Review: Claude's (Bar)

10 Oxford Street, 
Woollahra 

Ph: 9331 2325

Bar: Tues to Sat 6-11pm, Sat & Sun 12-3pm
Restaurant: Wed to Sat 6.30-11pm


So how long has it been? How long have we wanted to dine at Claude's - the answer is, a very long time. 

Truth be told, I'm so ancient I could have visited when Damien and Josephine Pignolet were in their first flush of greatness. 
It has only taken 31 years, but we are finally making the visit.

Sure, much has changed in that time - we completely missed the Tim Pak Poy years and current owner and Executive Chef Chui Lee Luk has been successfully running the restaurant since 2004 - but better late than never I say!

So for our first visit we have decided on a leisurely Saturday lunch in the downstairs bar section (we shall save the upstairs fine diner for another time).

Review: Tetsuya's

529 Kent Street
Sydney

9267 2900
info@tetsuyas.com

Lunch:  
Saturday from 12 noon
Dinner: 
Tuesday - Friday 
from 6pm
Saturday from 6:30pm


Celebrating 12 years together has to call for somewhere a bit special.  Ahhhh.. Tetsuya's. 
Long have I viewed it as an unattainable destination. Squeak's food idiosyncrasies have simply made it so - especially the seafood ones. However to the credit of most of Sydney's amazing restaurants who have modified degustation menus to cater for such quirks, as well as Squeak's more adventurous food spirit - we have finally eaten our way across Sydney and straight to the door of... Tetsuya's.

I will admit to feeling a little worried that we may feel let down. The downgrading of their status in the GFG from 3 to 2 hats a few years ago has made me wonder if we will feel just a little underwhelmed by the famed restaurant. As we navigate our way through CBD traffic and roadworks we enter the oasis that is Tetsuya's. From the first greeting at the entry we feel like we are in safe hands. The greeting is warm with no hint of pretension whatsoever, and the room we are led to is elegant and looks out onto the peaceful Japanese style garden.

Review: Sixpenny

83 Percival Rd

Stanmore

T. 9572 6666

e. info@sixpenny.com.au

Wed-Sat

Dinner from 6pm

Sat-Sun

Lunch from 12pm

I am having a 'Tom Cruise' moment right now - you know, one of those fist pump, jump on Oprah's couch kind of moments. 

This moment has come about courtesy of Sixpenny and the stupendous lunch we experienced there recently.

Let me take you back to that day and how it all began...

We have been wanting to dine at Sixpenny for positively ages - I was tweeting the boys on a semi regular basis asking when they were going to open, were they taking bookings yet, etc. etc. 

When they finally did open, we never seemed to get our act together and actually book, and then before long, the rave reviews started & securing a table became a little more tricky.

...So this day started off as most Saturdays have for the last 4 months - up at the crack of dawn to get the house ready for inspection.

Then with inspection number 112 over, we fire up the Mazda & make the very short trip to Sixpenny.

Review : Glass Brasserie

Glass Brasserie
Level 2,
488 George Street,
Sydney

Tel: (02) 9265-6068


Mon-Sun 6pm - late


So after our fabulous breakfast at Glass Brasserie, we decide to return for dinner and then a night at the Hilton
We have been needing a little time out - what with our current rental being up for sale and the endless open homes. Yep, time for a little relaxation.


We arrive at the Hilton and settle into our room at around 3.30pm. It is a cold, wet, miserable Sydney day and the first thing we notice is how cold our room is.   
A quick check of the air-con tells us the room should be a pleasant 22 degrees - not so, the room is freezing. 
We try to up the ante on the air-con, but it seems stuck at 22 degrees - a quick call to reception is no help, they offer blankets - come on this is the Hilton - we don't want blankets!  So we shiver for the next hour or so. 
Another call to reception results in an engineer coming to our room - he can't seem to sort out the problem either.
We head down to dinner hoping the air-con situation will be sorted by the time we return.

Review : Rockpool

107 George Street

The Rocks

612 9252 1888


enquire@rockpool.com.au
reservations@rockpool.com

Lunch Friday & Saturday
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday


It has been many, many years since we last dined at Rockpool. It was certainly before it’s ‘renovation’ and long before we started this blog. We have visited both Rockpool Bar & Grill and Spice Temple many times, yet we have never made it back to Rockpool.


We both still talk about the highlights of that meal. For me it was the ‘Best ever bacon and egg sandwich’; individual components of that dish escape me now, but the flavour and its impact on my emerging palate will never be forgotten. I long to sample that dish again.


For Buggles the highlight was the Passionfruit Souffle, finished at the table with a generous pour of a lush, passionfruit sauce, or was it an anglaise? She can't remember... she just recalls it as one her best dining experiences.


It was this first visit to Rockpool, along with an earlier visit to MG Garage (it was the fanciness of the mini table cloth carpet sweeper that had us agog on that occasion!) that set us on this fine dining adventure…..and we haven’t looked back since.

Review : The Montpellier Public House - CLOSED

141 Belmore Road 
Randwick NSW 2031



Tel: 61 2 9399 9660
e: enquiries@montpellierpublichouse.com.au

Public Bar – 7 days – Midday to Midnight

Dining Room – Tuesday to Sunday – from 6pm

I ended up losing count of the number of times we said we would book a dinner at Balzac. It seems everytime we planned to, something came up, until finally Balzac closed its doors.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long for Matthew Kemp to reopen the doors again, this time under the guise of The Montpellier Public House.

Having learnt our lesson, we decide a visit this time is very much in order.

The restaurant is split in two - the Public Bar & the Fine Dining Restaurant. Tonight we decide to dine downstairs in the Public Bar.

Review : BLACK by Ezard

Level G, Harbourside,

The Star,
80 Pyrmont Street
Pyrmont

Lunch: Fri 12pm - 3pm

Dinner: Tue - Sun 5.30pm - 11pm

Ever since we starting reading about the grand plans for Star City, we have been looking forward to its opening, hoping for a dining precinct similiar to Crown Casino in Melbourne. We certainly felt as though we were getting our wish, when we heard David Chang & Teage Ezard had jumped on board & were both opening restaurants at the newly named 'The Star'.

As soon as bookings opened for BLACK we secured a table for a Saturday night that seemed 'oh so far away'; so we counted down the weeks, then the days until our designated Saturday arrived.

We arrive at 'The Star' early (luckily), as we do two laps of the casino before we actually find the restaurant.

The restaurant's timber facade is warm & inviting, the room with its dark tones feels comfortable, with large well spaced tables, with most facing the wall of glass looking out onto the harbour.

We are lucky indeed to score a table right beside the window as we watch day, slowly turn to night.

Review : Bilson's.....The Revisit - CLOSED

Bilson's Restaurant

Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000


Phone:  8214 0496

Dinner Tues-Sat
6pm til late

After our recent dining experience at Bilson's, where we felt our expections were well & truly not met, we decide to try again to see if our second experience will bring those long held expectations to fruition.

This time dining on the L'Omnivore Petite menu ($145), we let all thoughts of our last visit go & start afresh.

Review: Foveaux

65 - 67 Foveaux St
Surry Hills

Lunch
Thurs - midday til 3pm
Dinner

Tues - Sat - 6pm til late

Foveaux Restaurant in Surry Hills has long been on our radar as a dining destination, but for some reason we have never quite made it there.... until recently. Nestled amongst a myriad of discount outlet stores for luggage, lingerie and manchester sits this little gem of a place that also houses the rather funky little cocktail bar The Red Door. 

Review : Bilson's - CLOSED

The Foyer
Radisson Plaza Hotel
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney

Dinner
Tuesday - Saturday
6pm til late

Our experience with Bilson's had started 5 weeks earlier. I noticed that their website stated "that dietary requirements are catered for with sufficient notice"; as someone who doesn't eat seafood (unless it is a ceviche or carpaccio), lamb or pork, I decided to email Bilson's to see if they could cater for my dietary requirements.
In my email I mentioned the foods that I am happy to eat...all poultry, beef, veal, venison, sweetbreads and many others...a substantial & varied amount. I also indicated the following.. "I have found in the past when this request has been made, dishes tend to be substituted with vegetarian options, which while I don't mind vegetarian, I don't want it to be the focus of the meal". 

I was assured that Bilson's "would be delighted to create a menu for you and accommodate your requirements".

The next five weeks couldn't go by soon enough. I, in particular, was very excited to see what delights Chef de Cuisine Diego Muñoz had created for me.
A few days before our reservation I emailed again to remind them of my requirements and was told "The kitchen are aware of your dietary requirements and will happily accommodate on the night".

Review : Bistro Ortolan - CLOSED

134 Marion Street
Leichhardt

Dinner
Tuesday-Saturday
6pm to 10pm

The Ortolan is a European songbird considered a delicacy in France.
The birds, once caught (using nets), are kept in black boxes (to simulate night) for a few weeks and fed oats & millet to fatten them up. Following this, the bird is killed by being drowned in armagnac. The head is removed, it is plucked and then roasted (for 8 minutes) with its internal organs and skeleton intact.
To eat, drape your head with a linen napkin (to capture the precious aromas), take the entire bird in your mouth & chomp down. The flavour is said to be gamey with foie gras overtones.
The bird is considered endangered in France, so it is now illegal to sell Ortolan.... unfortunately though, it is not illegal to eat them.

Bistro Ortolan is not dissimilar to the bird from which it takes its name, it is indeed a rare (though not so endangered) species in the suburb of Leichhardt.

Review : Restaurant Arras - RELOCATED

Ground Floor

24 Hickson Road

Walsh Bay

Open for Lunch

Tuesday to Friday

12pm-2.30pm

Open for Dinner

Tuesday-Saturday
6pm-10pm


I had been wanting to visit Restaurant Arras since first reading Simon Thomsen's review back in early 2008. I don't exactly know why, but Buggles was always strongly resistant to the idea.
Every now & then I would throw up the suggestion "How about we go to Arras", always to be met with a firm "no". So I was quite surprised when I said to Buggles "Where should I book for next Saturday, The Cut or Restaurant Arras?" and she responded "Arras". I don't know what changed, but I am very glad it had.

Review : Vue de Monde

Normanby Chambers

430 Little Collins Street

Melbourne

Lunch: Tuesday - Friday

bookings between midday to 2pm

Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday

bookings between 6:30pm to 8:30pm

*bookings essential

Anyone who is serious about their food, knows about Vue de Monde in Melbourne. When we originally decided to visit Melbourne, we were only going to go to Bistro Vue as the cost of Vue de Monde can be prohibitive, but once we came to our senses we realised that 'Money be damned!' - we were going to experience Vue de Monde, even if it sent us into bankruptcy.

Review : Lake House Restaurant & Cellar

King Street
Daylesford, Victoria

Breakfast
Mon to Sun 8am-10:30am

Lunch
Mon to Sun Noon-2:30pm

Dinner
Mon to Sun 6:30pm-9:30pm



One of the reasons Buggles & Squeak were really looking forward to our visit to Daylesford, was lunch at the Lake House.
The day of our lunch was a beautifully cold, drizzly day... which made the long, leisurely lunch we had in mind all the more appealing.

We leave our beautiful Daylesford weatherboard & take a short drive to the restaurant.

On entering the restaurant we were greeted warmly & led to our table in the back corner of the restaurant, overlooking the lake. We were off to a good start....

Review: Pilu at Freshwater

'On the Beach'

Moore Road

Freshwater  NSW

Lunch: Tues - Sun from 12pm
Dinner: Tues - Sat  from 6pm

10 years can roll around very quickly and Buggles and Squeak thought that a leisurely lunch at Pilu overlooking the beautiful Freshwater beach would be a fine way to celebrate our ten years together.

Pilu at Freshwater has received many accolades over the past few years and this one was no exception. While many an establishment felt the ire of the SMH scythe (do not even get us started on the clearly defective tastebuds on the reviewer of Vulcans!) Pilu at Freshwater has managed to maintain their standing on 2 hats.

Review : Rockpool Bar & Grill

66 Hunter Street
Sydney

Lunch Monday to Friday
Dinner Monday to Saturday

Every Christmas Eve Buggles & I like to have a quiet celebratory lunch....celebrating another year of putting up with each other and managing not to kill each other. Usually this lunch is at Bistro Moncur however, after my lunch at Spice Temple (sans Buggles...and yes she is VERY jealous), I felt I needed more Neil Perry, so we decided to head to Rockpool Bar & Grill.

Review : Bentley Restaurant & Bar

320 Crown Street
Surry Hills 2010

Open Tuesday to Saturday
Lunch & Dinner
12 noon til late


The Bentley offers modern, sophisticated food & wine in an informal, relaxed setting.

Buggles & Squeak have been regulars at the Bentley for many years now.
We enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, appreciate the  friendly & knowedgeable service, we indulge in the amazing cocktails & devour the inventive cuisine.

Review : Quay

Overseas Passenger Terminal,
The Rocks, Sydney 2000

Lunch:
Tuesday to Friday
12 noon - 2:30 pm
 
Dinner:
Monday to Sunday
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Licensed

Quay is the perfect spot for that special occasion or for impressing interstate & overseas visitors.

Buggles and I are celebrating our 9 years together, so surely an indulgent dinner at Quay was in order.
We have decided that Quay is our 'anniversary' restaurant, we were there last year & again last night.

The night started well with a parking spot virtually outside the door.

On entering the restaurant we are greeted warmly & then swiftly guided to our uptairs table. To say the 280 degree view is spectacular would be an understatement, you feel as though (were it not for the glass) you can reach out & touch the water.