Tuned to perfection under Sydney’s iconic sails

Bennelong - the best of the best 

There are restaurants and then there are restaurants.

There are ones which cook quality fresh food and produce it simply but with the utmost comfort and care (which we love here at Lunch Magazine), there are the family-owned pizzeria or tapas bars (which we also love) or even the brand-spanking new fine diner in our cities, towns or suburbs.

All have their own beauty. 

The ‘comfort food’ restaurants produce homely, quality food. Service is warm, and approach simple but professional.

The pizzeria and/or tapas bar are more conversational, relaxed but intimate, with energy and efficiency. 

Fine diners however vary greatly. Good one day, perhaps, sometimes, great even. Rarely, if ever, every time.

Enter Bennelong, Sydney.

Bennelong does the rarest of things for a restaurant. 

Something so rare, it is profound and clear when you experience it. 

They produce a perfect box of culinary goodies which blend together everything you could ask for in a restaurant. They nail the local producing fresh comfort food (strange for a fine diner, but true nevertheless…back to that later). They produce the fun, relaxed familiarity, professionalism and efficiency of a suburban pizzeria and they, of course, produce a fine diner worthy of applause.

At Lunch Magazine, we visited Bennelong three times in 2024. First time was a 5. The second time a 5. The third time a 5.

We rarely if ever give 5s.

Bennelong is an Australian institution to be proud of. It creates the most innovative, but tasty food imaginable. And consistently. Each time we went the service was impeccable, the wine list of the highest class and the food, incomparable.

All that and in a location where you sit perched in what is, without doubt, Australia’s best venue for a restaurant. Sitting in the middle of the Opera House, stationed beyond a beautiful elegant entrance into one of the world’s great venues, with The Sydney Harbour Bridge in the clearest of sight, it is all a rare treat in itself. 

So hard therefore to match that kind of view and venue with precise cooking and service. 

Bennelong’s food not only matches the view. They better it. 

Let’s discuss the food. We know how good Peter Gilmore is - whose legacy and acclaim are held in rare air, but it is always a reminder when eating at his restaurants (he also has Quay right across the harbour within direct view) that eating his creations is indeed a treat not ever to be under appreciated.

To begin. Relax with a homemade cocktail aimed at tickling the tastebuds for what is to come. The Swan Lake with tequila mandarin lime and lemon myrtle is refreshing, palate cleansing and just about the perfect way to kick things off. 

Then prepare for what’s ahead. 

The entrees are next level. Be it the Western Australian marron with finger lime, cultured cream ume and buckwheat pikelets. Fresh, flavoursome, delicate and divine. The marron is superbly cooked and presented - knife slicing through each delicate mouthful with softness and subtlety only the top chefs in the world can produce.

You may prefer the ravioli of Hervey Bay scallops radish, pin stripe peanuts, nasturtium buds and XO sauce. If you do, you won’t be disappointed. The scallops are majestic and the XO sauce just outrageously good.

They can only be beaten by the smoked pig belly housemade koji noodles shiitake, sesame, black garlic. Hard to describe the magic of the noodles with the creativity, textures and taste in a dish that sits rightfully at the top of the culinary tree in Australian cooking.

If the entrees were good, settle in for the mains. Perhaps time also to change from a cool crisp Australian Chardonnay to a French burgundy for the mains ahead. The wine list, superbly manicured by sommelier Alexander Jacques is as good as they come. Wines from Australia and around the world not only complement the food, but are heroes in their own right.

If duck is your go - the pasture raised Maremma duck cherry, blackberry, and rosehip Kampot pepper is a taste sensation. The duck is cooked to perfection, the sweetness and tart ones of the cherry, blackberry and pepper creates a masterpiece. 

The Grass fed O’Connor Angus beef Black Pearl and oyster mushrooms truffle purée, Madeira is just as good. 

Which brings us back to the local restaurant cooking comfort food whose magic is all about simplicity and matching flavours. The best of those thrive on ingredients that marry the hero rather than overriding it. Obscure perhaps to mention Bennelong in the same breath, but this is the overlying memory Bennelong provides with its food. The freshest ingredients, perfectly cooked protein, with sauces and sides that marry it altogether in ideal unison. 

Speaking of ideal unison and marrying of flavours, for dessert it is almost impossible to go past the now-iconic pavlova, complete with meringue shards replicating the Opera House sails. It does everything that Bennelong is supposed to do - and is like receiving a final standing ovation to a classical performance in the adjoining concert hall. 

A three-course menu and sides costs about $210 excluding drinks. Not cheap, but worth every cent, particularly when you compare it to other fine diners who have hefty price tags, but just can’t match the delivery.

The Bennelong experience is a must. The food superb, wines and venue outstanding and the package remains the very best of the best Australia can deliver.

Lunch Magazine’s restaurant of the year - Bennelong.

What’s good:

Absolutely everything. But the service deserves a special mention. Attentive professional and forever there when you want them. The waiters, somms and front desk produce a well-oiled, friendly and fun (yes fun, which isn’t always the way amongst stiffer fine diners) experience.

What’s not:

It can be hard to get a booking. So book early. You won’t regret it.

Rating:

5/5