Porteno and Gardel's Bar

I just might be the only person in Sydney who does not think this place is worth the wait, time, money, or calories.

Porteno is an Argentinian style BBQ restaurant that is crazy busy, crazy big and does not take bookings. We went here on a Friday night, we arrived at 6: 45 expecting a long wait, the hostess said we would be seated at 8 or 8:30 and it seemed by her facial expressions that she was trying to dissuade us from waiting. We are huge fans of Bodega their other restaurant, plus it smelled amazing so a wait would not deter us. As we headed upstairs I did have a nagging doubt that this place would live up to the hype, it is so very big and kind of reminded me of a giant themed restaurant at Universal CityWalk or Downtown Disney, not a good comparison for quality food. I brushed that nagging doubt aside and we went upstairs to their bar Gardel's Bar to wait out our sentence. We started with a Dark and Stormy and an El Nino, both were fantastic. They were fresh, unique and a decent size not huge but enough. The waitress takes your order on a wireless pad and since there is no waiting time for her to walk to a computer and key the order in, the drinks were at our table in minutes. We ordered Kingfish Sashimi on Tortilla and Meatballs. The Kingfish was a fresh and flavorful dish that I would go back for and was a bit like ceviche but not as bitey. The meatballs were huge and good, but meatballs just do not get my heart racing. Just like the drinks the food was out in break neck speed. If you are wondering why a restaurant like this does not take bookings it becomes pretty clear as you wait in their bar drinking $18 cocktails for an hour plus. The service in Gardel's was outstanding, and not just for Sydney, it was genuinely good, it was so good in fact, I almost felt uncomfortable at first, since good service in Sydney is extinct, that uncomfortable feeling passed really quickly.

At 8:30 pm we were taken downstairs and seated at a table that was right by a wall and a door, it could not have been more than 15'C. I wore my winter coat over my sweater and jacket and was still chilly. When our waitress arrived it was clear she must not have made the cut for the upstairs rock star crew. She stormed over, did not offer a perfunctory greeting, like hello, that would have taken too much energy, then quickly and with about as much emotion as a snail recited the special, flicked her too long in her eyes on one side bangs, turned on her heel and left us ordering our drinks into the air to no one. For a brief second I thought she may have just been the special reciter, you know like the water person, or the expeditor or the busser.

When she came back we ordered drinks, mains and sides in one swoop. Just like upstairs they came quickly but minus the smiling caring service. We started with bread that should have been a clue of what to come. It tasted like stale supermarket bread rolls. I have found that if a place does not care about their bread they usually miss other marks. We ordered the 8hr pork, grilled radicchio with roasted root vegetables and polenta and cheese. I had heard the 8 hr pork was a standout dish, to me it was bland and tasteless and the meat did not seem to be the highest quality. Between two people with normally VERY hearty appetites we barely made a dent in it. We both agreed it just was not worth going in for seconds. We did not even finish the crackling! SHAME! It tasted as bland as if you put it in your slow cooker walked away and served it up when it looked done. They bring two sauces to pair with the pork, the garlic one was so overpowering that after one small bite of it my tastebuds were useless, garlic was all I could taste. I am not sure where the root veggies were in the radicchio dish, I could not find them and the radicchio was really bitter. The polenta and cheese was good, I could not fault this dish and we finished this one.

I was so over the whole scene of bad service, freezing temperatures and subpar overrated food that we skipped dessert and coffee/after dinner drinks and asked for the bill. She forgot and we waited for about 10 minutes for her to remember.

Good: Gardels is a wonderful stylized place for a standout drink and great tapas style food. The service is outstanding. Wireless order entry makes for speedy service.
Bad: Sub-artic temps, poor service, lackluster food.
Ugly: Waiting a hour and half to eat at overrated Porteno's.

Brasstacks: If you are dying to try this place, go with a large group so you can book, actually, if you are dying to try this place, go to Four in Hand instead. They do the meat thing and everything else right.

The White Hart

The White Hart is getting lots of media attention and it caught my eye enough times that I had to try it, especially after reading about it in...InStyle Mag! Yes, I am a big enough dork to go somewhere because I read about it in a zine, I have never lived in a city so big that places in my own town actually get mentioned! I am sure I will learn my lesson soon.

It is a nice space in Neutral Bay on Grovesnor Street surrounded by other fun and trendy spots.

We stopped here with one goal for drinks and only drinks on a Friday night about 6:45pm. Being Friday night, it was understandably crowded. We ended up standing around the bar with no perch to sit on and no real defined space of our own very college bar. There are tables for the cocktail set but not nearly enough and they are very close to the nice people having dinner, as mentioned below. There are some low loungey seats but again not enough. The drinks were good, but small and extremely labor intensive thus making the wait for the first round 15-20 minutes. Fo' Real? First drink of the weekend and my mouth is watering, come on already! One of the glasses was dirty and the bartender was extremely offended that I pointed this out to him. With a big sigh and flourish he remade the drink. I guess this place is so cool that we should drink from dirty glasses and like it!

The food looked good and the people eating looked like they were enjoying their food. Sadly, on a Friday night the bar crowd is pretty much standing on top of the eating crowd as there is not really a division between the bar and dining area. I will probably never come here to eat as that would really bug me.

Revisit: after dinner drink, aborted as it was the same old song and dance.

Revisit for food: AWFUL TERRIBLE MAKE YOU SICK FOOD. DISGUSTING.

Good: tasty drinks
Bad: small drinks, long waits for tasty drinks to be prepared, lacking in atmosphere and adequate lounge seating
Ugly: dirty glasses and dirty looks

Brass tacks: If you have more patience than I do, enjoy cocktails that are not much bigger than a "shot" and do not get the DT's waiting 20 minutes for a drink you will love this place.

Rockpool Bar and Grill

Rockpool Bar and Grill is an exceptionally beautiful restaurant with very good food and very good cocktails. The service by Sydney standards is top notch, one could even argue they offer anticipatory service. The menu is vast, vast enough for many different options, but also vast enough to allow for incredible inconsistency. Example A: Entrees(that's "starters or apps" in Sydney speak)-mussels were excellent and the portion suitable for a party of 4, the Calamari was just ok and the portion was so small we each got one bite, literally one bite each of the just o.k fried squid for $30+. Example B Mains: lamb - to die for, braised beef - crave it for days, don’t toucha my plate kinda meal, bone in rib eye - beefy perfection on a plate, John Dory - boring, plain, looked worse than I would serve up at home for a Tuesday night dinner, my Mom said it looked "boiled." Example C: Sommelier pick of wine for my dinner was the most nothing wine I have tasted in ages, it could have been water if I closed my eyes. It was their own brand which should have tipped me off to the game in play. As a consolation, they bought another glass of something suitable with no drama(sometimes dining in Sydney "no drama" from the waitstaff is the best you can hope for). I will go back at some point, it is just too beautiful of a restaurant and the service too gracious to turn my back on RPBG, but I will be wary and very selective of what I order.


I would also go back in a heartbeat and sit in the bar and have a great drink, a killer burger and fries. It is a great night in itself!


Good: An interior architectural dream with history, great service, great food if you get the right thing, good wine if you know what to order, great cocktails, great atmosphere, a great place to go with parents as the volume level stays managable.
Bad: if you get the wrong thing you will not be happy
Ugly: None 


Brasstacks: A very nice night out, you should visit at least once, if nothing else get to the bar and eat a burger. 

Sake

Just like you know that absolutely should not get involved with hot bad boy or girl is gonna make you cry but you do it anyways, we should have known a restaurant in the Rocks would disappoint, and it did. Horrendous service is so commonplace in Sydney you would think you would get used to it and become immune to it's effects. Sadly, it can still ruin a meal and an evening. 


To start, we were served the wrong sake and waited 20 minutes to get the correct drink(they were waiting for glasses, fo real in this kinda place named after Sake?) I can wait for many things but me hates waiting for an adult bev. Our server passed by us 20X or so without a glance. It was more of the same for the second round of drinks. We sat at the sushi bar so our food came out pretty quickly. It was good food, but nothing that made me think, WOW I have to come back and be treated like shiz sometime soon/ever. 


We ordered scallops at the end of the meal and waited 25 minutes to get them. We saw 6 orders of scallops come up at once, none came to us, the expeditor and the server had words and a screw up on someone's part was pretty obvious. After waiting so long we cancelled the order. We had to beg to cancel it with someone else(manager) since our waitress was MIA. Then the MIA waitress had the nerve to highlight the tip line of the bill. Keep in mind servers in Sydney make $40-$60/hr. The food was good but not worth the work we had to do just to get through the meal.


To be fair this is one of my friends favorite restaurants. We had two totally different experiences.


Good: fun Rocks location, lively see and be seen crowd, think Nobu-lite. Great sake choices. Good food.
Bad: I noticed a lot of fry in many of the rolls
Ugly: Indifferent service from waitress to manager


Brass tacks: If you are in The Rocks and you like to see and be seen, like but not love sushi, and have a high tolerance for indifference go here. 

Burnt Orange

A pic from their website. Actual views

I have eaten here a couple of times and my impression remains the same. Burnt Orange is the place we take our guests when they arrive off that brutal 16 hour flight from The States. It offers the views of Sydney that guests expect to see in a relaxing, unique setting. It is also close to our house in case jet lag sets in while eating. I hesitated on coming here because I had heard the food and the service were horrible. I have always had good, not great food, but I have seen people send theirs back. I have had one of the worst cappuccinos ever, here.

Good: Great location with to die for views. Beautiful building with an interesting history. Fun but overpriced gift shop. Good passable food. 
Bad: Service
Ugly: coffee

Bodega

Bodega in Surry Hills, yum. I REALLY love this place despite all the reasons I should hate it including: it is tapas which I find so Y2K and generally overpriced, it takes no bookings and is crazy cramped, one of our four had to sit on a small stool with his back on the next diner. But against all odds I am in love. We went on a Saturday night with another couple, we got there a shade past 6 right when they open the doors for the lucky first seating, we were seated immediately! Had our cab been a few seconds slower we would have been eating with the 8:30 crowd. Which would have been fine for the local bar but maybe not so good for us the next day. So, the food is so incredibly delicious. Table favorites were Sashimi Kingfish Fingers, Steamed buns(the crowd went wild for these little jewels) and the Corn Tamale. We could have all lived without the Chorizo, it was just an odd way to serve it laid out like a big long sausage. We had great but pricey wine. And most importantly for me really really great service. I am dying to go back, but with so many great places in Sydney to try I will have to live on the memory alone, at least for now.

Good: food, service, lively atmosphere, for a group
Bad: a bit cramped, can get really loud, if you were planning to gaze into each other eyes and whisper sweet nothings all dinner, no bookings
Ugly: none


Brass tacks: plan your night out now!

The Dip

Before a movie, a group of about 14 ladies hit The Dip, inside the Good God Social Club. They did a great banquet meal for us including more apps than we could eat, mains and dessert for $28. You can barely get a coffee and a nibble for that in Sydney! Service was great, food was great, American style fancy bar food, pulled pork sandwiches, awesome nachos, crazy good double fry fries, salsa, corn on the cob, slaw, beans, and this cookies and creme carmely ice cream thing. The Chevy Chase pitcher of adult lemonade could have held my attention all evening.


Good: good food, nothing to fault not just not knock out great.             good service. great drinks. inexpensive. great for a group
Bad: loud bad music, even early. atmosphere a bit scary cavelike.
Ugly: none


Brass tacks: if you are by the theater and want a place to eat this is great. if you want cheap food while you drink. this is great. Not 100% sure if it is worth a trip on it's own.