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.

4 In Hand

The proverb is: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Meaning be grateful for a small real advantage, rather than the possibility of a greater yet uncertain one. Apparently, this phrase came about from medieval falconry, meaning better to have the falcon the predator, than the two birds he was gunning for in the bush. So I figure having 4 in Hand must really be a good thing. And boy is it evah!

I hesitated and I waited so long to go here because I thought it was an over hyped pub. Well, it is a pub on one side but it also features fine fuss-free dining adjoining but very separate from the pub. M says this is his favorite restaurant in Sydney. He picks it over est. What? Full stop. What just happened? Now I loved it, I will go back and soon, but let's not get crazy, the two are so very different it's like comparing Uggs to Hunters. Their both great when the occasion calls but one is certainly not the other. Besides, one of us could barely dine at est. for what we spent at 4 in Hand.

Not to brag, but we had great service AGAIN. What is going on in the universe? I am convinced it is because I wore my brown boots with black leggings, which is very very Sydney-siderish of me, so now I wear them every time I go out! Literally. Every time. Having people be nice to you is just too wondrous to leave to chance by not wearing my lucky boots. Our waitress was helpful, attentive, knowledgable, she recommended a great inexpensive French wine and you could tell she really enjoyed her job and that helped us enjoy the restaurant.

So you can't live on service alone. But you could on their bread and butter, oh so soft in the middle with a crunchy crust and delicious fresh butter. They serve an amuse bouche which was a soup in a cute teacup that was outstanding, no idea what kind of soup, just know it was great! We had the scallops with bone marrow. To die for. I have always been scared of marrow, not sure why, maybe because it is the inside of a bone? But on fancy thick toast, I say bring on the bones baby. For our main we had the suckling pig shoulder, served on a cutting board, to share. OMG, out of this world. It could have fed 3 maybe 4 people(unheard of to have a large portion in Sydney) and every bite was delicious, including the crackling. I never got the whole pork crackling thing, people here are wild about it and they go on and on about it on all the food shows. I thought, no biggie, it is in essence a fancy pork rind or chicharrones? Right? Wrong. I get it now. After eating it. I get it now. I am converted. I am sold. It was crispy fatty piggy heaven. If you think we could not have possibly had room for dessert, you underestimate us/me! M said "no way I am way too full for dessert," but I paced myself as I can not leave a good dessert alone and I had stalked out my choice before I set foot in the restaurant. I ordered the deconstructed Snickers and M ate at least half despite his protests, it was so decadent and so good. So, after 8 years of marriage and 10 years together, the fact he said no way and made a big fuss about being full and still ate half did not even phase me, it was expected, kind of like how you know which side of the bed your going to sleep on no matter the bed. It did in fact register interest in the table next to us, where the lady called him out! That opened up the conversation and we chatted it up and found that her customer is one of M's customers, what a small world. Then the table next to them starting chatting with us. It was truly shocking. I think that was the largest number of Australians that have ever acknowledged and spoken to me at one time. I loved it. I owe it all to my brown boot black legging combo and the brilliant 4 in Hand.

Second visit update: Just as good as the first time but a few minor chinks in the armor. The dining room was running about 35-45 minutes behind due to an accident on the bridge? We were not seated until after 9pm. In typical Aussie fashion we were not offered anything to soothe this minor scratch, not a drink, not a dessert, nothin. Started with the mussel chowda. Shockingly, it was soo salty and not very good, for me it was inedibly salty M ate it up. Had the 12hr cooked lamb. Amazing! Can't decide if I love the pork or the lamb the best. I have decided the early 6:30 seating is best for this restaurant.

Good: flawless food, superb service, cozy but not cramped, fine food without a stuffy atmosphere

Bad: I can not eat there everyday, oh and maybe vegetarians and vegans would struggle with the menu

Ugly: NONE!!!

Brass tacks: CALL RIGHT NOW AND BOOK! You will love it so much you should go ahead and book your next trip too!

Green Chartreuse and Low 302

Isn't Green Chartreuse tautolgy (add tautolgy to the list of things I just learnt of, e.g of tautology, very unique, PIN Number, joint cooperation, etc)? Nope, it is not tautology it is in fact an incredibly delicious alcohol that I just had for the first time at Low 302 in Surry Hills. In the past I would say, "I discovered great this blah blah blah." But after being called Christopher Columbus, I have dropped that phraseology.

Low 302 describes itself as: A comfortable, cozy and welcoming Cocktail Bar & Restaurant. (Atmospheric comfort by means of soft lounges, low lights, entertaining music and fresh food in combination with excellent drinks & cocktails). I agree with all of the above! We had great service here. Really. Great. Service. I know, I know, it sounds far fetched to have all of this great service in Sydney but it is true...don't call it a comeback! 


We had a cocktail that I am still thinking/fantasizing about and a liquor that I had to look up straight away! Green Chartreuse. The drink is the Vodka Thing: it is like a mojito, no rum, vodka instead, sparkling wine and dry ginger instead of club soda and Green Chartreuse. I wish I had the words to describe how light and refreshing and special this made the cocktail and exactly how it changed the drink. I think I may need to have it again, just for research sake! What the experts on the web say: Proprietary potent classic French high proof multi-herbal monastic liqueur of the green variety. Only three Carthusian monks know the formula of 130 herbs and flowers for the 110 proof Chartreuse at any given time. It is still produced today (now in Voiron) on monastery property as it has been since 1764. It was spawned by the more concentrated and intense Elixir Vegetal, and has itself since spawned a yellow variety (in 1838). Called for in many cocktails, notably the Widow's Kiss. 


I will say, in the light of a 5:30 pm first cocktail it looks like it could use a little loofah on the furnishings, but that is being very very nit picky. Oh, and they charged me $24 for a dirty martini that was not so good. They justified the cost saying it was 2 shots. OK. Whatevah! Nonetheless, I do not have the patience to try and duplicate their precise cocktail engineering work so I will be back very soon for that thing, that thing...that Vodka Thing. 


Good: Vodka Thing, service
Bad: $17 cocktails, a little interior loofah needed, this could be good or bad but it gets pretty crowded around 10:30pm on
Ugly: $24 martini


Brass tacks: If you like a mojito, you will flip your lid for a Vodka Thing. When your in Surry Hills this is a great place for pre or post game magic!