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 Looking for a cheap eat in The Rocks? Nick Dent finds fine fast food in an unexpected place.
It’s fun to be a tourist in your own city. Stroll through the Botanic Gardens, take the Opera House tour, have a glass of bubbly at Opera Bar, see what’s on at the MCA, have a shitty meal in an overpriced tourist trap. Oh, wait a second, it’s not so great being a tourist in your own city if, like many people, you’re not entirely sure where to go for dinner around Circular Quay.
There’s always Rockpool, of course – Neil Perry’s justifiably world famous haute seafood experience. It’s spent 20 years at the top; made Restaurant magazine’s top 50 restaurants in the world again this year. So do you feel like some Bar Cod fillet poached in garam masala? A mere $56. Seared yellowfin tuna steak? A steal at $52. Or why not go a whole lobster at $120? What, a little pricey for you?
Even in pink dollars?
You see what I’m getting at. We’re used to thinking of Rockpool as a once-in-a-while, special occasions venue. But since last year’s renovations things have changed. Now known as Rockpool (fish), the restaurant has a streetfront Oyster Bar with its own menu – and many things on it are under $20. You can roll up without a reservation and have an affordable meal served to you by one of the city’s best waiters. Dine like a prince on a pauper’s budget – provided you can restrain yourself from looking too far down the menu, of course.
Seating 18, the Oyster Bar boasts a photographic wall mural, in the style of a Dutch vanitas still life of the 17th century, depicting a rustic table chockers with shellfish and a glum-looking octopus. Vanitas painting is supposed to remind you of the fleetingness of life, and I guess life is very fleeting if you’re a Sydney rock oyster ($4) at Rockpool (fish). From the bar you also get a clear view straight into the kitchen; it’s like gazing into the mechanics of a Swiss watch. You’ve never seen anything so shiny and clockwork-precise.
The Moroccan fish burger is only $15. The patty is made fresh from this morning’s line-caught Wollongong snapper. The underside of the roll has been spread with red-hot harissa, and the patty topped with a spicy eggplant and tomato salsa. And it’s sensational, as you’d expect. Fish and chips ($19) are also stunningly good: light beer batter falling away from plump, sweet, Palm Beach leatherjacket flesh, the lightly salted chips as narrow and crisp as fries but still tasting like real potato.
Together with an Asahi and a glass of Goldwater Estate sav blanc, our bill only came to $55. We were full, happy, and ready to continue our Sydney-as-tourists adventure. Then, just as were leaving, a surprise sighting: the distinctive ponytail of Mr Neil Perry himself swished past our table, and the man seated himself down at his own Oyster Bar.
If it’s good enough for Neil, it’s good enough for me.
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