Rabbit Hole Bar & DiningElizabeth St
Sydney CBD
Rabbit Hole Bar & Dining is a hidden treasure in Sydney CBD. We had been here before but were back now to experience the food of new Executive Chef Jeremy Metivier who's Basque and Spanish influenced menu is fast attracting food lovers. Of course more of the delicious drinks created by owner and scientific mixologist Doug Laming was also a huge attraction as well!
These two great combinations explain why the place was busy.
This was actually a double whammy as we visited twice - once for a full meal and again a few days later for their first birthday bash. Mind you this is a great place so we were more than happy to do this!
We started with two of Doug's creations to sip on. First up was the Martini Magic – and it really was magic! It's a crystal clear No. 3 gin martini with Fee Brother’s Gin Barrel Aged Orange bitters and enriched with calcium. Then Doug spooned several scoops of Cointreau into the centre of the drink. As we drank, the Cointreau at the bottom of the glass slowly solidified. When we'd finished we ate these solid alcoholic pearls! This was an amazing drink and it was great to watch the pearls harden and to eat/drink them afterwards! They were hard on the outside but full of liquid inside.Next was an XO Zombie. It starts with Mt Gay XO rum, Cointreau and Joseph Cartron Cocody. These are muddled with lime, mint and house-‐made passion fruit caramel then shaken with aromatic bitters, pineapple and orange. Finally it is served in a bitter, sugar rimmed glass and flamboyantly garnished with a flaming passion fruit! Yum.
My entree was the salmon gravalax and it was a work of art! It was in a thin green cucumber jelly lake with spots of orange cream and bursts of aloe vera snow.
It was almost a pity eating this dish as it looked absolutely beautiful with splashes of different colours and a wide range of textures. And of course it also tasted great too - I devoured every last bit of it!
Mlady chose another beautiful starter - the seared scallops.They came with beetroot and mango compote and coconut vinaigrette. The plump scallops were perfectly seared and nicely juicy.Again it was a beautifully presented dish and it all tasted so delicious.
The food here arrives looking so great you constantly see people pausing and taking photo's - they just can't help it!
I liked the sound of the porcini and bresaola crusted sirloin so I ordered this one.It came with celeriac and white chocolate puree, cloud ear and seasonal vegetables.
The meat was perfectly cooked arriving nicely pink and oh so juicy. There were two very decent sized chunks of sirloin as well and they just melted in my mouth.
Mlady loves seafood so once she spied the hapuka on the menu it was in her top choices straight away - and ended up being her final choice!It came with roasted pineapple, green vegetables and hibiscus glaze.
The fish was again so nicely cooked - as was everything else on the plate. It was also again so nicely presented!
Our next drink was a Stolen Painkiller – a completely powdered alcoholic cocktail. Powdered rum is mixed with pineapple, coconut and blood orange powder. It was so unique and spectacular -a must try! Next was The White Cloud above Mt Gay – a double pour of Mt Gay XO is shaken with a house-made black pepper and pineapple caramel, fresh lime and pineapple then poured through marshmallow foam giving the drink the white cloud on the top. Some toasted coconut tops this off. So delicious!
Mlady's dessert choice was the firm set lychee cream with crisp ginger, clear cherry ravioli and strawberry sorbet.
It was a lovely creation that combined so many great tastes and had so much variety.
The cherry ravioli was quite unique - a clear pocket showing cherry slivers through it. The lychee cream was also memorable - this was a great dessert!
This dessert is part delicious treat and part show. The dish arrives at the table and then a generous pour of rum is added and lit! There's a flow of fire, there's flames, there's gasps everywhere. People around us were photographing and filming it all!
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Rabbit Hole Bar and Dining. A big thank you to Doug Laming and special thanks to Georgie Dodds for arranging our visit.
It was almost as much fun watching the drink being created as it was drinking them - almost!
The food was lovely too - and we finally tried their world famous burger - admittedly in a smaller version!
These burgers were voted as being in the top five in the world - and they tasted great!
There were also mini versions of their amazing chocolate skull dessert - as much a show as a dish!
It was certainly the place to be.
Their unique and different drinks were flowing and their food was as tasty as ever.
It was a great way to showcase not only the venue but also the variety of food and drinks available here!
Again thanks to Doug Laming and of course Georgie Dodds. Special thanks also to Oliva Warne and Joanna Steuart of Pendulum Communications for inviting us.
