NewsBite

Advertisement

If you're a wine enthusiast saving for a big night out in Sydney, this is the one

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

Bentley's handsome dining room is all dark edges and brooding corners.
Bentley's handsome dining room is all dark edges and brooding corners.Christopher Pearce

Good Food hatGood Food hat17.5/20

Contemporary$$$

You know what's nice? A restaurant with a phone. Specifically, a phone with a listed number you can call to make a reservation rather than going through one of those pernickety online booking systems. No, I would not like to receive offers and other emails from this restaurant, and what business of yours are my postcode, birthday and pants size anyway?

The opportunity to phone a venue and speak to a human is rarer than it should be. Increasingly, it seems as if guests are working to satisfy the requirements of the restaurant rather than the other way around. "Dinner must be paid for at the time of booking" or "We don't have a written menu; Chef prefers to think of his cooking as a journey." Well, I prefer to think of restaurants as somewhere to relax and unwind, not a hushed temple in which to play Is It Cake, Parsnip or Rock?

The most frustrating mission statement might be "We only serve natural wine", which has become all too common with the increasing popularity of preservative-free booze. Thankfully, you'll never hear these kinds of things at Bentley Restaurant & Bar, even though the fine diner has the most thrilling selection of natural wines in the country. Praise be, phone reservations are encouraged.

Advertisement
Grilled marron with 'nduja butter and white onion flowers.
Grilled marron with 'nduja butter and white onion flowers.Christopher Pearce

Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt opened the original Bentley to instant acclaim in an old Surry Hills pub in 2006 – Savage on the pans, Hildebrandt in charge of an envelope-pushing wine list. The restaurateurs relocated their flagship to the CBD in 2013 where it operates attached to – but independently of – the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel.

This is a place where you can dress in your best Louboutins and silk-lapelled jacket on a Saturday night – tasting menu only – or drop in for a two-course lunch on a weekday.

The handsome dining room is all dark edges and brooding corners, with a modernist, sculptural mobile of criss-crossed pick-up sticks juxtaposed against the building's old bones. On a Thursday evening, it wouldn't be too surprising to see Dior shopping bags at one table and a wedding proposal at the next.

Wagyu rib cap with fermented black bean sauce, pencil leek and native pepper.
Wagyu rib cap with fermented black bean sauce, pencil leek and native pepper.Christopher Pearce
Advertisement

Dinner begins with a flurry of haute snacks, such as ethereal slices of pearl meat in a refreshing broth of elderflower and cured apple, salty-sweet Akoya oysters (one of the species from which pearls are derived) beefed up with koji butter, and skewers of vivid-red kangaroo striploin cooked tableside over coals. "I'll be back later in the flight with the duty-free cart," says general manager Paul Guiney, pushing his 'roo barbecue trolley around the room. Very good.

The staff are unfailingly professional, but still know how to have fun. Next up, a do-it-yourself steamed bun course featuring little bowls of smoked sour cream, dill and lobster tartare topped with a shiny black splodge of caviar. (Not sure about the bland buns, though; the nutty tang of blini might have been nicer.)

The partnership between food and wine has long been Bentley's biggest strength, with Savage and kitchen collaborator Aiden Stevens delivering elegant dishes with just the right amounts of acid, sweetness and fat to bolster Hildebrandt's extensive cellar of rare gems.

Go-to dish: Dry-aged duck breast with parsnip, rapa and gooseberry.
Go-to dish: Dry-aged duck breast with parsnip, rapa and gooseberry.Christopher Pearce

The citrus notes of a full-bodied Turkish orange wine, say, perfectly lift grilled marron that's been drenched in a butter enriched by 'nduja and shellfish stock, and finished with finger lime and white onion flowers.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, duck breast is dry-aged for concentration of flavour, roasted on the crown, and rubbed with coriander seed and orange zest. It's sensational paired with an intensely aromatic pinot noir made 11 years ago exclusively for the restaurant by Adelaide Hills producer Lucy Margaux.

The main reason I'm here, however, is to try some of the beautifully aged wines Hildebrandt recently acquired from a massive private collection. Wagyu rib cap is coated in a velvety, fermented black bean sauce and served with compare-and-contrast pours of Chateau Pontet-Canet Pauillac (Grand Cru Classe) and Bendigo's own Balgownie Cabernet Sauvignon.

Both are 1982 vintages and it's a profound experience, albeit a rather pricey one as part of a premium drinks match for $220. Other wine pairing options range from $110 to $130 for seven courses, while head sommelier Steve Senturk can recommend plenty of by-the-glass options for less than $20.

If you're a wine enthusiast saving for a big night out, this is the one. In a city with too many operators that care more about satisfying their own egos than customers, Bentley is a guest-first restaurant rooted in tradition while moving forward.

When an establishment has been at the forefront of Sydney dining for 16 years, it tends to know a thing or two about what customers want: excellent food, delicious wine and a number you can call.

Advertisement

Vibe: Glam wine temple for date nights or business lunches

Go-to dish: Dry-aged duck breast with parsnip, rapa and gooseberry

Drinks: A wine list of eye-popping scope

Cost: Seven-course tasting menu, $220; three-course a la carte dinner menu with snacks, $150; two-course lunch menu, $90

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

Continue this series

20 classic hatted restaurants to add to your bucket list
Up next
The iconic confit ocean trout.

Rediscover a trendsetter at Tetsuya's

After almost 30 years, Tetsuya Wakuda's benchmark restaurant is a place of warm humour, linen tablecloths and straight-edge Japanese cooking threaded with French technique.

Good Food. Bennelong at the Opera House. Chef Peter Gilmore. Roasted Hombre duck hispi cabbage, black miso, seaweed. Photograph by Edwina Pickles. 19th June 2015.

Bennelong

Bennelong is back, with a beautifully judged menu and a radiant interior. If you want to feel good, just go.

Previous
Lauren Eldridge's rhubarb, yoghurt and Davidson plum dessert was the NSW Good Food Guide magazine cover star.

Is Berowra Waters Inn worth the pilgrimage?

Callan Boys revisits the riverside escape, accessible only by boat or seaplane, and now serving a six-course tasting menu.

See all stories
Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/goodfood/sydney-eating-out/bentley-restaurant--bar-review-20220517-h23tcf.html