Rockpool Bar & Grill

For an entry level Neil Perry dining experience, we headed to Rockpool Bar and Grill to sample the famous David Blackmore Wagyu burger, and some of his scrumptious dessert!
Food:
We ordered two mains and a dessert between two people — the highly rated steak, the David Blackmore Wagyu Burger and the crème caramel to finish. The burger was so delicious, with the meat being tender and perfectly cooked. The only thing I didn’t enjoy as much was the zuni pickle, which I felt didn’t complement the rest of the flavours in the burger, and was difficult to eat. While we were told there was no sides with the bar menu, it came out with a small salad. We ordered the steak medium well, and found that the marinade was reminiscent of tandoori and Indian flavours. The meat was extremely tender, and we enjoyed it immensely.
Finally, the course I was most excited for — dessert! We opted for the crème caramel off the full Rockpool Bar and Grill menu, and it didn’t disappoint. Creamy and rich, it melted in my mouth, and the accompanying sauce soaked through, leaving it dripping with caramel and a decadent delight.
Ambience:
Walking into Rockpool Bar and Grill, I couldn’t help but be wowed by the two tier dining experience, and the high ceilings and spacious atmosphere. The bar similarly did not disappoint, with glasses hanging from the ceiling of the service area, and cosy chairs for small groups. We went a little bit later on in the evening, and took the last table available, so go as early as possible or be prepared to wait for a table. Service was a little slow, but it was a busy night, and the food was well worth the wait.
Overall:
We thoroughly enjoyed our first taste of Neil Perry’s creations at the Rockpool Bar, and definitely will be coming back for a meal from the full menu!

I usually skip the actual restaurant and head straight for the bar; if you sit at the bar (rather than a table in the bar area) the bartenders tend to provide friendlier and more consistent service. The highly recommended burger is quite good as far as Aussie burgers go.

I would give 5 for food but 3 for service. It took 45 mins from the appetizer to the main dish. There are lot of staffs walking around but didn’t get proper attention. My appetizer was crudo of three fish and it was incredible, my abalone pasta was very different and above average. Steak however was excellent, one of the best I have ever had. I would go back but will say something before waiting long time between courses.

Great atmosphere & service and excellent food. On the recommendation of the concierge at our hotel we made a last minute reservation, and we’re glad we did. In a renovated older Art Deco office building the dining area is three floors. We were seated in a quiet side room which was great for conversation. The wine list was very good and our waitress was able to recommend a wonderful Australian white since we were ordering seafood. Both dishes we ordered were simply wonderful. Dessert was also great and I enjoyed an Australian dessert wine. I’d go again. For two of us with wine and cocktails dinner was $ 280 AU and worth every penny.

Amazing food. But the Waygu brisket with chimichurri… LIFE CHANGING! I will forever compare all beef dishes I ever have to that one.

Super expensive place. Everyone was dressed to the 9s. It’s like stepping into the movie set in a James Bond movie. Ceilings must be 40 feet high. Wait staff was super attentive and courteous. They make you feel like a million dollars even if you are wearing sweat pants and t shirt like I was. $ 70 abalone was exquisite. Pretty much the best abalone I ever had. Dessert was unique. Everything else was meh and over priced: pot pie, roasted chicken, pasta. Wine is Good here.

We came in to grab a late lunch after we searched for Sydney’s best burger and read that Rockpool (the bar and grill version) was the place to have it. Despite coming only 30 minutes before lunch service was closed, it was still pretty packed, and we ended up getting a seat in the quieter (paradoxically) bar room. Overall, the space definitely has a very grand feel to it, with high ceilings, but the bar room felt a bit quieter as the lighting was a tad dimmer. The food came out pretty quickly, although my waitress did forget my drink order the first time, and after bringing our food out, she only bothered checking in once it was clear it was time for the bill. The drink menu (at least for cocktails, beers, and other drinks) is quite a bit more extensive relative to the full-​service restaurant that does dinner, and the Warwick Zacapa was a very drinkable, blood orange-​infused cocktail that I really liked. The mint julep, though, while served in a unique fashion (it was served in a wide-​bottom glass, with the ice stacked on top), was a bit less impressive. For lunch service, the cocktail prices are definitely on the higher end as well.
Food-​wise, we kept it simple: we got the wagyu burgers, along with a side of fries with wagyu gravy. It might be somewhat heretical of me to say, but I was not that impressed with the burger. The first issue, which the waitress probably should have warned me about, is that getting the burger cooked above medium-​rare pretty much destroys any kind of flavoring that the meat might have. I ended up going medium on my burger, and it was definitely overcooked. My wife’s was medium-​rare and definitely retained more succulence and a bit more flavor. Nonetheless, relative to some of the very flavorful burgers I have had elsewhere (primarily in New York), the patty doesn’t really taste like much, and even my wife’s patty did not seem to have a lot of the fatty succulence that wagyu is known for. The other issue plaguing the burger was that there are too many toppings on it. To me, the best burger I’ve had is very simple — Minetta Tavern’s Black Label has some onions on top, but that is it. Here, there was bacon, gruyère cheese, sweetened onions, overly sweet pickles, as well as lettuce and tomato on the side that you can add on. Too much happening, with only the pickles (which coincidentally is one of my least favorite burger condiments to start, although good pickles I do not mind) really standing out. So while it tasted like I was eating a hearty meal, it was a mishmash of flavors. I probably liked the fries better overall — hearty cuts and well-​salted. The ‘gravy’ was almost like chili, as it had copious bits of meat in it as well, but it paired very well with the fries. We were also served something that looks like ketchup as well but is really more of a watery tomato sauce… I would definitely recommend just sticking with Heinz for a good old-​fashioned burger experience if I were in the restaurant’s shoes.
In all, this was a bit of a disappointing experience, especially since we had a great dinner at Rockpool 1989 the previous night. The burger didn’t live up to the hype, and while the sides and cocktails were spectacular, I’m not sure it justifies the costly premium of dining here. I would almost certainly try something else on the menu if I were to come back again.

The Rockpool Bar & Grill was recommended to us by the Park Hyatt Hotel in Sydney. The atmosphere was great and the food was even better. They have an extensive wine list and the staff was increbiliby professional. We started off withOysters and then enjoyed the Wagyu beef and Lobster for our main course. Everything tasted amazing.
This place is pricey but worth every penny. I highly recommend this place.

Wow!!! Beautiful location, great atmosphere, excellent service, and wonderful food.
Neil Perry really knows how to create a destination restaurant. I’d travel around the world to eat here. I love this place.
The 60 day aged steak was one of the best steaks I have had in a long time.

This is, in my view, the best steak house in Sydney. Try one of the seafood starters (OK, so I may have been here more than once!) or the steak tartare.
The steak mains (they do change them from time to time) are fantastic. Really do try the grass fed rib eye. Sides are a must — the mushy peas are amazing.
I’ve never made it to dessert — too much food.
A note about the wine list — it is epic. Enjoy a huge (albeit overpriced!) range of old and new world wines. Cocktails are also amazing — but again on the expensive side.
The ambiance is also amazing, as long as you don’t get sat in either the annexe (boo) or upstairs. Make sure you ask for a table in the main restaurant when you book.

Fine dining upmarket bring a big wallet with you and it’s worth every Cent. great selection of Australian wines and food particularly great selection of steaks. staff plentiful well mannered with a great can do attitude.
I love the food here from the oysters to the salad and the steaks all thumbs up.
Can’t wait to go back
Regards Mary t

The Abalone with mushroom pasta is so good… Even the asparagus soup and the simple butter lettuce with cherry tomato and avocado jalapeño salad is one of my favorites… Well done RockPool. I love the food here.
Except if you didn’t make reservation, you can only sit at the bar area… Too dark and too loud.
Now I am gonna have a dessert.

Best. meal. of. my. life.
Set in an exquisite art deco building, Rockpool Bar & Grill delivers. Impeccable service, extensive wine list, and food completely blows you away.
To start we tried a few oysters and the cured kingfish. The oysters were gorgeous with a light clean salt taste and the mignonette was a perfect accompaniment. The cured kingfish was delicate, fresh, and citrusy. Very nice.
For the mains we had the pork loin special and the mussels stew. The pork loin was interesting as it came with the loin, fat, and salted skin layer. It was moist and succulent. My mussels stew with a saffron broth was the best thing I’ve ever eaten. A little spicy, a little floral, and delicious seafood. I never wanted it to end.
For dessert we had the pavlova which was a miracle piece of meringue. It’s amazing how light and glossy the meringue inside was while offering a sticky/​crunchy exterior. The passionfruit was heavenly a top the cloud of meringue.

Dined here about a month ago on my trip to Australia and the Whitsundays! One of the best wagyu steaks I’ve had in Australia while I visited. I got the wagyu tenderloin, which was nothing short of astounding. The tender cut of the beef coupled with it being cooked to a juicy medium rare was astounding. Now I wish I got the steak my friends got, which was a tad bit bigger but equally as delicious. Great, great steak.
The appetizers were great as well. Get the creamed corn and some type of potato. Amazing.

Was here last night for dinner with a small group and loved it.
Service was very friendly, efficient and professional. Our waiter knew the menu
, offered the specials and could make confident recommendations which is a skill being lost by a lot of restaurants and cafes these days. Hating to sound like an old biddy but back in my days in hospitality — this was a requirement and when I meet hospitality staff that displays these skills ticks the boxes for me.
Rockpool has a huge food and wine menu to cater fo everybody, although personally I hate having too many choices on the food menu because I either spend too long trying to make a decision or I become one of those customers that waiters come up to and still not ready to order because I’m too busy talking and it would take me longer to get through the food menu.
Last night, i ordered the slow cooked egg (which appears several times in different dishes), served on a brioche toast with bone marrow and red wine jus — YUMMO. For mains I had the Farmgate Duck with figs, this dish would have been really enjoyable, the roasted figs was the perfect accompaniment apart from my duck being slightly undercooked — no it wasn’t just pink, it was definitely under.
For dessert, I had the Blackforest trifle inspired by The Fat duck’s BFG — delicious. No need for me to put in my self proclaimed foody opinion on this. I can’t fault it.
All in all, wonderful evening. Good food, great service and ambience.

Rockpool Bar & Grill. This is a steakhouse by the Rockpool group. I actually wanted to dine at the Rockpool a couple of blocks down but I accidentally made reservations here. Yes, I know. Major face palm. Per the Gourmet Traveler, both the original Rockpool and Rockpool Bar & Grill is considered Sydney’s best restaurants. Therefore, it wasn’t that big of a face palm. It was more of walking into a see-​through screen door and not knowing it was closed.
We arrived during lunch time and it was packed with corporate folks in their suits and ties. Of course, we got weird looks cause I was in shorts, sneakers and my Eazy-​E t-​shirt. Sorry not sorry. I have to represent California wherever I go in the world. Westsiiiiide!
Anyway, the main dining hall is gorgeous. The ceiling was high and it had 6 pillars around the dining hall. There was another private dining area in the 2^nd floor. However, we dined at the bar area because we didn’t want to wait for the main dining room. The bar area wasn’t as spectacular as the main room but it did it’s job like well vodka.
Now, the food. We had the following:
1) David Blackmore Dry Aged Full Blood Wagyu — It had a marbling score of 9 and more, which means it’s the best steak Australia could offer at that time. I recently saw Blackmore breed a high quality Australian Wagyu (Aizakura H178) with marbling that rivals the best of Japanese Kobe beef (10 or more). Anyway, the Australian Wagyu isn’t the best the world could offer. The top wagyu you could get is Japanese then Australian then American. I went with the Sirloin cut and it was a pretty good steak. The buttery texture was there but it wasn’t as rich as an A5 Japanese Wagyu. However, I didn’t expect A5 Japanese Wagyu or Japanese Kobe beef quality I had in the past but it was definitely better than the American Kobe Style people are accustom to mistaken as authentic Japanese Kobe. Consider yourself learnt, son!
2) Fried Eggs — Two sunny side eggs topped with crispy/​fried shallots. The fried shallots were a nice touch to the eggs and it definitely made it better for my taste buds. However, I don’t think the waitress enjoyed our breaths though. It served in a plate. I hoping they would serve it in an IV, so I could just inject it straight to my veins. However, they didn’t deem that sanitary.
3) Hand Cut Fat Chips — This is also known as French Fries in the states. It was a good amount of starch for any starch loving foodie or fatty. It was crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. The same situation like an Alpha Female you have to break down.
Overall, it was a good dining experience and another restaurant to add to my list of restaurants I’ve dine at. I would definitely recommend Rockpool Bar & Grill for any steak/​starch loving ambitious foodie who’s quest in life is to get a food coma. Ya know? Line em up and add up the calories, son!

I came here with my sister and mother and we left somewhat satisfied.
For starters we got the Sautéed Prawns in Garlic with Farro, Green Olives and Pistachios and Charcoal Roast Squid and Pork Belly. The Prawn dish was a big let down and in my opinion was a perfect reflection of fusion flavors gone wrong (it had a very confused taste). However, the Squid and Pork dish was delicious and was one of the highlights of the meal.
For main dishes we ordered the Spanner Crab with Semolina Noodle, Sauteed Abalone Maltagliati Pasta and Seared King Prawns with Goats Cheese Tortellini. None were outstanding and each had their own flaws. The Spanner Crab with Semolina Noodle was the best out of the main dishes but beware it is spicy. The Abalone Pasta was a solid choice but was way too salty. The Prawns and cheese tortellini was frankly disgusting. I rarely ever use such harsh words but the tortellini (filled with Goat cheese) was soo salty and overpowering that we ate the prawns but most of the tortellini untouched. I understand how the title of the dish should have clued us in on this but I have eaten cheese tortellinis in other restaurants that tasted a lot better (A Tavola etc).
For dessert we ordered the Coconut Bombe because it was probably one of the only titles that was appealing on the menu (I hate ordering tarts or sorbets etc cause I don’t think they are worth the 20 dollars + price tag). The dish wasn’t that sweet so that was a plus but it was forgettable.
Overall, it was a solid dining experience but not one I would want to repeat.
(I understand they are more well known for their steaks and I have tried them but I just wanted to try the other items)

Came here on a Business dinner, and have to say was pretty impressed. The Ambiance is art deco 1940’s, an old bank converted to a swanky Sydney bar and grill.
We plowed through a vast selection of fresh oysters, which were fantastic, Steaks of various cuts, braised shortribs, all of which were quite expensive, but tasty. You can tell its all about the Live fire grilled Beef here, so don’t miss that. Their bar is deep with talent, and pour a mean cocktail and look good in the process, in their vests and Jackets. I’d recommend this place and go again. I don’t think its a «not to miss experience» but a very solid business dinner choice.

Came by the Rockpool Bar & Grill on a recommendation and noticed they recently made a Sydney list with a must try for their Wagyu burger. I love Wagyu and I love burgers so this seemed like a match made in heaven for my meal.
I came into the place and it’s really nice, it looks more upscale for some reason. I asked to sit at the bar and away I went. The bartenders were all really cool answering all my questions and telling me stories about their recent trip to NYC learning more things about being a bartender. I ordered up a burger and their thick cut fries. They asked if medium rare for the burger was OK? Obviously you get a burger medium rare and I went with that!
The burger was glorious So fatty and filling, it became difficult to finish. The thick cut fries seemed like a bad idea but I had a handful of them and they were pretty good but the burger was definitely the star. If you get a chance I’d recommend trying out the burger! Service, ambiance and food were really good and I’d definitely come back.

This is a 2 part review — the bar section (Rockpool-​bar-​and-​grill-​bar) and the actual restaurant (the grill?).
Bar — the only place that you can have Neil Pez’s legendary wagyu burger is an impressive piece of work itself. Have tried almost everything on the menu and they are all delicious, a decent selection of wine, well made cocktails and polite yet approachable waitstaff. The place is always packed so go in small groups. Perfect for a mid-​week or impressive but casual date. 5 stars.
Restaurant — much more formal and impressive but can be a little stuffy depending on the crowd (popular with suits and Louboutins during the week). A ginormous menu that is generally pricier than the bar (highly recommend the abalone pasta), the waitstaff knows what they’re talking about so ask plenty of questions if you’re overwhelmed. Had a meh experience last time due to a dismissive waitstaff, emailed them the next day and they responded within a day apologising and addressed the issue. Very professional. 4 stars.