rockpool bar & grill

fantastic! came here for a night out with friends and i was very satisfied. delicious meals. very classy establishment and top service. very happy with the overallexperienceand would dine here over and over again.

fallen in love. had an awesome diningexperienceat rockpool sydney. the service was great, our waitress "mina" was so friendly and helpful that she added to making our night pleasant. i ordered the pumpkin ravioli with sage and burnt butter followed by the steak and a couple of sides and even though i was about to explode from having eaten so much, i had to tase a dessert so finished off my meal with lemon curd doughnuts and a peppermint tea to help me digest!!!
added to my excitment was the fact kerry anne kennerly was sitting on the table next to ours.
the food, service, ambience and energy was all positive in this restaurant. cant wait to try melbourne's rockpool next!!!

memorable anniversary. when my partner and i booked at rock pool bar & grill for our anniversary we didn't expect to get probably one of the best tables in the restaurant. i ordered a steak as so did my partner and it was cooked to perfection. everything about ourexperiencewas amazing, including the service, ambience food and wine.

tuna tartare: 9.5/10 - one of the best, if not the best tartare we’ve ever had. literally melts in your mouth! if you’re a fan of eggplant too, then you’ll definitely love this dish because the eggplant just adds another bonus to the flavours and textures of the dish. (only reason it didn’t get a 10 is portion size)

denver: 8/10 - i’m not usually a steak fan, but i was very impressed with this cut! definitely the best piece of steak i’ve ever had. so tender, juicy, non chewy whatsoever (which is usually what iexperiencewith every steak i’ve had). so if you’re unsure of what to order & you’re also not a massive steak/meat fan, try the denver.

mac & cheese: 8/10 - i’m also usually not a mac & cheese fan but this was actually impressive. not too cheesy, or thick or sickening (which i know is what most mac & cheese fans look for in the dish, but not me sorry). i loved the saltiness from the dish which a lot of places lack. you definitely need that saltiness to cut from the richness of the cheese.

rib eye: 6/10 - not a fan. before coming to this restaurant, i did hours & hours of research and reading of reviews, and the most surprising thing i learnt is that most people love the rib eye cut. it’s one of the most popular cuts to be ordered here. but i was pretty disappointed. not sure if it was the fact that our steak was a little undercooked, we asked for medium rare and it came out pretty much rare. or maybe it’s just not our preference in steak. it was super chewy, way too textured, too fatty (& i’m an advocate for fat, but this fat was chewy as hell).

passionfruit pavlova: 6.5/10 - too sweet. texture was great though, super fluffy, super light but the sweetness just made it really heavy to eat. also, we over ordered so it didn’t help that we were going to blow up any second 😅
if you’re wanting to order a dessert, please try their cupcake dessert!!! tbh i don’t know what it’s called but we got a free cupcake because it was my partner’s birthday but i asked the lady and she said they serve it. it was the best cupcake we’ve ever had wow!!

last thing to add: we ordered their fries/chips on the side and that was tasty too, crispy thick cut chips.

today i was looking forward to a great lunch and dessert at rockpool bar and grill.
to my disappointment i ordered the wagyu burger medium well and it was served the same as my friend who requested medium rare. the burgers were cold too! the shoestring fries came out cold and i asked for another bowl of fries! the fries are hard to eat as they are not thin, straight-cut fries that used to be served, they are curly and dry! be aware the rueben sandwich is not your typical american style, it is equivalent to the aussies cheese toastie!
unfortunately, the customer service was absent today, whereby i did not bother rectifying the issue with the burger. the staff did not seem to care or love what they were doing. 
after we ate our meals they removed our plates and left us sitting there for 30min without asking if we wanted dessert, so we then got someone's attention and finally we asked for the bill. i have been to the bar and restaurant many times, however after today'sexperiencei will not be going back anytime soon and will ensure others know what to expect.

celebrated my first anniversary with my boyfriend here and we had the best time and dinner! the restaurant itself is perfectly suited for a romantic evening because of its sense of prestige and grandeur. the service was very lovely and friendly. a bit difficult to flag down but once attended to us, they were very helpful. started off with the soda and shrub drinks. the mango was nice and the strawberry was unique. then moved onto two wagyu steaks - the denver was one of the most beautiful steaks i have ever had. it was tender, beefy and melted perfectly in my mouth. the eye chuck was fantastic as well but didn't stand a chance in comparison to the denver. our sides of the wagyu fat potatoes + radicchio, cos and endive salad were great. only let down was the mac and cheese which was heavy and too sharp for my taste. for dessert i chose a passionfruit pavlova which was so nice and fluffy but a bit plain. to end the night, rockpool surprised us both with a chocolate cupcake & candle which was so cute! had a fantasticexperiencehere and i highly recommend rockpool!

had a goodexperiencewith my friend. we ordered medium rare wagyu fillet which is really juicy and tasty. really loved myexperiencehere and will definitely return.

a quite cozy restaurant with great atmosphere and good service which is nice for dating. their beef ribs were tender and juicy and they also offered sauces. we picked two of those, the bbq sauce was a bit spicy but good for appetizing and balancing the taste while the other one was quite salty and different and seemed like having cheeses in the sauce. from my perspective i’d rather recommend the bbq one. we had two kinds of beefs, cape grin dry aged rib eye and fillet, both of them were excellent, the fillet was more tender and the rib eye was much more savory with a wonderful aroma. the pavlova was a great ending for the dinner and i like it as well. despite of the price it took, theexperiencewas amazing.

when choosing to dine at rockpool bar & grill, you can expect great food, impeccable service and an upscale dining experience. it is one of sydney's top restaurants nestled along hunter st. in sydney's cbd. 

stepping inside the posh dining area is like taking a journey back in time with its stunning opulence. the palatial space with awe-inspiring columns provide a heritage flashback of the once city mutual trust building's grand lobby. with its mesmerising art deco interior and wonderful features, it is considered one of sydney’s most iconic buildings.

we dined here in the middle of the week, the atmosphere was lively with a mix of business people trying to close deals over food and wine, a group occupying a long table, tourists, and diners like us. as an option, a mezzanine floor is available with fewer tables if you prefer to be seated away from the main dining area. once seated, you will feel the luxurious vibes along with the dramatic lighting. tables and chairs are arranged nicely and table lamps can be adjusted to full glow or dimmed for that subtle romantic effect.

the menu is extensive focusing on modern australian cuisine along with a comprehensive wine list. from cold starter, pasta, seafood, steaks to name just a few, you are pretty much covered here. for high end, like caviar with crème fraîche - sterling, 125g $600 from the us is also available. if in doubt, just ask the floor staff for any questions, they are very attentive and knowledgeable including food and wine pairing. our server was from italy, and her accent added a special touch to our whole dining experience. 

we started our meal with yellow tuna tartare $39 came in two separate servings for us to share. this is a melt in your mouth tuna freshness with moroccan eggplant, cumin mayonnaise and harissa adding flavour to the tuna. rich, gelatinous and delicate, the wood fired grilled bone marrow $29 with milanese crust and herb salad. it has a hint of sweetness, really worth giving a try. 

 bread and butter came as complementary.  a bottle of 2016 journey wine yarra valley pinot noir $75 washed down these delectable entrees. for main to share, we had the king george whiting $58 served with herb salad and aioli. the flesh of the whiting was so tender and juicy, squeezing the accompanying lemon wedge enhances the fish flavour, a truly tastebuds delight. i found the serving a bit smallish though for its price, only 3 fillets. 

the other dish we shared was cape grim dry aged 36 month old grass fed fillet 250g $59. the steak was tender with smokey notes, perfectly grilled and just right temperature when it was served. juice oozing out with every bite. boiled mixed greens $12 with olive oil and lemon was the side dish to accompany the mains. 

we finished off with petit fours $8, a tempting selection of small bite-sized sweets just perfect to complete the meal.

dining at rockpool bar and grill is well worth including on your sydney to do bucket list. it’s a little pricey but the overallexperiencefrom food, ambiance and service warrants what you’re paying for. the bar is also well worth checking out.

i went to this place last weekend. i was so excited at the start since i heard nice things about this place and its the first time i've been in here. in all honesty, the place is nice and at the start, the service was good and polite. then we started ordering food including a child menu (which according to one of the staff, its not in the menu but they can do whatever we wanted). one of the problem i face is that, one staff said something else, while the other say different thing regarding kids menu. conflicting! great! then comes the time to order, we ordered 3 sides but hey, only 2 came out. upon asking the staff about the third side, apparently the staff who took the order "thought" we wanted 2 sides. hey, why should you "guess" and "thought"?!!? we are sitting there, we are alive and we are not dead. come and ask us. don't guess! and without apologizing that its his fault that he "guessed", he rushed off to add that third sides instead of asking us if we still wanted it (and its not even complementary - but we got charge for it). how is that a good service? there is nothing wrong in saying sorry! i would have appreciate that more than just adding it to our bill without even asking us! and oh, adding to this bad experience, at the end, they don't even warn me that there is a surcharge on a credit card. even a smallest restaurant in my neighbourhood warn me about surcharge! look, maybe majority of your customer does not care about this surcharge, but i do! i am sorry rockpool, you gave me this type ofexperienceon my first visit. i am quite disappointed. i expected better from you!

i’m not one to usually write a bad review however from myexperiencei felt like i needed to put this out there.
sometimes food can be a little average or below average, but when you’re spending that amount of money you do at rockpool, it’s just not acceptable.

my partner and i sat down and the staff were instantly there asking how to help and what they could get for us. they were lovely and not too uptight for such a fancy place.

our drinks came out, the cocktail and beer were great and i thought we were in for a treat with the food!

i had the tortellini and seared king prawns while my partner had the rib eye on the bone.
the tortellini was beautiful, perfectly cooked with the goats cheese, however my prawns were terrible, the most over cooked piece of seafood i’ve ever eaten, almost a bit tough to cut through.
my partners steak was the rib eye on the bone and while it was cooked well, the meat was extremely tough, fatty (not in the nice way) and ridiculously hard to cut through, he told me he’d had better at his local leagues club.
his side of chips (that cost $15 by the way) were disgraceful. they were completely deep fried to the point that it was no longer a chip and the oil taste was foul.

we decided to skip dessert, not wanting to pay anymore money for more average food.

on all the staff were lovely, the food was just below average so the wholeexperiencewas “okay”, but you don’t pay $250 for “okay”.

beautiful settings and beautiful food and menu accompanied by great service. pricey but well worth the spend for quality. they have two sections, proper dining and bar, both great but its about the ambience andexperienceso definitely choose the restaurant. never a disappointment!

the decor of this restaurant is beautiful, the high ceilings add an extra luxurious touch. the service was impeccable and the staff were kind enough to suggest drinks that paired well with our food. we ordered oysters, sauteed prawns in garlic with green olives and pistachio, mac and cheese, potato puree and free-range chicken with heirloom carrots. i was very impressed with ourexperienceat rockpool, the food was of great quality and everything was well priced. unfortunately, we were too full from our dinner to order desserts but i would love to return to see what their desserts are like.

me and my partner were looking forward to having the steaks in rockpool ever since we watched the worth it series on youtube and wanted to celebrate her birthday there. for the order we had

david blackmore’s dry aged mishima

sirloin 200g 46 days

cape grim dry aged 36 month old grass fed

rib eye on the bone 350g 45 days

onion rings

malbec blend, tikal ‘natural’ mendoza, argentina

to start off the nice staff workers gave us recommendations for the wine to compliment our steak. we had the onion rings for entree which was very light and crisp which comes in a rather large size and quantity which was good. the cape grim was rather nice and smokey and really justifies the price point for what we were eating, and for the david blackmore’s it was a nice once in a life timeexperiencewhere everything just melts in your mouth. the marbling and the texture was indescribable and really left an impression on me and it was like slicing through butter. 

afterwards they surprised us with a free mini cupcake to celebrate my partner’s birthday which really ended the night on a good note.

overall i recommend getting the cape grim and onion rings as blackmore’s is more on the expensive side of the spectrum and rockpool is more well known for their cheaper steak options. the atmosphere is really dimmed with a nice mellow vibe, prices are a little on the high end as it is a fancy restaurant and the staffs are very friendly and helpful throughout the night!

6/10 price

10/10 staff

9/10 food & drinks

8.5/10 atmosphere

i hate giving a place a bad review, especially one i know that many other people love like rockpool.

i had previously eaten at rockpool but in the bar where you can also order off the restaurant menu. thatexperiencehad been really enjoyable. unfortunately i can't say my more recent trip to the restaurant was so pleasant.

firstly though, i have to say the restaurant is beautiful. the decor and architecture is amazing and it doesn't feel like a stuffy uptight institution just because it is fine dining.

however, all the food we ordered seemed to be quite salty. i had the david blackmore's dry aged 240g skirt. the beef was nice, and well marbled. but so salty on the outside. my partner's 300g cape grim dry aged 36 month scotch fillet was also well cooked but salty. unfortunately the sides of hand cut fat chips and butter lettuce, avocado and cherry tomato salad did not provide any reprieve from the saltiness - it was like someone had been overly aggressive on the last minute sprinkle of salt on the dishes.

my favourite dish for the night was the date tart for dessert which was thankfully not salty. not overly sweet either and the tart was nice and crumbly.

however, the real disappointment of the night was the service. it took about 20 minutes from first asking for the bill to finally paying with no apology and to be honest, throughout the night i genuinely felt like other tables had received far more attention from the waiters. perhaps it was because we hadn't ordered a full bottle of wine opting for just a glass each or perhaps they knew we were going to pay with a gift card. regardless of not being the wealthiest people in the room, had the service been better, i would have tipped. i can only hope the poor service was not from snobbiness but just bad luck - either way, theexperiencedidn't leave a great impression with me.