Sydney Series - Rockpool

http://www.rockpool.com/rockpoolsydney

Neil Perry is one of Australia's most recognisable chefs and restauranteurs.  With his TV shows and chain of multi award winning restaurants, it's clear that Neil is one of the rock stars of the culinary world.  I've been to a number of restaurants in the Neil Perry stable, including both the Sydney and Melbourne Rockpool Bar and Grills (see post here) as well as the very cool Spice Temple in Sydney (see post here).  The one restaurant that I've been dying to check out was the original, Rockpool Sydney.

I was in Sydney recently for a flying-stop-over, flying down to attend the taping of the SBS program, Insight (yep, as a guest), staying overnight and then flying back to work the next morning.  I was pretty excited to have been invited by Insight to speak as an expert in my Industry and I'm pretty sure I will get a bit of air time (will find out in February).  Anyway, I digress.  With one night in Sydney, I had to choose between Quay, Sepia and Rockpool as my destination. Quay was booked out, Sepia didn't answer their phone and Rockpool had a spot - phew!

I've been to Sydney a heap of times and walked by Rockpool often, but if I was hoping to get along to the original George Street location at the Rocks, I was to be disappointed.  Rockpool had moved recently into larger digs, so it was the new Bridge Street location that I set out to find (well, I gave the taxi driver the address - good enough!).  Dropped off across the street from the new digs, I could see that Rockpool was in a cool old sandstone building with the only features identifying the new restaurant being a couple of plaques with Rockpool engraved in simple script.

Sydney Series - The Cut Bar and Grill

http://www.cutbarandgrill.com/

I recently found myself in Sydney overnight after a whirlwind visit to the harbour city for work.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to get away for a nice dinner but decided I'd hit twitter to get some suggestions, just in case I had a few hours spare.  Asking where my followers would go for a meal in Sydney if they were only there for a night, I was expecting to suggestions like Quay, Rockpool, Est and some of the fancier dining spots around.  While I did get the odd Longrain and Momofuku, I was surprised and delighted with the less well known and clearly more personal dining spots suggested, Wildfire, Portento Fratelli Paradiso, just to name a few.

One suggestion that I got, which was also a recommendation from my lovely partner SC, was The Cut, which as it turned out was just a hundred metres or so from my hotel.  After a very early start and a very busy day, I was able to plant a few suggestion to my travelling companions throughout our meetings that led us in the direction of The Cut.  By the time we had finished and it was time to unwind and have a few drinks, we 'found' ourselves at the The Argyle, which as luck would have it is right at the back of The Cut!

A few drinks later and it was time for us to start thinking about food, it was the easiest thing in the world to just walk a few metres and descend some steps and enter The Cut.  We didn't know how we would go without a reservation at 8pm on a Wednesday in Sydney but we were offered some seats at a communal table or to wait at the bar for a table to free up.  The choice was easy for the lads, who were all too happy to have another beer before dinner started, so it was beer and fries for about thirty minutes until we were shown to our table.

Spice Temple - A spicy taste of Asia

http://www.rockpool.com/sydney/spice-temple/

One of the first things you notice about Spice Temple is how unassuming the location is.  Located in its more famous cousin's building, where Rockpool Bar & Grill is clearly signed and clear for all to see in a lovely art deco building, Spice Temple is around the corner and down some stairs.  What is really cool about the entrance is the massive TV screen in the door that simulates a curtain blowing in the wind to reveal the name.  While waiting out the front for some friends to share lunch with, a few people wandered by the door before realising that it was in fact a door.

Spice Temple is the brainchild of renowned Chef Neil Perry, this multi award winning restaurant is number 47 in the Gourmet Travellers list of top 100 Australian Restaurants and has a coveted chefs hat from the Good Food Guide.  Once you open the door and descend several flights of stairs into the bowels of the building, you are confronted with a very modern and subdued space that is initially dark and brooding, but gives a sense of privacy.  Once seated, a number of spotlights in the ceiling were turned on to illuminate the centre of our table, but not take away from the ambience of the room.

As the name suggests, Spice Temple specialises in the slightly hotter side of Asian cuisine and looking at the menu a large number of the dishes were in red to signify that they were HOT.  There were also a number of other warning signs that our taste-buds were in for a test, with items on the menu such as 'beef fillet in fire water' & 'tingling prawns' & 'hot, sweet, sour and numbing pork'.

China Doll, Chinese by the waterside

http://www.chinadoll.com.au/

It's very rare that I get to Sydney, I prefer Melbourne as a destination, but recently had to travel down to Sydney to visit the US Consulate to apply for a Visa.  SC and I want to go to New York City for a holiday next year and the hoops we are going through to get a visa, well, its a long story for another time.

One of the benefits of visiting Sydney (or Melbourne for that matter) is meeting some of SC's interstate friends.  I get to meet many of the people that SC knows and also get to check out the many exciting restaurants around the country.  On this occasion we went for a trip down to Woolloomooloo to visit China Doll. 

We were a little early, so we took the opportunity to have a look around Woolloomooloo.  There is not a lot there, just a few decent restaurants and some pubs.  We did see some awesome boats at the marina and had a nice stroll around the headland.  By the time we slowly wandered back to the restaurant it was just starting to move into dusk (I love daylight savings).

China Doll is an award winning traditional Asian influenced restaurant steeply rooted in traditional techniques and flavours.  I has a great reputation and is one of our companions' favourite restaurants.  In the style of many asian restaurants the idea is to order many dishes and share.  As we were the newbies to Chinadoll, we asked them to recommend options from the menu and came up with a fabulous cross selection of entrees and mains