Guillaume At Bennelong

Ph: (02) 9241 1999; Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney 2000 www.guillaumeatbennelong.com.au

Contemporary/French, $$ +, *** for Ambience, Good Wine List
Open Lunch Thu-Fri noon-3pm; Dinner Mon-Sat 5.30pm-late, Closed All public holidays; Licensed; AE DC MC V, Seats inside 168, private rooms
Chef (Guillaume Brahimi, 2007-11-3) Owner (Guillaume Brahimi, 2007-11-3)

Mietta's Review
It might be a famous landmark but this room has never been easy. For example, the soaring cathedral ceiling has made lighting an endemic problem. The present solution of bulky lighting towers, though not beautiful, is effective and helps humanise the restaurant. Bennelong is probably at its best these days under Guillaume Brahimi's stewardship. Gone are the artistic dreams of previous owners to be replaced by firm French realism. The glue that holds it all together is the service - it's the star of the show, even more than the view, and several leagues ahead of the food (of which more later). Here, possibly for the first time, you will encounter proper classical service where everybody has a role, knows what it is and performs it correctly - on demand. Wonderful to watch and reassuring to experience. As we all know, Bennelong's other great plus is the view, at least from the side looking towards the city, but then, that's a given as is the experience of dining in this great building. Unfortunately the meal lets it down. Maybe its inevitable in a big restaurant that the food is more realistic than artistic (and Brahimi is the master of realism). There's no point having a menu of exquisite dishes if you can't get them out and here the kitchen, a well oiled machine, sends out with impressive dispatch, meals that are well cooked with sauces that are correct but which lack soul. You are left wanting more - not food (the serves are big) but refinement. Regardless of this, you are still paying landmark prices - mains $45.

Other published opinions

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 17/20, Two Hats "Guillaume Brahimi has come a long way since his days as understudy to French superstar Joel Robuchon. This rugby-loving Frenchman leads one of Australia's finest restaurants in an iconic, soaring, elegant venue"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "It's the rare restaurant that can offer a $65 main course with confidence, let alone an entree special"

Sydney Eats 2008 "It's not often you get to dine inside one of the seven wonders of the modern world. But the real wonder is that, at last, there is again a chef up to the task"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 18/20, Three Hats "Surrender to the world-class view, to an conic masterpiece from a Danish legend and to legendary food from a French master. Guillaume Brahimi delivers a decadent, Dionysian experience that makes this site a modern wonder for reasons culinary as well as architectural."

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide Score: *** "With respect to the various companies that call it home, the most polished performance we've seen here occupies the smallest of the Opera House's sails. A slew of Sydney's best floor talent glides between beautifully set tables and peerless views, while the JodI Robuchontrained Guillaume Brahimi oversees a menu that is utterly French in its precision, and pure Sydney in its vigour."

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2006 "Sydney has much to boast of: most notably the spectacular Opera House and, with Guillaume Brahimi on the dining stage, this equally inspiring restaurant tucked under the southern sail. It more than lives up to its iconic status, presenting pure pleasure on a plate and highly skilled service, all under the breathtaking Utzon architecture that soars above."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide "For years the star restaurant at the Sydney Opera House was a worry. Making it hum seemed a challenge akin to scaling Everest. Many tried, then Guillaume Brahimi pulled it off. Now it doesn'tjust hum, it sings, joyously, the daily performances there matching those in the adjacent theatres. Brahimi favours a classic French songsheet but adds a scattering of distinctly Australian notes"

Sydney Eats 2006 "A French chef in a Danish building doing tapas ... is that Sydney or is that Sydney? Guillaume Brahimi won our hearts years ago in a long-forgotten joint called Pond, and now he's taken centre stage at this premier space."

SMH Good Living Eat Out Mathew Evans score 18/20, 6/09/05 "Welcome to one of our latest three-hat restaurants. That it's in the iconic Opera House is entirely fitting."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Best Show Off "The city and the Harbour sparkle, the vaulted ribs of the iconic sail are strikingly lit and the Arnhem Land larrakitj poles stand in desert sand from the region."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Best Bars "Upstairs from the acclaimed restaurant, drinkers recline in Saarinen Tulip chairs"

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Two Hats Good Wine List Score 17/20 "Guillaume Brahimi continues to do wondrous things for a passing parade of pie-theatre diners, tourists, lovers and divas demanding a full dinner at 11.3Opm. Rigorously, classically French trained, he produces highly approachable food that teeters on the precipice of rich decadence"

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2005 *** Good Wine List "Combining the most extraordinary dining space in the country with the mastery of Guillaume Brahimi's skill in the kitchen and his professional floor staff - led by maitre d' Craig Hemmes - this restaurant stands alone. Presentation is superb, but it is the aromas from each dish that stimulate."

Sydney Eats 2005 "Location, location, ovation. Is there another restaurant, no matter how swanky, that can boast such a position in the bosom of Australia's most confident and recognisable edifice? Thought not. Luckily, Guillaume Brahimi's food is up to it"

SMH GFG 2004,'Can't get enough of this place.The view will knock the socks off even the most cynical Sydneysider,and overseas visitors just love it.The cocktails are to die for and the service is top notch.These guys are pros.Amazing.'

SMH GFG 2004, Score 17/20, And-have a pre-dinner drink at the excellent Bennelong Bar,' It's a dimly lit,romantic restaurant with smooth service...the Opera House's extraordinary ribs remind you that you're sitting within an international icon, and on the plate is proof that the food has risen to the occasion...Bennelong has matured into one of the best eating options in the city.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, Excellent wine list, 3 Red Stars,'menu leavens luxury with delicacy, combining rich ingrediants with a knowing hand...a superior dining experience'

Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food guide 2003, Best new Restaurant.

Sydney Morning Herald,, 15.2.02 Eat Out Matthew Evans. Wonderful affordible food,

Sydney Morning Herald'27.11.01 New owners/chefs Guillaume Brahimi. View of gardens & harbor

Sydney Morning Herald,, 22.2.99, Good Living, Bathers's Pavilion chef de ciuisine, Xavier Mouche, taking on the often thankless task of running the premier kitchen. he wants to make the restaurant more accessible.