REVIEWS
I love the room in it’s simplicity and, despite a couple of refurbishments, it’s familiarity. The second I sit down all the worries of the world seem to seep out of me and the focus is 100% on food and wine. It is no secret that I love Rockpool, they live up to my expectations more than most.
Franz Scheurer
Australian Gourmet Pages
9.5/10 – August 2009
NEIL PERRY may champion top produce but he says restaurants are “in the nostalgia business”. The chef has a lot to get misty-eyed about. His flagship fine diner, Rockpool, turned 20 on February 28.
“To live a dream like this, I would put everything on the line even now,” he says.
Perry”s done just that, with the support and nous of his long-time business partner, Trish Richards. Rockpool”s 20th anniversary is as much a testament to her skills as it is to her cousin”s talent.
His influence on a generation of chefs (who didn”t want Rockpool on their CV?) is notable, too. The prevalence on menus everywhere of Perry”s crab omelette is also proof of his influence.
“Passing on what you believe in is as important as living it,” Perry says. “A lot of great people came through here and hopefully went off with a philosophy of hospitality, generosity and professionalism.”
Simon Thomsen
The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Living
Tuesday, 17th March 2009
Neil Perry is a vocal advocate of line-caught wild harvest seafood, together with stress-free brain spiking and cold handling of fish for superior eating quality. It’s a point of pride for Perry and having tasted the difference many times now, I’m finally a true believer.
Guy Griffin, The (Sydney) Magazine,
The Sydney Morning Herald
Rockpool, in a word, rocks. Opinions have come and gone, but for the faithful, this biggest of big-night-out restaurants has stayed true to its mission of exciting dining underscored by drilled technique, affinity with ingredients and a seemingly endless wellspring of inspiration.
Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: *** (3 stars)
With a philosophy that seeks out the finest produce and matches it with some of the most intuitive cooking around, the revitalised flagship of the Perry empire soars beyond mortal symbiosis.
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, 2008
Simple, sexy, international cooking.
Restaurant UK Magazines
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2008
A FEW OF OUR AWARDS
Wine Spectator”s “Best of Award of Excellence” 2010
Rockpool Sydney received a ‘Best of Award of Excellence’, which is granted to restaurants that clearly offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style
Rockpool has always been a destination restaurant, a place for a big night out, but I wish people would eat there regularly and enjoy the fabulous food and great service and not just treat it as a place to celebrate.
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2010 Awards
Rockpool, 2 Hats and 17/20.
Rockpool turned 20 this year, and fittingly after a flirtation as Rockpool (fish) , has returned to the fine dining ethic that distinguished it for most of that time. Neil Perry”s flagship remains in good form, due perhaps to new head chef (and former Josephine Pignolet award winner) Phil Wood. A return to a set four-course menu shows an eclectic, masterful use of spices, produce and technique…
Wine Spectator”s “Best of Award of Excellence” 2009
A “Best of Award of Excellence” is granted to restaurants that clearly offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Their wine lists also display vintage depth, with vertical offerings of several top producers from major regions, or excellent breadth over several winegrowing regions. They also typically offer 400 or more selections, along with superior presentation.
Australian Gourmet Traveller 2010 Restaurant Awards
Rockpool Sydney, 3 stars.
Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence” 2008
This award is created to give special recognition to restaurants that clearly exceed the requirements of the Award of Excellence. These lists display either vintage depth, with vertical offerings of several top producers from major regions, or excellent breadth spread over several winegrowing regions. These wine lists typically offer 400 or more selections, along with superior presentation.
Australian Gourmet Traveller’s
NSW Wine list of the Year 2008
Restaurant UK Magazine’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants – 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
Australian Gourmet Pages Restaurant of the Year 2006
Australian Gourmet Traveller’s
Restaurant of the Year 2004, 2001, 1992
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide’s
Restaurant of the Year 2004