THE GANTRY RESTAURANT AND BAR - PIER ONE, THE ROCKS, SYDNEY

The Gantry Restaurant and Bar at Pier One Sydney Harbour
11 Hickson Rd
Walsh Bay, Sydney

The new chic signature restaurant making waves (and looking out over them) at Pier One is The Gantry. Their Executive Chef, Christopher Irving, brings a wealth of pedigree and experience here, having cooked for the Queen, the Beckhams (as their private chef) and worked with Gordon Ramsay. It's a CV that gets any appetite excited and mouths watering.

The Gantry has both indoor and outdoor seating and makes the most of its prime location right on the edge (and in fact over) Sydney Harbour. There's also a lovely bar area with comfy lounge seating - or bar seating - and again more of those water views.

The building itself is over 100 years old. It has so much history and even has old celebrities names in the cement outside.

We started with oysters - and why not. There were three varieties, Port Douglas, Pambula and Smokey Bay angels. They came with a small pot of red wine vinaigrette and of course fresh lemon. They were great - especially with the vinaigrette - but the seafood here is a focus here. Sir had a Helm Riesling from Tumbaruma ACT 2014 and Mlady had a Sangiovese Rose from Mudgee 2014 - with the oysters. Both matched beautifully.

Mlady couldn't resist their P.O.S.H. Salad as her starter.

Whilst the name is a clear nod to the Beckhams, it also stands for Pier One Sydney Harbour. Nice touch.

This was a great and healthy start - having quinoa, artichoke, orange, pomegranate and hazelnut.

She loved it.

Sir had venison tartare - not a surprise as he loves tartare.

This was extremely good - in fact exceptional. It had crispy shallots and garlic, blackcurrants and kaffir lime - giving it crunch and a slight tang but oh so subtle.

Mlady had a lovely Terrazas Malbec, Vistalba Terrace Mendoza 2012 and Sir had a fuller 2013 Penley Estate, Phoenix Cabernet Coonawarra SA.





















It was time for our main courses next and Mlady kept in theme with the waterfront location and chose the Cone Bay barramundi.

It was perfectly cooked and arrived served with eureka lemon, gremolata, silver beet and crispy diced chats.

We also had rocket with Annie Baxter buffalo milk cheese - so simple but great a flavour combination.











Sir has this thing for duck, as readers of these pages will know.

Therefore it wasn't a surprise that he chose the jumjum Muscovy duck.

This was served with Hawksbury carrots and cabbage and a lovely citrus glaze.


He was extremely impressed with the flavours of the dish, and the duck was beautifully cooked too.

The second side dish we had was so unique and delicious all in one. It was beetroot home fries - deep fried beetroot wedges served with a killer dill mayonnaise. We'd never had deep fried beetroot before and somewhat surprisingly it worked brilliantly.

The Vahlrona chocolate tart came with quince in it and was served with a meringue vanilla ice cream. It was a great big chocolate hit for the real chocolate lovers and Mlady the chocoholic loved it. Sir went for a lighter dessert, the Reiby Farms apple parfait. It was beautifully presented and made with  Pepe Saya mascarpone, coconut and coriander, giving it a tropical feel.

The Gantry is an experience on so many levels. The views, the location and the history are amazing and the food has a flair, structure and design that really works. Its a place well worth visiting.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Gantry. Special thanks to Zoey for looking after us so well and also to Chris Irving for the great food. Big thanks also to Sophie Muir of The Mint Partners for arranging our visit.