Photo: Quentin Jones
Neil Perry's dining-out gamble is a winner, with the best
of east and west under one roof, writes Guy Griffin.
Neil Perry is a poster boy for Sydney optimists. Just as we're getting our dose of Old Testament punishment, he shows us the promised land: a place called Rockpool Bar & Grill (RBG). This is how the milk and honey will taste after we've swallowed our gruel. Built into the grand chamber of the heritage CML building on Hunter Street, the soaring dining space is like a set straight from The Dark Knight. And the menu and wine list are just as spectacular.
A slow-cooked hen's egg on toast with bone marrow and red wine butter sauce ($21) is superb. The sashimi ($26) is impeccably fresh. The king prawns, split open and herb-roasted ($31), are sweet and smoky. The wood-fired, grilled, dry-aged 36-month-old grass-fed Cape Grim rib-eye on the bone is partnered with a perfect bearnaise sauce ($58). The pigeon on roasted red pepper with grapes and radicchio salad ($45) is heroically tender, while a potato and cauliflower gratin served in its own sizzling sautee pan ($11) is soul food. For afters, there's apple galette and brown butter ice-cream ($19). Drooling yet?
Then there's the 3800-bottle cellar courtesy of a very serious, very wealthy American collector. Think legendary museum vintages of mainly burgundy, bordeaux and Rhone Valley wines rarely seen on any Australian restaurant list. Just for starters there is DRC Romanee Conti 1929 ($44,850), 1921 Chateau d'Yquem ($16,920) and 1961 La Chapelle Hermitage ($18,380). Sorry, that's cruel I know. The RBG list supervised by local stars Sophie Otton and Linden Pride also offers a decent range of local reds and whites under $60. And there are other value options, too. You can simply sit on a Trader Vic's mai tai ($17) in the cocktail bar, nibbling on cuties such as squid, chorizo and pork belly ($10) or soft tortilla with aioli ($16).
Or, of course, you could slip downstairs to Spice Temple, the moody basement beauty beneath RBG. As he's doing upstairs, Perry is showing us the future - but at Spice Temple it's via a journey into an unfamiliar past. This may be the only city menu that covers six regional Chinese food traditions: Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Xinjiang.
The yin of white light and cool stone surfaces in the reception/bar area is balanced by the yang of black lacquer with oriental red reflections in the shadowy, seductive dining rooms beyond. A curtain of long suspended wooden slats separates the two worlds of light and dark. Madame Bovary and I are finishing off a Dog (maple syrup, pisco, fresh lemon, $16) at the bar when our waiter invites us over to the dark side. Perry and head chef Andy Evans are serving variations on north-western and south-eastern Chinese themes with style and confidence. These are dishes to be shared but try blending the spicier protein with serves of cold vegetables.
To start, spiced minced lamb and cumin pancakes ($8) that wouldn't be out of place in any Uyghur restaurant in the city. Accompanying, some regional Chinese mainstays: small dishes of bean sprouts, face-puckeringly sour pickled cabbage and cucumbers scented with smashed garlic and ginger (all $6 each).
From Spice Temple's well-priced list, a 2007 Fraser Gallup Chardonnay ($48). This great WA drop is a bargain. It's brilliant with a light summer dish of steamed blue-eye trevalla, dressed like a Hunan river fish in a blanket of salted red chilli and fermented green chilli ($39), or a fillet of steamed silver dory with Jiangxi-style pickled vegetables ($29).
Not all of the items listed in scary red font on the menu are blisteringly hot. There's more of a long, dry heat in Sichuan-style dishes such as stir-fried king prawns and salted duck egg with brined, dried and fermented chillies ($39) or a traditional numbing heat in a hot, sweet and vinegary pork using superbly fresh Sichuan pepper ($29).
Perry's desserts are a cool solution to the perfect storm of three red font items. Slather your tongue with the fragile almond milk jelly or some shaved ice with sago (both $14).
So RBG or Spice Temple? Wherever you're sitting, the future looks fabulous.
Rockpool Bar & Grill
66 Hunter Street, Sydney.
Phone: 8078 1900.
Licensed. All major cards.
Open for lunch
Mon-Fri noon to 3pm;
dinner Mon-Sat 6-11pm.
Entrees $15-$24;
mains $19-$140;
desserts $6-$19.
Spice Temple
10 Bligh Street, city.
Phone: 8078 1888.
Licensed. All major cards.
Open for lunch
Mon-Fri noon-3pm;
dinner Mon-Sat 6-11pm.
Entrees $6-$28;
mains $24-$120;
desserts $10-$16.
