On a recent trip back, we decided to dine under the “ribs” of the Joern Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. We thought Guillaume provided us with the best venue to take in all that Sydney has to offer – great views and fantabulous food. And fantabulous food it was. Guillaume at Bennelong served “contemporary Australian cuisine with a classical French influence”.
We took our time browsing through the extensive menu, and finally decided to go for the seven course degustation for 3 reasons:
· Everything sounded good, we didn’t know what to order
· Mains are priced at a whopping $65, so the degustation was probably more “worth it” at $180 per head
· They allowed us to swap to the dessert of our choice
We had attempted to secure a booking here once before (during the G8 conference in Sydney in 2007), but were politely turned away because some snotty politicians decided to hog the ENTIRE restaurant. Needless to say we were really looking forward to the experience.
What we ate:· YELLOWFIN TUNA basil infused with soy and mustard seed vinaigrette
· BLUE SWIMMER CRAB on a bed of avocado with cucumber, coriander and capsicum coulis
· CHICKEN TERRINE with duck foie gras, braised celeriac and fresh truffle
· SCALLOPS gently sealed and served on cauliflower puree with Shiitake mushrooms
· KING GEORGE WHITING served with a duo of globe artichokes, truffle and chicken jus
· RISOTTO of fresh West Australia truffle (additional at $50pp)
· WAGYU BEEF STRIPLOIN Grainge Angus Black Label beef with a marble grade of 9+ served with a tombé of field mushrooms, baby spinach, confit of shallot and merlot sauce
· BAKED CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE
· OPERA SLICE
Our two cents:
The yellowfin tuna was superb. Could not fault the flavours, although I have to say that starting off a meal with this dish made us think of fusion Asian cuisine rather than the supposedly ModOz-French fare I thought I was paying for.
My favourite dish for the night HAD to be the blue swimmer crab. I’m a sucker for dishes with colour and textures and this provided all of that and more! Crunchy thinly sliced cucumbers, unbelievably fresh crab meat with mushy avocado at the bottom was a winner!
At the other end of the spectrum, my least favourite was the Chicken Terrine. I never liked liver to start with, so the foie gras was a little bit “strong” (taste-wise) for me. Also, the menu says it’s supposed to come with fresh truffle. I had to ask the waiter “where’s the truffle??!”. I could not taste it nor see it, so felt a little bit cheated! But hey, it’s not their fault I’m not a fan of foie gras right? The hubby loved it though!
The seafoods were sufficiently good for a restaurant of this caliber. Scallops were done just right so that they were not rubbery. The fish was OK, but really, I’ve had better. The risotto was excellent and we think they gave us a double portion of shaved truffles on this one to make up for the lack thereof on the terrine! Hahaha…
The beef was done just right – medium-rare, just the way we like it and the merlot sauce was a perfect accompaniment. The desserts were both OK, and I wouldn’t recommend one over another.
So, all in all, it was a great experience. You cannot fault the location, and the food was close to impeccable. Would we come back? Sure we would. But, only for special occasions and when the budget allows. Honestly, for this price, I’d rather go to Tetsuya’s.
Where: Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
Style of food: ModOz, French
Price guide: $$$$$
Website: http://www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au/
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