Bécasse opened in 2001 on Albion St, Surry Hills, and then moved its new premises on Clarences St in Sydney’s CBD in 2005. According to their website,

“Bécasse has developed and evolved into one of the Sydney’s premier dining spaces, with it’s modern French cuisine and professional, friendly service with one of the cities finest cellars. Justin and Georgia’ North’s motivation is to continue to evolve their establishment into one of Australia’s finest restaurants. The driving force behind the menus is the extremely high quality of the ingredients sourced by the kitchen, with strong depth of classic technique, and well seasoned balanced flavour.”

Bécasse was awarded two chef’s hats 2009, Good Food Guide.

About the Chef Justin North

Heralding from New Zealand, Justin North began his cooking career early, winning the many awards, including the New Zealand Apprentice Chef of the Year.

He then moved to Sydney and has worked at Gekko Restaurant, Brassiere Cassis. Justin then moved to England and at 22 he was Raymond Blanc’s youngest ever 2nd Sous chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. In Paris, Justin worked at both the 3 Michelin Starred Pierre Gagnaire and Guy Savoy-a real.

Upon returning to Sydney, Justin then re-joined Liam Tomlin back in Sydney as Sous Chef at Banc Restaurant. After 2 years at Banc, Justin opened his own restaurant Bécasse in Surry Hills with his wife Georgia North.

Menus

From the Bécasse website:

“When it comes to writing the menus and choosing the ingredients for Bécasse our philosophy is very simple. We choose only the freshest of ingredients allowing the seasons to advise our selections. We strongly believe in starting the food preparation each day from scratch, we begin at the fish markets where we gather our inspiration for the day’s menus. The chefs at Bécasse will only choose the freshest, most vibrant fish on offer, and will not be influenced by trends and fads.

Download their menus here Becasse Menus

Reviews

The Experience by real people for real people:

“The feeling of Bécasse is romantic and special. The food was lovely and the service was good. They have a great selection of wines also. The only thing I can say is that the bathroom while being very clean and fresh was up stairs and after a few glasses of wine over dinner in high heels I am wishing it was on the first floor”

“The best dessert I have had in a while was from Becasse – it was eton mess.”

“Perfection! Heaven on a plate. Slick and professional staff coupled with some of the best food eaten to date. This is a must do restaurant.”

“I will definitely go back for the black truffle degustation soon.”

Website

www.becasse.com.au/

Address

204 Clarence Street,
Sydney 2000
Telephone: +61 (0)2 9283 3440

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Universal opened in Sydney in 2007, after a 7 year absence of chef Christine Manfield from the Sydney restaurant scene. Unviersal aims for exceptional service and repeat patronage, in their words:

“We intend to make UNIVERSAL as broad based and user friendly as possible, to extend it to a wider cross section of people that reflects the dynamic location of the restaurant in Sydney’s vibrant inner east.”

Universal has won many awards including 2 chef’s hats from the “SMH Good Food Guide Awards” in 2009 & 2010, as well as winning Maitres d’ of the Year in the “2009 – Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Awards”.

At the 2008 Food and Wine Awards in New York, Universal was nominated as one of the World’s 10 best new restaurants.

About the Chef Christine Manfield

Manfield has run acclaimed restaurants at the Paragon and Phoenix Hotels at Circular Quay and Woollahra respectively before opening the acclaimed Paramount in Potts Point.

In 2003 Manfield headed to the UK and opened East@West, in London’s Soho. She has now returned to Australia and in addition to running Universal, Manfield has authored 5 books, and has her own Christine Manfield Spice Collection product range.

Manfield also hosts luxury gastronomy tours around the world. For more information see christinemanfield.com.

Signature Dish

Universal does not proclaim a signature dish, rather Manfield says:

“It is my ambition and desire to introduce diners to flavours of the world inspired by world travels, with distinctive and definitive flavour combinations that are not limited by traditional boundaries.”

Menus

A sample menu can be downloaded from their website here Universal Sample Menu.

Reviews

The Sydney Morning Herald’s 2007 review says: “Exciting, spectacular, seductive” and “There’s a remarkable harmony to her flavours, which work as a strong ensemble cast supporting the occasional star”

Gourmet Traveller says “the food is really good” and “There’s also no filler on the plates. No potatoes, no rice, no chips, none of the things that normally allow you to recoup your food costs. It’s no-retreat, no-surrender all the way, with full-bore flavours in just about every mouthful, pop, pop, pop.”

Website:

www.universalrestaurant.com

Address

Republic 2 Courtyard Palmer Street, between Burton & Liverpool,
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 9331 0709‎

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About Rockpool Bar & Grill

Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney opened in 2009, the third of Neil Perry’s Sydney restaurants (Rockpool opened in 1989 and has been a Sydney dining institution since; and Spice Temple which also opened in early 2009).  Located in the 1936 Emil Sodersteen-designed American style art deco skyscraper, the RBG style is simple and uncomplicated.

Rockpool Bar & Grill aims to serve perfectly grilled meat and seafood, with what they proclaim is Australia’s best wine list.  If you don’t believe them you can see for yourself here – Rockpool Bar & Grill Winelist: Red & White.

There is also a Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne, located at the Crown Complex, South Melbourne.

About the Chef Neil Perry

Neil’s career began at Sails restaurant (McMahons Point and Rose Bay), where he started at front house.  He quickly moved into the kitchen and is now one of Australia’s leading and most influential chefs.

The author of 5 books; Good Food, The Food I Love, Simply Asian, Rockpool and Balance & Harmony; TV presenter; airline chef (He designs the menus for Qantas First and Business Classes); there is not much Perry hasn’t done in Australia.

There is also the obligatory food product line, Neil Perry Fresh.

Neil also has his own blog at Rockpool Restaurant Blog as well as an in-depth biography.

Signature Dish

Beef, beef and more beef!  The beef is sourced direct from the producers and dry aged on the premises. Wagyu, grass or grain fed, Rockpool believes in the human treatment of the cattle with no growth hormones or antibiotic feed supplements  used.

Menus

You can download the entire menu here as a pdf: Rockpool Bar & Grill Menu.

Reviews

SMH rated RBG  17/20 in May 2009 and said “This is Sydney’s most beautiful dining room. A breathtaking, thrilling, dramatically gorgeous mix of art-deco panache and sleekly understated modernism with clever lighting, soaring three-storey-high columns, shiny dark leather and sculptural towers of thousands of Reidel glasses” and “Neil Perry shows the old chef still has a few tricks left with a superb, smoky steakhouse where excellent seafood is a bonus.”

Website:

http://www.rockpool.com.au/sydney/bar-and-grill/

Address:

Rockpool Bar & Grill
66 Hunter St
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 8078 1900‎

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And so we embarked on 8 courses, each announced only moments before being placed on the table. Some were delightful, some were challenging but it was a triumph of esophageal fortitude and complex culinary skill that the majority of the table managed to finish all courses. Matching wines were expertly paired with the courses and were definitely the highlight of the evening.

Foods Tried

Matching Wines in Italics

Chaud Froid Free Range Egg

Almond Jelly with Blue Swimmer Crab, Almond Gazpacho, Sweet Corn & Avruga
2007 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal, Austria

Cured Ocean Trout with Coleslaw, Lemon & Dill Jelly
2007 Goisot ‘Corps de Garde’ Fie Gris, saint Bris, France

Yellow-fin Tuna on French Toast with Foie Gras Butter and Pork Crackling
2008 Perrigrine Pinot Gris, Central Otago, NZ

Duck Ham with Braised & Fresh Endive & Parmesan
2008 Felton Road Vin Gris, Central Otago, New Zealand

Slow Cooked Pork Jowl with Spinach & Pacific Oyster
2006 Domaine Du Parc saint Charles, Cotes Du Rhone, France

18 hour Angus Short Rib with Boudin Noir, Onion Croquettes & Smoked Onion
2006 Scarzello Dolcetto D’Alba, Piedmont, Italy

Brunet with Rhubarb, New Seasons Pistachio & Mancha Tea Macaroon
2007 Markus Molitor Riesling Trocken, Mosel, Germany

Warm Chocolate Ganache with Hazelnut Croquant, Yoghurt, Eucalyptus & Raspberry
‘Rutherglen Espresso~’Rutherglen Tokay, splash of Kahlua Especial 70 Proof

Salted Caramel Chocolates & Bitter Bon Bons

Favourite Foods

The favourite course was unanimous. The Cured Ocean Trout with Coleslaw, Lemon & Dill Jelly, was described as ‘visually appealing’ and ‘unique’. The presentation of the lemon & dill as a jelly rather than as a typical garnish enhanced the already wonderful flavour of the cured ocean trout.

Additionally, it appeared we all appreciated the sommelier’s skill in pairing wines with each dish, with one of the diners commenting that the degustation would likely not have worked so well if not for the wines.

Most memorable flavours

It appears that the most memorable flavours were not necessarily the most desirable flavours, with many of us appreciating the ‘challenging’ nature of Mark Best’s gourmet tastes.

The amuse-bouche of Chaud Froid Free Range egg (originally invented by Alain Passard in 1998) was ‘an acquired taste’ but understandable ‘if you consider that they eat frog legs and uncooked snails in France’.

Again the wines were described as a highlight of the evening, especially as they were styles and regions that we would probably never try on our own.

Ratings

Atmosphere

In general, we were positive on the atmosphere of Marque…

“Very nice, dark, intimate, not too loud but still lively, not too formal but still classy”

“Elegant & classy without being intimidating”

… with the one downside being somewhat out of the control of the restaurant owners.

“Was nice, but empty which detracted”

Service

This area was awarded the most points, with 60% of the table giving it the highest score possible.

“Waiters were friendly and knowledgeable”

“the service was efficient & quick”

And it seems like ‘presentation’ is important, not just when looking at our plates:

“…… and – if that wasn’t enough – even reasonably good looking (at least after all that wine)”

Food presentation

The presentation held up to the standard expected from a restaurant with a ‘hat’,

“overall the presentation highlighted the experimental nature of the food”

“Truly convincing – fantastic presentation without presenting over-the-top artwork”

“the lemon & dilly jelly was a fun way of garnishing the cured trout dish”

However it may not have been innovative enough for one of our reviewers:

“pretty generic in terms of presenting fine dining”

Food quality

The food quality was judged to be outstanding in most cases, with one sentiment repeated in a few reviews:

“the food quality was excellent, but the wine quality even more so!”

Food taste

There were definitely some hits and some misses.

“Some was delicious, but others were ‘challenging’. I don’t know if I want to be challenged when I go out to dinner”

However, overall the taste of the food was judged to be of a high quality, interesting & innovative as long as we were willing to step outside our comfort zone once in a while (and possibly not finish a dish).

“I had more dishes that I didn’t enjoy as opposed to the minority that were really excellent”

“Outstanding – amazing combination of flavours and thoroughly enjoyable”

“too much foie-gras butter on the tuna dish”

“The wines enhanced the food taste.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed most dishes”

Overall Rating: 4.12/5

About Marque

Marque Restaurant opened in 2000 and rated as one of the best dining experiences in Australia. It has been awarded 3 hats by the SMH Good Food Guide 2009, as well as receiving praise for its extensive and well chosen wine list. The cuisine is prepared by ‘Chef of the Year’, Mark Best and the ambience is described as intimate and intense. Marque is located on Crown Street in Surry Hills.

About the Chef Mark Best

Profiled by De Groots:
Highly acclaimed executive chef Mark Best is passionate about French food. He began his apprenticeship at the Macleay Street Bistro in Potts Point 1990 and worked there for five years before opening up his own restaurant, Peninsula Bistro, in Balmain. His restaurant was well received by locals, however after a few years Mark decided to further his knowledge of French cuisine in the best way possible, time in Paris. Mark worked at Alain Passard’s three Michelin starred L’Arpege before heading over to the UK for a stint at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s Great Milton hotel/restaurant.

Signature Dish

Dishes are constantly being altered and refined, and the suggested way to experience Marque is through a degustation. Some of the recurring options are:

• almond jelly served with firm crab meat, almond gazpacho, prune oil and sweet corn custard
• caramelised tomato is stuffed with twelve flavours and served with star anise ice-cream

Menu

Marque features French cuisine. The menu can be found on the website. There is an 8 course degustation for $145 per person, $75 extra for matching wines. The a la carter option is $28 for an entrée, $48 for a main and $24 or dessert.
The wine list is extensive and indulgent, featuring wines from around the world and of course, France in particular.

Reviews

SMH describes Marque as “No views, no frills and a smart interior that doesn’t try hard to impress”, instead the high point of the review appears to be “exemplary service and the spectacle of what’s on the plate”.

The Gourmet Traveller review claims that Marque is serving “some of the most interesting food and wine you’re likely to find in Australia right now”. It laments however that the food can be ‘challenging’ and the author does claim to have had a Mr Bean moment where she/he was looking for somewhere to hide a dish that was a little too exotic/innovative.

And of course the most reliable source of all, the topmost review on Eatability claims that the restaurant dining room is “dark, moody, sexy and unpretentious” and the service “impreccable”.

Website

Marque Restaurant

Address

Marque
Shop 4
355 Crown Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010 Australia
tel: +61 2 9332 2225

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They started their night by having a cocktail or two at Sticky and they got happy. Then they went down to eat at 8, but as is the case with homestyle cooking sometimes the chef forgets things as he had a fight about the toothpaste in the morning so he forgot about the piscaterian in the midst as all he could think was where is my Colgate, why did I have to use Listerine? And our Piscaterian wasn’t happy and we were sad.

But then we had the other food for the carnivores amongst us and the food was good. In the midst of this all one of our party turned 21 again, and had sparkles and a guitar solo. We ate and chatted while the night passed by in the relaxed atmosphere. And so in the end we had a fun night and planned for more.

All in all great place to go with your friends as long as they are not vegetarians, otherwise just go up to Sticky and get some great drinks and cheese platters.

Foods Tried

We had a set menu for the night and the following was served:

• Entree: Papadelle with Truffles, Salad for the Vegetarians
• Main: Osso Bucco with potatoes and Side salad(which seemed to be the same as the vegetarian entree but much tastier), Vegetarian pasta with mushrooms for Vegetarians
• Dessert: Flourless Chocolate Cake

Also a variety of cocktails, wine (Kristi bought her 2002 Coriole Shiraz!) and limoncello.

Favourite Foods

The favorites amongst our group were varied some liked the Bloody mary whereas some liked the cake. But the main favorite was the Papadelle with Truffles followed by the Osso Bucco with the cake.

Most memorable flavours

Papadelle with Truffles

Ratings

Atmosphere

Atmosphere was the big winner for the night some comments were:

“Fantastic – this is a great place to dine with a group of friends. It’s very community like – 2 big tables with 20 people on each”

“Nice modern decor, very nice and cosy bar”

“The only issue were the plastic chairs which looked fabulous but caused the quite undesirable “hot ass” syndrome”

Service

Service was friendly and was centered on people taking their time with their meal so at times we found it slow.

“Bar staff & waiter were engaging, very attentive, but not overpowering. Friendly and fun!”
“1 point off for forgetting about vegetarian option and putting hands on my shoulder. But the “complimentary” wine made it close to perfect”

Food presentation

Platters worked for the family style eating environment but at the same time it didn’t so opinions differed.

“The food looked fantastic, displayed on large family style platters”

“I liked the family style – but unclear how to portion it out”

“Particularly enjoyed the sparklers for Krista’s ‘bday cake’ “

“Stuff on plate, no decorative touches – my 7 year old niece is more imaginative”

Food quality

Food quality was quite good and enjoyed by most of the group for the meat dishes but the vegetarian option failed miserably:

“Vegetarian option a joke – and not a funny joke”

“Amazing – you could tell the ingredients were fresh and the Osso Bucco was prepared in the traditional way”

“The pasta was very oily, the osso bucco a little bit tough”

Food taste

“Yummy starter and main’

“Vegetarian pasta overly salty and very oily. No discernable flavour except when I bit into a piece of thyme which tasted like thyme”

“Really enjoyed the truffle entrée but the osso buco a little fatty and a little oily”

“The osso bucco and rice base that it was served with were very flavourful”

“The pasta was fantastic and earns a 5 – the Osso Buco as well”

Overall Rating: 3.60/5

Eeek – the Foodies Club will not be attending any of these establishments in the near future!

Read the SMH article – Live crabs stored in restaurant loo

You can check out the register before you make your next booking here:

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/penalty-notices/default.aspx?template=results

Photo by Ian Wallace

Every table in the restaurant was occupied and there was a definite buzz about the place. It is small, it is cramped, and the chairs are uncomfortable, but none of that really mattered as we were there for the food and it did not disappoint.

Foods Tried

We ordered 3 double sized entrees and 5 mains to share between the eight of us, which allowed us all to sample a great range of Billy kwonng’s dishes:

• Steamed Prawn Wontons with Organic Brown Rice Vinegar Dressing
• Homestyle Fried Biodynamic Eggs with Organic Soy & Homemade XO
• Sung Choi Bao of Pork, Ginger & Mushrooms
• Deep-Fried Silken Tofu with Caramelised Organic Tomatoes & Organic Garlic
• Red-Braised, Caramelised Organic Pork Belly with Chinese Coleslaw
• Sichuan Pepper Biodynamic Beef with Roasted Organic Tomato & Watercress Salad
• Special: The Crispy Duck with blood plum sauce
• Special: Cod (we can’t quite remember what was in it)

Favourite Foods

The favorites amongst our group were pretty much unanimous: The Crispy Duck and the Pork Belly were our favorites. The homestyle eggs also scored highly with most people.

Most memorable flavours

Some of us were still tasting the pork belly the next day (in a good way!) and along with the excellent Duck with the blood plum sauce, they were the standouts that I wouldn’t hesitate to go back again and again for!

Ratings

Atmosphere

All of us commented on how dark and cramped it was.  The chairs were also singled out as fairly uncomfortable, I think this is tactic to ensure two sittings every night.

“Was a bit crowded and I had to squeeze through another diners table to get to toilets.”

Most of us struggled to even read the menu and I think one Foodie summed it up pretty well:

“Have they not paid the electricity bill? A candle or one of those flashlights you attach to your head would have been helpful for reading the menu”

However the lack of light was useful for some of us,

“ no one can see your bad chop stick action in the dark”

Service

Service was pleasant, efficient and helpful. We were advised as to which dishes would be good for sharing and therefore provide better value for money. All the dishes came out on time and in order, there were no issues with rice coming halfway through the meal as previously mentioned in other reviews.

Food presentation

It was pretty hard to see, but in the dark the food looked good.

Food quality

Excellent

Food taste

Yum, mmm, excellent, fantastic. The pork belly was a hit with everyone:

“The beautiful layers of fat & meat with a crispy crust on top of the pork belly… the cut (small cubicles) may also help provide consistent flavour on each bite!”

as was the crispy duck with the Blood plum sauce:

“salty, sweet, fragrant and brilliant colour.”

Overall Rating: 3.96/5

About Table for 20

There are 193 normal restaurants in Surry Hills. This is not one of them.

Table for 20 was opened in September 2006 in the tradition of “hood” dinners. It can be found on 182 Campbell St, Darlinghurst. Sticky bar can be found upstairs.

The building is owned by Hope St who are a mission who do a lot of good work in the Surry Hills area with people who are less fortunate than us. They think what they do is really important and are proud to be part of their community, so 10% of their takings go towards Hope St every night.

About the Chef – Michael Fantuz

Michael Fantuz and his mates who live in the local area get together for regular “hood dinners” meeting up for a good feed & a bottle of red. Usually they would take over someone’s house for the occasion.

His background is hospitality so he would usually end up in the kitchen, others would bring dessert or something to start with. Everybody brings wine & even then there’s never enough

…and Table for 20 works in pretty much the same way. His mates are in the kitchen cooking, friends drop round with bits & pieces and His mum is a fantastic Italian cook so he is still partial to serving a bit of her home made Tiramisu on occasion. The philosophy is communal eating – a big shared dinner party where everything gets passed around. Here you find big platters of roast meat, potatoes, vegetables, hunks of parmesan and a giant slab of tiramisu.

Signature Dish

They do a 3 course set menu every night and the idea is that it’s a dinner party so we all eat the same thing. You can BYO (no corkage) or drink theirs. The cost is $60 for the meal and homemade limonchello. (Special options for dietary restrictions & vegans)

Sticky Bar

Sticky takes that admirable sharing principle and gives it a twist in a refreshing new bar space. Nights at Sticky are about fun – they have a musician who plays covers during dinner and the music is piped through upstairs into the bar. Although the bar’s rather hidden and only open when the restaurant is you don’t have to eat downstairs to drink upstairs.

Upstairs you’ll find the room stuffed with old school video game chairs (those plastic stools for table style games like Space Invaders), little leather Ottomans for perching on and a mixture of Victorian parlour lounges for sitting up straight on and over-stuffed, round armed deco armchairs for sinking into.

Website

Table for 20

Map

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Then in Melbourne for a weekend, we used Urban Spoon to find somewhere to eat and we ended up at Bistrot D’Orsay at 184 Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 (03) 9654 6498‎. The atmosphere was good again, but not quite as warm and rustic. Its right across from the theatre so it is easy to get a quick meal. My food was excellent and the wine list was even better. I quite enjoyed the pate entree.

Bistrot D Orsay, Melbourne

Finally, I got to eat at the Little Frog in Wyong after a year of waiting. The atmosphere was even less authentic, but there was a cool wooden sculpture over the bar. I was so excited to finally get a reservation here, as it is the only French restaurant on the entire Central Coast and it was booked out when I stayed up here a year ago. We booked two months in advance for this reservation (though I think a week or two would suffice). The wine list was good and the service was great. I really enjoyed my meal, which included a trio of pate for entree and a whole spatchcock for main. The skin on the spatchcock did start to get soggy after a bit, but I managed to eat some of the crispy stuff early on.

It seems cozy French food is a great choice for a weekend away, as it feels a bit exotic and a bit like an indulgence. I haven’t had a bad meal yet at any of the restaurants, especially since a good wine makes any meal great.