I'd have to say that this is a bit of a hidden gem of a restaurant in The Rocks area of Sydney. It's located in the Holiday Day Inn Old Sydney, and I would imagine that most people would walk right past without considering the restaurant inside. If we hadn't been staying here on a recent vacation, I would have done the same.
Our first experience was on our day of arrival. We had flown in on a redeye from San Francisco, and after spending the entire morning and afternoon trying to stay awake, we settled into our room around 4:00. Some of us had picked up meat pies and sandwiches around town, but I was hungry. I picked up the room service menu and was surprised by the very reasonable prices, and decided to get the Humpty Doo barramundi fillet. About 20 minutes later, the food arrived at our door. The meal was excellent - the large fillet was delicately seasoned and grilled, with a nice crispy skin. It was served over prawn risotto with a couple good-sized shrimp and a generous portion of steamed vegetables. It was a delicious meal.
A couple nights later we decided to dine in the restaurant proper. We ordered the Tuscan vegetable soup, the prime eye fillet steak, and the Mediterranean grill plate. All of these dishes were extremely well-prepared. The steak was cooked to my requested medium rare and was tender and naturally flavorful. The Tuscan soup was pleasing since it wasn't excessively salty, which is often a problem with commercial soups. The grill plate sizzling on arrival with a generous amount of meat and vegetables. Our total bill without drinks was just around AUD70; with the prevailing exchange rate this translated to a mere US$50 - an outstanding value.
I'll comment only briefly on our breakfast experience, which was included with our hotel booking. I believe that the cost of breakfast is around AUD29 for adults, but don't quote me on that. This buys you a breakfast buffet that is quite expansive, with plenty of hot options (bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans); cereals, yogurts, and fresh fruit; and pastries, breads, and muffins. There's a juicing station and an omelet/eggs-to-order station.
Service all around was great, though our server at dinner seemed a little awkward, but we liked him nonetheless. At breakfast there were people coming by regularly to make sure that everything was well-stocked.
Just a few minor things on our dining experience: because we were visiting in June (winter in Australia), the dining area was rather chilly. The Holiday Inn is an atrium hotel with a large open area, and the restaurant is located on a terrace on the second level. It's probably difficult to keep such a large area warm, so during dinner we had to wear jackets. It would be nice to place some of those warming towers around the dining area, similar to what they have at the lobby bar area. Also, it's a bit too dark when dining at night; better table lighting would improve things as well. read more