For our last dinner in Sydney, we ate at Tetsuya’s. It was outstanding. I am really impressed with the food in this city. We have not had a bad meal yet, and its not just the fine dining places. For example, I had a random beef curry pie at a place near the ferry terminal, and it too was delicious.
The service was perfect in every way. Staff were knowledgeable and engaged in interesting conversation. The meal was fantastic. I would definitely return. That’s 3/3 outstanding dinners in Sydney. Not one was overrated, disappointing or anything along those line. Very impressive food scene. 9.5/10
Australian beef is some of the best in the world so naturally, I wanted to eat at a steakhouse in Australia. Rockpool kept coming up and so Rockpool it was, and it did not disappoint. It was probably one of the top three steak experiences ever so far, that I have had.
First, the dining room feels like steak. Its kind of a Great Gatsby 1930’s marble column type place.
My first dinner in Sydney, and Australia for that matter, was at Quay. While doing research, I was coming across a lot of mixed info. Many said Quay was losing its touch. A group of ladies I met while dining at Jewel Bako in New York suggest I skip it. I’m glad I went. I obviously do not know what it was like before, but if it was even better than this, then wow!
Upon arrival our table was not ready so we were shown to the balcony and ordered drinks. The view is of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Before arriving in Melbourne, I had asked people in Sydney what they thought about Melbourne.
The food kept coming up. Because I was already impressed by the food scene in Sydney, I couldn’t wait to see what Melbourne was all about. It did NOT disappoint. More on that in a later post.
Our first dinner was at Tipo 00. A pasta restaurant where the name alone should indicate the great things to come (00 is the flour Italians use to make pasta).
We never knew about or intended to dine at Kazuki’s in Melbourne. However, there was a mix up with one of our other reservations, and the place we were supposed to eat at recommended this place. So we went.
Here are some pics of the dining room and menu. We opted for the 5 course menu with some additional items.
The dining room was nice and modern while maintaining some old world charm and detail. For example, look at the combination of this Japanese style lantern, with European type ceiling design.
Melbourne is a great walking city. I love walking cities. For me, a walking city is one where you can just wander without an itinerary, and discover something at every turn. Whether its somewhere interesting to eat, interesting architecture, or a new neighborhood, these are some of the joys of discovery in a new city. Other great walking cities are of course, New York, and Paris.
I feel like there is so much more to see and do in Melbourne, and I did not spend nearly enough time. I will have to go back so this is by no means a guide to Melbourne, but a summary of some of the more memorable things.
Orana is located in Adelaide, South Australia. Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, and the country’s fifth largest city with about 1.3 million residents. It is located close to various wine regions, and in fact, Penfolds has a winery very close to the Central Business District. I will post about that visit later.
Adelaide continued to impress us in terms of its culinary scene, and general lifestyle.
While dining at Kazuki’s in Melbourne, we mentioned to our server that we would be heading to Adelaide and she told us to check out Shobosho.
I was skeptical for two reasons: 1. “fancy” Asian food is always hard to do well (think of a good bowl of Pho – cheap and perfect already that attempts to make an elevated version for $30+ usually disappoint) and 2. we would be in Adelaide, a small city in Australia.
