It might be the best steakhouse in Australia (it is), but there’s much more to the jewel in the The Rockpool Group empire crown. There are few, if any, restaurants in Australia with a more opulent fit-out; the type you’d see in a Hollywood film, not necessarily in little old Sydney. Yep, this heritage-listed former bank boasts magnificent emerald marble pillars, glass chandeliers, a mezzanine to oversee the main dining room, the best restaurant bar in the city (though Hubert might have something to say about that), and private dining rooms for every occasion.

It may be a magnet for the business wolves brokering deals over big reds and red meats, but with one of the largest menus at the top end of town, Neil Perry and head chef Corey Costelloe’s menu is a rollcall of the best-in-class Australian produce cooked with care, and kept as simple as possible. A lesson, if you will, in letting the produce speak for itself.

It’s a monster menu (there are 14 sides alone!) that lets you choose dishes from each of the following: cold bar, salads, hot starters, pasta, seafood from the chargrill, mains, cooked over fire and beef cooked over the chargrill sections. Eggplant, harissa and cumin combine beautifully with Big Eye tuna tartare, while finger lime and white bean puree let chargrilled octopus dance on the plate. A lemon cheek shares the plate with a Bruce Collis Rock flathead, whose flesh shimmers at that perfect point just past opaque. Slivers of black lip abalone come smothered in tarragon and caper butter.

Although the seafood is as grand as the beef, the 11-strong list is hard to skip. Four cuts courtesy of David Blackmore’s 9+ marble score wagyu; a T-bone and rump form Richard Gunner’s dry-aged grass-fed Shorthorn herd; and Cape Grim’s dry-aged grass-fed bovines ranging from 36-60 month-aged. Nowhere in Australia is a piece of meat on a plate so damn special.

Must eat dish: Coorong Yellow Eye mullet cooked in the charcoal oven
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