Had a great dinner at Rockpool, one of Sydney's two uber-famous restaurants ( the other is Tetsuya's). Neil Perry, the chef, is Sydney's first celebrity chef, but it appears he's gotten too big for his britches. Last year ('06) he was downgraded to a mere two hats, and in the just published '07 rankings he failed to regain his third hat. So Neil closed the restaurant down in retaliation, and this review is therefore pointless. Actually it sounds like he's going to open another restaurant in this space, but it will be pretty different conceptually.





If you want to know how our meal was even though you'll never have it, it was fantastic. He's known for combining heavy Asian influences with Mod Oz cuisine. We went with a tasting menu of about twelve courses, which was really interesting. Highlights included a modern take on sushi and a fantastic tea smoked duck. Unfortunately, we made the usual mistake of ordering matching wine with our courses. They always say the wine servings will be scaled down in size, but it's a lie, and you end up with a dozen glasses of wine. Anyway, it was a great meal, served very professionally, although staff seemed a bit harried and robotic. The room isn't my favorite, as its windowless and decorated a bit faux futuristically. (Food-20, Decor-13, Service-17).





Notwithstanding our massive wine intake, we then went round the Quay to the Opera Bar, underneath the Sydney Opera House. We met our friend Anita there and enjoyed a couple more hours of winedrinking outdoors along the harbour, then called it a night.