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Allta

Modern black-tie riffs on traditional Korean cooking.

Naeng-chae with egg yolk knot and mustard sauce.
1 / 6Naeng-chae with egg yolk knot and mustard sauce.Jennifer Soo
Guk-bap (rice soup) with beef shin and pickles.
2 / 6Guk-bap (rice soup) with beef shin and pickles.Jennifer Soo
Insam (ginseng) and white chocolate mousse with apple.
3 / 6Insam (ginseng) and white chocolate mousse with apple.Jennifer Soo
The venue seats 12.
4 / 6The venue seats 12. Nathan Page
Beef tartare with barley ssamjang on a taro chip
5 / 6Beef tartare with barley ssamjang on a taro chipNathan Page
Executive chef Jung-Su Chang.
6 / 6Executive chef Jung-Su Chang. Supplied

Good Food hatGood Food hat16.5/20

Korean$$$$

Allta, which offers a four-hour tasting menu of “elevated Korean gastronomy”, is Sydney’s most expensive new restaurant. How expensive? Try $325 per guest. But it’s also one of the most singular and fun.

There’s jazz, marble and well-cushioned chairs, and the show starts when the psychedelic West African funk kicks in and three “snacks” arrive from the hands of Jung-Su Chang, a former executive chef at acclaimed Seoul fine diner Jungsik.

Best of the bunch is naengchae, a crunchy bundle of nashi, carrot and cucumber tied with a supernaturally smooth knot of confit egg yolk. Pounded scampi is stretched across pickled capsicum with wild perilla-seed oil; wagyu tenderloin is laid over ponzu-poached seaweed with a thick burnt-butter sauce; an ornate puck of ginseng and white-chocolate mousse is doused in tart apple consomme.

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It’s highly delicious stuff, with engaged service and excellent wines to boot. One to watch and then some.

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/nsw-good-food-guide/allta-20241001-p5kew0.html