Rockpool bar and grill @ Hunter St, Sydney

This post is a bit late but yay! no more exams and with that, there is nothing better than wanting to experience some exceptional fine dining. A friend of mine really wanted to try Rockpool Bar & Grill by Neil Perry as he heard a lot of good feedback on the steaks and so with that he made a reservation for a few friends to come along and join in for a treat.

I had no real expectations of Rockpool, as expectations always lead to disappointment. The only expectation I had was to be amazed and that is what happened. I was absolutely amazed. When you walk from the foyer into Rockpool, there is a whole new demeanour, going from ordinary boring brown foyer to a low lit high class restaurant with a tinge of purple lighting. The marble pillars and high roof of the restaurant is mesmerising which resulted me in being constantly distracted but it.

Now to the main purpose of this blog, the food! =9

Warm salad of wood fire grilled quail with smoked tomato and black olives

The quail was cooked really well, but I believe the best part of this salad was the smoked tomato, it had a unique taste which just exploded in your mouth.

Butter lettuce, avocado, tomato and jalapeno chilli salad

It was a simple salad with a buttery texture, unfortunately I couldn't quite taste the jalapeno chilli.

Cured Ocean Trout with Ratatouille and tomato vinagrette

A delectable mix of saltiness from the trout and sweetness of the ratatouille. It was very nice and light entree, and set a great impression for all the food of the night.

Roasted pork belly and pork loin with crackling and candied fruits

Even though Rockpool is famous for there steaks I chose the special of the day which was the roast pork and that ended up being a great choice. The pork was nothing that I can properly describe but was definitely close to heaven in my mouth. The crackling was very different to normal crackling, it was softer yet still as crispy. Even though the pork was awesome, the candied fruits was probably one of the worst things I/we had ever tried. I expected something a bit sweet to go with the pork, yet it was really strange. A mixture of spiciness and bitterness.

Full blood wagyu 220g

This was the most expensive steak on the menu costing $115, and it was quite amazing. It was cooked to medium - medium rare and was seasoned well. It required minimal amount of chewing resulting in a melting sensation. This was the reason my friend wanted to go to Rockpool.

Scotch fillet 220g

Same seasoning as the wagyu, however due to the different cut different taste. It was chewier which is expected but still a great steak.

Hand cut fat chips

Kipfler potatoes sauteed with wagyu fat and rosemary

Both the sides we chose were potato based and were beautiful. They both were crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the inside. The Kipfler potatoes had a wonderfully infused taste due to the wagyu fat and rosemary. The salt on both potatoes made them great with our mains.

Mango sorbet with yoghurt cream brandy snaps

This was my friends dessert and he loved it. But for me it was average, only because I don't like yoghurt, but the mango sorbet was delicious!

Warm rubarb, strawberry and almond pudding with vanilla sauce

This was my other friends dessert, and this was nice aswell. It was quite a cold night when we went to Rockpool so this dessert fit the occasion. This was my first time trying rubarb and it was a delightful suprise of a sweet sensation. The vanilla sauce reminded me of a warm custard.

The Ciampini - Chestnut meringue and ice cream sandwich

Best dessert of the night. When I saw the name of the menu, and saw what came out I was confused since I didn't see the ice cream. Then, as I started making my way through the dessert I was pleasantly suprised. It was literally spoonfuls of goodness!

The overall experience at Rockpool Bar and Grill was great, especially with there exceptional service and great food (despite the candied fruits). A great place for a fine dining experience, and considering there house rules you won't be disturbed whilst eating.

Good food, Good times!

Ribs and Rumps @ Sydney Olympic Park

On Thursday I went with a bunch of friends to go see Cirque Du Soleil - Saltimbanco. Before the show we decided to eat, and considering the show was at Acer Arena, why not go to Ribs and Rumps (8 Dawn Fraser Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park)!

http://ribsandrumps.com/locations/australia/sydney-olympic-park

I love good quality cooked meat and Ribs and Rumps is the place to go. It is more expensive then hurricanes, and has a very close price to I'm Angus (both of which are located at Darling Harbour) but definitely worth the money.

The service at Ribs and Rumps needs some tweaking. I had gone in the day before to make a reservation for the Thursday. However, when we had arrived on the Thursday the booking wasn't in the system which I found rather strange. We still received a table but there seemed to be a lot of confusion. Once at the table we had several different waiters ask us if we were ready to order. The staff are friendly but I think there needs to be a bit more of an organising into allocation of staff to sections or tables.

After waiting for everyone to arrive we finally made our decisions on what to order. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of everyone's food because we were all just really hungry considering that most of us had a jam-packed day.

Chicken & Ribs - Half a succulent chicken and pork ribs $42.95

Ribs & Ribs & Ribs - A mouth-watering combo of pork, meaty beef and

 juicy lamb ribs $49.95

Ribs & Rumps original - 220g rump steak and beef ribs $44.95

Ribs - Half pork and half lamb

I had ordered the chicken & ribs. The ribs, I think the best I have had, but it is hard to compare after having a HUGE craving for ribs after 3 months without them. The meat on the ribs just falls of the bone and the sauce is finger-licking goodness! The chicken however was a bit of a disappointment (I guess that's what you get when you order chicken from a place called Ribs and Rumps hahaha). My original piece of chicken was undercooked, the inside was pink, and the meat towards towards the bone looked a tad raw. I called for a waiter who took my plate away (another issue with service is that they didn't tell me what was going on). After waiting for 10-20 minutes without anyone telling me what was going on, a waiter had come out with a plate saying that my first piece was undercooked, and here is a new one. The leg part of the chicken was moist and succulent with the marinade just making it taste wonderful. The breast part was rather dry, though I do understand the difficulty to making it moist. The marinade on the chicken definitely helps with counteracting the dryness. Overall it was a good piece of meat.
 
Everyone ended up being very pleased with their meals and would definitely go again. I had tried all the ribs and it is definitely worth the money. And if you are a meat lover, you will definitely love Ribs and Rumps!
 
Now, after our meat filled dining experience we went to watch Cirque Du Soliel -  Saltimbanco. It was a great show with laughs all around. They interacted with the audience  and in some cases people were actually brought onto the stage. The stunts and talents were mesmerising, where you wonder 'How is that even possible?' This was my second Cirque Du Soliel show (my first being Varekai) and I was a bit disappointed in Saltimbanco but it was still a great show either way. Everyone that came along had a good time and that's all the matters in the end.

Good food, good times!