Amazing lunch at Bennelong, Sydney

Hands down, the 3 course meal I had at Bennelong recently was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. I don’t remember feeling quite that over the moon about a meal since perhaps Mr Wongs about two years ago?

Everything on the menu sounded divine and our group of four struggled to make our choices but I have zero food regrets with my choices. Details below…

Entree: Crispy eggplant, sea scallops with XO streaky bacon

 

The eggplant was definitely the surprise of this dish. Battered in a tempura-like batter, it was super crispy but also very light and sweet. The scallops were cooked almost a tad too much for my liking but was well seared on the outside. The XO streaky bacon was an innovative use of XO sauce and paired well with the scallops (as it does with pretty much any seafood!).

Dish rating: 8/10

Main: Crispy pig belly with confit carrots and black and white garlic

For some reason, Bennelong called this dish pig belly not pork belly but hey, semantics aside, it was a stunner of a main course. The pork was tender with a delightfully crispy crackling on the top. The carrots were an absolute inspiration as an alternate way of eating my carrots. The thin carrot swirls were sweet and light, cutting through the richness of the pork.

Dish rating: 9/10

Dessert: “Chocolate cake from across the water”

Has a chocolate cake ever raised so many questions upon perusal of the menu? Across which water? Are they referring to New Zealand? Is the chocolate or some other ingredient from a nearby country? Or a sister restaurant across the harbour?

I still don’t know the answers to these questions but I can tell you that the chocolate cake was the PERFECT way to finish off the meal. It sounded so bloody simple, but it was anything but. For starters, when it was delivered to the table, I was warned by the kind waiter that there was a video moment coming up and to be prepared with my camera. He then proceeded to pour the hot chocolate sauce on the cake which gave way creating a sink hole in the middle of the cake.

Apparently the cake featured on Masterchef and has eight layers from the base through to the hot chocolate sauce. For a chocolate cake, it definitely was not too rich. I could taste various layers (e.g. the mousse, and the ganache) though could not name for you the 8 layers but I can say with great conviction that the chocolate cake was mindblowing.

Dish rating: 10 / 10

Service / other things

The service was great – not too in your face, but really attentive. You also get complimentary bread which is always a great way to get into my good books. Surprisingly, you also get complimentary sides of potatoes and salad for the main which was nice.

Cost: $135 for the 3 course meal. To be honest, this felt like a bargain for great food at such an iconic location in the Opera House. I’m patiently waiting for my birthday to come around to convince someone (anyone!) to take me back to Bennelong…

Details: Bennelong,  Bennelong Point, Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW 2000