The Rabbit Hole82 Elizabeth St
Sydney CBD
The Rabbit Hole is an old favourite of ours - even though it hasn't been around for ages. So when the chance to sample their new menu arose we jumped at it. The food here is always innovative and interesting yet designed for the Australian palate. We were looking forward to their next evolution!
And of course there are the drinks designed by owner and mixologist extraordinaire Doug Laming.
Mlady quite rightly calls Doug a genius.
People come here due to his reputation for creativity - and often end up staying for a meal once they see what's on offer.
The Doug Laming’s Margarita is probably the best known cocktail here. Named after the owner it comprises house made spherified pearls of Souza Gold tequila and syrup paired with Cointreau caviar. These are piled high on a finger lime which adds the needed sour kick and a dusting of salt finishes the job. Clearly this isn't your average Margarita. It not only looks spectacular it tastes just as good!
After our "starter"above we moved on to some other - cocktails - as you do! I had a Kraken’s Prey that was rum based and used a generous painting of salty squid ink inside the glass! It was made with Kraken rum, Licor 43, Fee Brothers walnut bitters, lime and demerara syrup. Amazing!
Mlady had a scotch based Smoked Apple. This was made with Laphroig scotch and Joseph Cartron pomme verte that is mixed with Fee Brothers rhubarb bitters, cloudy apple juice and a house made cinnamon syrup infused with Ceylon tea. It's then carbonated with fresh cider and then lightly dusted with smoked salt to complete it all! She raved about this drink and said it was one of the best she's had!
Mlady chose the complex and extremely fresh and tasty spherified savarin and mascarpone “ravioli”, asparagus and pine nuts. The combination came plated and then a teapot of mushroom consommé arrived for this to be poured over the top.
It was full of flavour, beautifully presented and extremely appetising. She also loved the consommé which was packed with rich earthy taste.
My love affair with raw foods shone through again here once I spied the beef tartare on the menu. It came served with quail eggs, peanut crumble and pickled onions. The meat was simply delicious and the accompaniments went brilliantly with the diced meat. The peanut crumble was certainly different but again I loved the nutty flavour and crunchy textures it added.A glass of Malbec went perfectly.
Mlady's love affair with Doug's cocktails meant she stayed with these. Her next one was You’ve Gone Nuts. It is made with Tonka bean infused Sierra Millenario Gran Anejo tequila that is shaken with Disaronno amaretto (another favourite of hers), lemon and house made peanut and cashew syrup then finished with Fee Brothers walnut syrup. It's then decorated - see picture. Again this was a winner with her - surprise surprise.
I love a good lamb dish and this one sounded great - and turned out to taste just as good.I had the lamb cutlet and slow roasted cubes served with mustard buckwheat, cucumber, mint and crisp Gruyere.
It was a great combination and the lamb (both the cutlet and the cubes) were soft and tender and perfectly cooked. I loved the crisp Gruyere too - I could have eaten that all day - or night!
Mlady loves her seafood - especially fish for her main course.
The red snapper, caramelised pumpkin puree, eggplant and apple ravioli, popcorn
and smoked bacon cream won her over on the menu - and again as soon as it arrived at the table and she tried it.
Presentation was again lovely and the tender flesh of the fish dissolved. It was a great mix as well.
It was a toffee sphere filled with cinnamon foam and on a bed of caramelised apple, nougat and crumble. You simply smash the toffee apple with your spoon and eat the mixture all together.
This looked spectacular and tasted amazing and is a must order dish from The Rabbit Hole.
Mlady had her chocolate urges in full swing again.She very quickly steered towards the cherry mousse dome, chocolate cake, cherry sorbet and chocolate tuile.
It was like a deconstructed cherry ripe in some ways - but so much more! The mix of textures and flavours was again great and it was a decent sized serving for your end of meal sugar hit. She devoured it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Rabbit Hole is a hidden treasure. The whole experience is simply amazing - from drinks, to food and on to service. It's a den of ingenuity that will surprise and delight.Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Rabbit Hole. Special thanks, again, to Doug Laming and Georgina for the great food, drinks and service. We love this place - and I think Mlady secretly wants to steal Doug away to make drinks for her forever!
Thanks also to Olivia Warne of Pendulum Communications for arranging our visit.
