I can’t tell you how excited I was when I landed a last minute booking at Rockpool Bar & Grill. I could hardly keep it together that day, thinking about the fabulous dinner I was having that night. I’ve been hearing rave reviews all year, with many praising Rockpool to be the toast of 2009.
We arrived not long after our 6pm booking. We were seated in the dining room on the ground floor. Dressed in a white overcoat, our waiter strolled over and offered to take our drink orders. His tone was sterile and made no attempt to start a casual conversation. We were approached many times thereafter to check when our other guests were arriving and whether we’d like to place our orders first. I found this really annoying – we were told by reservations that we had until 8:30pm to vacate the table. I wasn’t too fussed about rushing because I was a fast eater and so were most of my dining companions.
House bread and butter
So when the others arrived we were all deep in conversation. Of course, we were all deciding what to eat too, the menu isn’t exactly easy to navigate. But we were interrupted multiple times by our waiter to place our dinner orders. It was unprofessional, pushy and extremely unexpected from a place like Rockpool.
Charcoal Roast King Prawns, Split and Marinated $34
Charcoal Roast Squid and Pork Belly $28
I have to admit, our food didn’t take long at all to arrive. Our two appetisers were pleasing, well cooked and set a nice tone for what was to come. The mains were all of reasonable portions, but the sides were extremely generous and provided the perfect complement to the mains.
Our waiters arrive with our mains
The boys’ steaks were both cooked to perfection. Mr. Taste’s budget option – the Wagyu skirt, was wonderfully tender, moist and full of flavour. With a 9+ marble score, there was no denying this was one of the best steaks we’ve had, but the price tag that accompanies makes it out of reach for many.
David Blackmore’s Dry Aged Full Blood Wagyu - Skirt 240g 30 days $39
Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 Month Old Grass Fed Rib-eye on the Bone 350g 80 days $58
Wood Fire Grilled Grass Fed English Bred Lamb Cutlets and Chops with Mint Jelly $39
The two pasta dishes were equally impressive, Perry has a way of extracting flavour out of a dish without upsetting the natural textures in the food.
One of the downsides of being a food blogger is that you get to eat last. Your friends are all yelling at your for you to take their main first. By the time I got around to eating my pasta, it was already cold. I would’ve liked to see more substantial bites of wagyu in the dish, the pieces I got were the size of peppercorns.
Wagyu Bolognese with Hand Cut Fettuccine $25
Spanner Crab, Roast Cherry Tomato, Spicy Prawn Oil with Semolina Noodles $29
We were all extremely pleased with our selection of sides, they were hearty and really added to our rather plain looking mains. The ‘Mac and Cheese’ was particularly delightful.
Sautéed Zucchinis with Garlic and Mint $9 / Onion Rings $9 / Charcoal Oven Roast Pumpkin and Sweet Potato with Garlic Yoghurt and Burnt Butter $9
“Mac and Cheese” $9 / $11
Mr. Taste has a habit of finishing off everything on the table. Even if he is bursting at the seams, he will find room for it in his stomach. But at 10 past 8, our waiter cleared everything without asking. He did it so fast we had no chance to stop him. Moments later, the bill was tossed onto the table. Needless to say, we were extremely annoyed .
Maybe it’s because we didn’t order from the pricey wine list, or maybe we had unknowingly broke one of the house rules, but the service we received at Rockpool left little to be desired. It cast a shadow of disappointment over what would’ve been a wonderful meal.
Rockpool Bar & Grill
66 Hunter Street
Sydney
# 02 8078 1900
www.rockpool.com.au
Open for lunch and dinner.
Related Posts
10 comments
It’s a shame when you get arsehole waiters like that ruining your meal. I sincerely hope you didn’t leave them a tip.
That sort of service attitude really leaves a lot to be desired. When you make a verbal contract to exit by a certain time, it’s much more polite for staff to remind you of that fact perhaps 15min ahead of the agreed time. There’s absolutely no need to clear the table and present the bill without your asking. Leaves a sour note at the end of an otherwise enjoyable meal and evening =(
What a shame the service was so crap! I find that no matter how good the food is, if the waitstaff are rude it completely ruins the whole experience. I really would have expected more from a place like this – perhaps that public email complaint about Rockpool wasn’t so unsubstantiated after all…
Bad service sux anytime but especially when you are paying a premium for good quality food!
What a disappointment with the service! From a place like that and with the prices of the meal, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect first rate service! The food sounded good at least!
I have to confess, when I first saw the bowl of onion rings, I thought it was crackling and my heart skipped a beat! lol. A shame it was such a disappointing experience for you.
The food really looks wonderful, though is it enough to overlook the bad service you received? I’ve found that early diners (before 7pm) sometimes don’t get good service because it’s expected that they’re off somewhere and won’t eat or drink (spend) that much. No excuse, though!
Nice review! I had the wagyu bolognese too and found it nice but not amazing. I prefer more beef than what I got too.
You guys didn’t order dessert? BTW, they were ginormous! And they don’t tell you that!
shame about the service. they really should know better. but i must admit the spanner crab pasta is calling my name after seeing that photo! yum.