Would you like to dine in a 5 star restaurant?
One that has won accolades and fantastic reviews from both customers and journalists alike.
Would you?
Would you want to dine in a restaurant who upon winning the coveted 3 hatted chef hat award from The Good Food Guide in Australia, said, “Erm, actually, can we return the hats? We don’t want it anymore.”?
“It’s too stressful!”
Would you? Of course you would! That can only mean one thing. That the restaurant and chef appreciates the finer things in life.
Enjoying one’s meal without the hullaballoo of fancy sounding ingredients or a dish arriving with caviar carved upon troll-like horns with flames and smoke! (However, if you do hear of one, please let me know!)
We investigate if the change has impacted on the quality of Pier at all.
Almost a year ago (I know, I’m terribly late), the Boy and I paid a visit at the famous Pier.
Located in the scenic look-out area of Rose Bay, both of us were taken in with the beauty of the surroundings.
If you have met me in person before, chances are you will recognise the picture of the cutlery below 🙂 It’s on one of my name cards!
The Boy and I absolutely fell in love with the cutlery! I know, I know, it’s such a small thing but aesthetics really play a big role with me when I’m dining out.
I absolutely loved the glass windows that make up the “walls” of the restaurant. The crisp white linen adorning each table. The blue glasses that fit so well with the aquatic theme.
I could go on and on, but I really liked the feel of the place. I just knew it was going to be a lovely day!
To start our meal here, I enjoyed a glass of crisp white, a Riesling (which I have forgotten the region where it hailed from).
There were a couple of choices in terms of dining. We could have gone with the ala carte menu or the tasting menu (5 courses). We took a while to decide as the tasting menu didn’t include some of the dishes we would have liked to try.
In the end, after much deliberation, we decided to go with the tasting menu, as it offered the best options from the ala carte.
The first dish to arrive was the famous Cone of Tartare which looked like a little wonton cone of king salmon, garlic chives, and capers (if you ordered from the ala carte, you could choose other seafood options).
First of all, the salmon which adorned the cone was extremely fresh. The taste itself was quite delicate and it seemed particularly sinful to chomp down on this sashimi grade quality fish with a crispy wonton skin!
Next up on the tasting menu was a Carpaccio of Kingfish – with Pomegranate, Ruby Grapefruit, shaved Fennel.
Another beautifully fresh dish enhanced with the light olive oil dressing and fruit.
With seafood this fresh, little needs to be done to enhance the flavours of the sea.
The Pan Roasted Scallops – with Pork Cheek, Carrot Puree, Lentils, Sherry Vinegar was the next dish.
The Boy absolutely loves his scallops, and he mentioned that this was definitely a winner.
Everything on the plate was paired really well together.
Finally, the main dish of Crispy Skinned Barramundi – with Roasted Onion, Confit Garlic, Tarragon, Madeira was definitely a close contender to the scallop dish from before.
We were told that the fish used for this dish was farmed barramundi for sustainability reasons.
To eat this fish, we would have to begin eating it from the outside, slowly making our way in towards the centre of the fish, as it was still cooking.
The lovely smoky taste from the burnt garlic puree and baby onion mousse certainly provided an added dimension to this dish.
With such a fantastic introduction to Pier’s savoury dishes, the Boy and I eagerly and highly anticipated the arrival of our desserts.
First up on the rank was the Mandarin Soufflé – with Mandarin Sauce, White Chocolate Creme.
Unfortunately for the both of us, despite my love for all things citrus, we found it a little too hard to digest this dish.
We found it too sweet for our tastebuds and once we had made our way through the soft pillowy souffle crust, we could see quite a lot of unmelted sugar in the mandarin mixture at the bottom of the copper pan.
However, due to my readiness to always order an extra dessert (from the ala carte menu), we did end on a high note.
The Valrhona Chocolate Pave – with Sour Cherry, Coconut Sorbet, Marshmallow, Pop Rocks certainly picked up from where we left off with the fish, making me forget the entrance of the previous dessert.
The chocolate was dark and bitter, the coconut sorbet and sour cherry interplayed with the sweetness of the marshmallow to cut through the heaviness of the chocolate.
A heavenly finish if I must say so myself.
All in all, we had a very good and enjoyable lunch whilst we dined at the former top 100 restaurant of the world (#94 in 2009, S. Pellegrino).
Although they slipped up and landed in a puddle with the mandarin souffle, it was such a minor slip in the plethora of good dishes we had that lunch.
We will definitely recommend dining at the Pier and look forward to returning when we next visit Sydney!
*Disclaimer: All food ratings & review are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality at the time of visit
Food/ Cuisine: Modern Australian (Seafood)
Dining Style: Fine Dining
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 8.25/10
Restaurant ambiance: 8.5/10
Service/ Attitude: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10 (It is a little pricier than most other fine dining restaurants in the Sydney scene (we spent $330+ all up, slightly more than what we spent at Quay), however the quality of the seafood used is undeniably fresh, and plus the view is simply stunning)
Opening Hours:
Lunch: Monday to Sunday, 12pm – 3pm
Dinner: Monday to Saturday, 6pm – 10pm; Sunday, 6pm – 9pm
Address:
594 New South Head Rd
Rose Bay NSW 2029
Tel: (02) 9327 6561
Website: http://www.pierrestaurant.com.au/
How to get there:
after reading an article about profit margins in restaurants especially the bit where it is said that souffle cost nothing more than a buck of ingredients, i have stayed clear from them! definitely not going to pay 20 bucks for it even if its 3 hat quality.
the rest of the meal looks awesome but the price tag is indeed 3 hat worthy.
Oh my! Really??? Less than a dollar?? Well yes that is true I suppose. But you are paying for the skill? Well, not in this case 😛
The desserts and the scallops look fantastic! I love the cutlery as well, especially those knives..wonder where I can get some…
But dang..that’s a hefty price to pay for the meal…I guess if the food is great and the view is fantastic…it’s worth it? 😀
Uhuh, it sure was worth it 🙂
Your pictures made my knees weak!
Awwww.. that’s a sweet thing to say 🙂
Oh my gooood. So beautiful! The chocolate pave in particular makes me die on the inside. I think I need it in my life now.
I need it again too! Ahhh to be back in Sydney!
Those scallops look perfect 😀
They were 🙂
<3 Oh wow the place looks fantastic. Especially the cone!
The cone was indeed delicious!
As a baby, I used to steal teaspoons from restaurants. As an adult, I might be tempted to steal those curving knives…
You remembered what you stole as a baby? I think I stole postcards as a toddler, because they were there on display and I thought that people just took them!
No, I’m not that clever. Mum told me when I accidentally came home from uni one day a few years ago with a spoon from a cafe there. 😛
Oh… hahahahahahahahahahahahah… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. oh you make me laugh!
Wonderful post 🙂 Seems like you had a great experience~ The food looks great so nicely placed! The scallops so nicely cooked and I love the desserts!!!
The chocolate dessert was definitely a win 🙂
Thanks for sharing this post. It should be worth spending a trip to this place. I love the pictures, and the dishes look mouth watering.
Thanks for sharing.
-Robert
Thanks Robert! I love to share, hence the blog 🙂
I want it all! Well, maybe not the souffle, but all the rest!!!
And you probably won’t regret eating it all!
The blue drinks are very interesting. The foods look ravishing. I need to have these foods. I’m craving for these.
Thanks for sharing!
Jade Tan Brain Alley
You’re welcome!
I went here years ago – it is a Rose Bay institution – good to hear it is holding strong.
Oh did you enjoy it when you did go?
Oh wooow, I-Hua. This meal is absolutely perfect, I-Hua! Reminds me a lot of your post on Quay. I’ve never dined at either, but I actually think I might enjoy the food here more. I mean, what a fantastic way to kick off the meal with that cone tartare, dang! And I didn’t realise that this was this famous restaurant that returned the hat award. I really hope I get to dine here one day =)
Hahahaha… Jealous? But you ate heaps too at nice places when you were there!
I agree with you on the cutlery! It is so atractive! Though with such attractive cutlery, why do they have Fuji water in a plastic bottle? Even tap water in a jug would look better than a plastic bottle on the table of such a nice restaurant. The food is presented so wonderfully. I like the splash of cherry (?) on the plate of the chocolate dessert.
LOL… I didn’t even think or notice about that until you mentioned it!! Hahahahaha