Modern cuisine is one of my passions, I wish there were more restaurants in NZ offering it without worrying about the stigma attached to it by people decrying the evils of anything other than what they are comfortable with. Brent Savage runs the kitchen at The Bentley Bar, it’s located in Surry Hills in Sydney and along side an intimidating number of other eateries. I was recommended to eat there by Adam Melonas, another Australian chef, it was a recommendation that I quickly looked into and soon booked for our holiday.
Claire wasn’t feeling up to the the weight of the tasting menu but the vegetarian option that as presented offered an attractive alternative. Each dish that was presented to each of us was meticulously plated, all involving multiple components to create something completely unique. The best example of the unique style would be the Pea and Black Sesame fondant, soft black sesame mousse filled with an almost liquid pea puree. There was also some goats cheese on the plate (but not nearly enough for my liking, not that there ever is) incredibly decadent for a vegetarian dish and deceptively piquant.
Quinoa in the style of Tabbouleh was very nice, something that was a little different while seeming perfectly natural. I really enjoyed the texture of it, the firmer structure of the Quinoa compared to Bulgur wheat was very pleasant, giving the eater less focus on the contrasting texture of the herbs (typically far courser than the grain) and drawing more towards their flavour.
The Pork belly covered in a milk gel was really good, but the dessert and my wife’s first course were the two stand out dishes of the night. Hers a smoked potato mousse was so savoury and rich that it could be served along side a steak with ease. The dessert, a warm self supporting mandarin custard pillow filled with a liquid chocolate, mandarin ice cream and pistachio crumble.
As it was our first night in Sydney and the style of cuisine is far more involved than the typical restaurant it is hard to remember more than this, but I do remember enjoying every dish, even the Ocean Trout with a mousse of the same covered in Bee pollen. The staff were friendly and Claire’s Lemon Lime and Bitters was the best of the bunch in Sydney, plus the fact that the waiter very successfully matched a beer with the cured venison was a huge plus in their favour.
My only qualm about our visit was the volume of the Jazz playing from the speakers above us (less of an issue for people not sitting right below it, perhaps it was the style of music that ended up being the problem but in spite of this I would love to visit The Bentley Bar again to sample their Tapas menu and some of their cocktails or even try out some of the a la carte options.
