Out of this world dining experience
Singapore Air held an exclusive (read: after-hours) cooking demonstration by Matt Moran (head chef at ARIA, and also member of their culinary panel) for their Sydney-based PPS Club members at the Sydney Good Food & Wine show this past Friday and I was fortunate enough to be invited. I brought a friend along to the show and we were both quite entertained and walked away with a new cooking trick or two.
However, the hour-long show gave me a major craving for fine-dining. Or at least something really decent or something really nice. I called-up Bennelong (aka. Guillaume at Bennelong) and asked if they had a table for two. Given that it was Friday night I figured it was a long shot but it turned out they did have a table for two so I made a booking right away and we made our way to the restaurant.
I’ve been wanting of trying this restaurant ever since I had to cancel a pre-theatre booking (I was attending a performance of Beethoven’s 4th and 7th that night) because my friend was late arriving at the Opera House and here was another chance.
Admittedly, my first reaction after seeing the menu was that this wasn’t just a really nice restaurant, but that it was a reaaaaaaaally nice restaurant. But, since we were already there, we might as well as enjoy it.
To begin with, we both had the duck confit entree. We both thought this would be a tiny serving of duck alongside some duck foie gras, only to be surprised by a serving of three really flavorful and perfectly cooked small chunks of duck meat along with the duck foie gras. Now, I am not a duck person. Every time I eat at a restaurant and someone orders a duck I’d usually give it a taste and nod, agreeing that it’s good (unless it’s really horrible). However, I have to say Bennelong has converted me.
And suddenly we both found we were kinda full at this point. It was such a rich dish that both of us were filled with dread at our main course. My friend had ordered a wagyu steak while I had a … double-cooked wagyu beef cheek of some sort. We wanted to order the wagyu rib-eye steak for two but after hearing our waiter describe the beef cheek dish for a second time I was visibly drooling so I ordered it while my friend opted for the regular steak as she wanted a real steak and not some “melts as you touch it with your fork” kinda meat.
So we waited for our mains and talked and enjoyed the restaurant. It was dimly lit and quiet and every now and then we could hear a large group of table cheering and laughing and so on. Sounded like someone having a birthday party or a team dinner of some sort. Then our main courses came and all our fears of not being able to finish them disappeared when each of us took our first bites.
For my part, the meat really did just melt when I picked-up a chunk of it with my fork. It was tender beyond belief, and if I thought the duck confit was flavorful, I was blown away by what I was eating then. My friend was also quite shocked at just how good her steak was (I was very impressed as well). The meat was perfectly pinkish-red medium-rare, just as she liked her steaks, even though she ordered a medium. Needless to say, I finished my dish very quickly given how soft and tender it was. I ignored the serving of autumn vegetables on it, not wanting to ruin the flavor of the meat and the red wine au jus sauce it came with.
After that I had the nougat glace along with the matching wine while my friend skipped the dessert, opting for just a glass of the dessert wine I ordered. And again, neither of us were disappointed. Most amazing was the cotton candy that came with my dessert. I never thought it could be served as dessert at a fine-dining restaurant and yet, there it was, the best cotton candy I ever had. It was soft and ephemeral, melting effortlessly in my mouth. I then ended the night with a shot of espresso while my friend was content with the nougat glace and the dessert wine.
Looking at the bill I realized it wasn’t all that bad. It amounted to a nice night out for two and gave me the best dining experience I’ve had yet in Sydney.
Strike that. The ambiance, the menu, the architecture and the decor, and the truly world-class service all made it the best dining experience I have had yet. This is now the one dining experience other restaurants I come across will have to try and beat.
Or maybe it was just the company?
(It was only yesterday that I remembered that Friday marked my 3rd year in Sydney. Having intended to celebrate it and forgetting it and then discovering that I did have a nice night out on Friday only made the dinner that much more special.)
Guillaume at Bennelong
Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9241 1999
Homepage: www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au
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