Semillon Great with seafood.

Smoke Salmon Brucetta

Whole Snapper

whole baby snapper with lime, asparagus & coriander salad and chilli soy dressing on the side

Grilled John Dory

pork cutlet – murray river

As we were eating we noticed many people were ordering a share plate of deserts which looked very tasty so we had to indulge. It was just the thing to finish off a good afternoon.

baked lemon tart, passionfruit cream, meringue
dark chocolate and cherry trifle, raspberry nougat
mango & coconut crème brulee
summer pudding, gingerbread icecream


Overall I thought they did an excellent job on such a busy day. The service I could not fault, the food was delicious and the waterviews were great so I have rated this a 7/10. Well worth going and going back again. By the way it would also be a great place for a wedding reception.

To reserve a table at Dedes Bar & Grill:
PHONE: (02) 9712 1199

The Basement circular Quay

This landmark music venue has been around for a long time and still is after my visit last week. However, there is one word of warning do not eat there. The food is not up to scratch by any definition. Apart from the food the wine list is also very unimpressive which simply means that this is one place you go to listen to music have a few beers and maybe a wine if you can find one. Now you might think I am being a little hard but the entrees looked like something out of the seventies with a prawn cocktail and avocado on the menu which turned up as a half of avocado with 3 prawns on top and no vinaigrette. Steak came out medium rare, more rare than medium which normally for me is ok but it was cold in the middle like it had just came out of a cold fridge. The sweets were ordered by one of our guests and didn't turn up.

Although yes, we did not go there to eat but we would expect the food to be edible. Unfortunately this rates 3/10 for both food and service. I didn't take any pictures as it was not worthwhile.

Cruise Restaurant - Circular Quay

Looking for a place to eat which is not cuisine specific and has a view.?Well not easy to find unless you want to eat at a 3 hat restaurant. So I had some guests from WA who wanted exactly that and after an exhaustive search I found the Cruise which is above the old international terminal at Circular Quay above Wild Fire. What I didn't tell you was this was Friday morning and I needed the booking for Friday night. Impossible! not quite. I booked a table for 8 for 8pm. The good news about this place is you can go downstairs to the cruise bar before hand and have a drink whilst viewing one of the best harbours in the world. It was a buzz packed with workers on a Friday night and people just walking around. We had a drink and if you want something different in a cocktail ask for a "Hello Sailor" sensational!. Lots of juice, alcohol, lychee's, passion fruit etc. no cream.

After a few drinks we went upstairs for dinner where we had a table facing the window and the view but the downside was that half the people were sitting with their back to the view. They try and help this by having mirrors at the back of the people facing the view so the other people can see the reflection. Not bad. The menu was not extensive but there were a few interesting items on the list. Although this was only 8pm the disappointing thing was that they were out of a number of things already, like Yellowfin Tuna entree, scallops entree and they had no ice cream for an Affogato. Apart from this we tried the smoke salmon cannelloni, another scallop dish, gnocchi and Alaskan king crab. All were presented well and tasted good. With the mains I had Rabbit which was overcooked and a little tough, the steak was also overcooked. The grilled Barramundi was excellent as was the Pigs Trotters.

Pan fried deep sea Canadian scallops with a salad of granny smith apples, celeriac, rocket cress & apple balsamic

Tomato water Ravioli of Alaskan king crab with black zebra tomatoes, avocado, fennel & zucchini flowers

Sweet potato gnocchi, rapini, yellow tear drops, black truffle, tarragon & a truffle foam

Pan roasted salt water barramundi fillet, warm salad of sweet corn, peas & eschalots, sweet corn puree, pencil leeks & a tarragon cream

Pigs Trotters

Boned & rolled leg of Macleay Valley white rabbit filled with truffles on a warm salad of slow braised loin, wood ear fungi & baby rocket

Only one person had dessert which was a chocolate delight and tasted great..........

A summer landscape of chocolate & peppermint with chocolate soil, peppermint sorbet with a vanilla scented cream & caramelised

The service was pretty good, the view was excellent, the food was ok but not great and more effort could have been made to ensure all items on the menu were available. Overall my guests from WA my brother in-law Michael Bataille and his family had a very enjoyable night and had exactly what they were looking for so all in all a great night. I have rated this only a 5/10 due to the food being overcooked and the unavailability of some items. Would I go back. probably.