SCARLETT RESTAURANT - THE ROCKS, SYDNEY

Scarlett Restaurant
34-52 Harrington St
The Rocks, Sydney

Scarlett Restaurant is almost hidden from the public down a stairway inside the Harbour Rocks Hotel - but it's well worth finding for amazing food coupled with outstanding service in a lovely environment. This place ticks all the boxes.

The decor is a marriage of old world and new, with exposed stone walls blending nicely with marble tables and soft brown bench seats. This contrasts with an almost industrial feel to the all black ceiling space with exposed beams and visible pipes.

It all seems to go perfectly to create a memorable space with inviting simple elegant appeal.

The industrial feel ceiling

Inside Scarlett Restaurant

Simple and elegant

The Menu

I love scallops. They are such a nice seafood treat with a subtle flavour.

So when I saw the pan seared scallops, cauliflower, raisin and caper vinaigrette on the menu it was appealing right from the start.

What arrived was even better! The scallops were huge. These plump delicacies were perfectly cooked as well (it's so easy to overcook scallops).

Presentation was excellent with the scallops arriving on a slice of cucumber, which made it very refreshing and a nice crisp contrast with the soft scallop meat. 

The dressing also went nicely with this great dish and at $18.00 it was well worth it. 

Mlady had the dish I would have chosen next - my other love - salmon!

This was vodka cured king salmon with cucumber gel and confit fennel.

The salmon was lovely - thick and fresh. It had nice flavours that infused so well together.

Mlady said it was all very refreshing with the seafood combining beautifully with the gel and fennel. It was also a generous quantity for an entree.  This dish was again well worth its price of $18.00.

As we are predominantly red wine drinkers, our host and somellier Peter Diego suggested a lovely Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon as a starter to accompany our food.

Delicious Chilean Red

Peter Diego

Maldy had crispy skin Barramundi, scampi tail, bacon, pine mushrooms and cannellini bean ragout.

I knew she would order this as soon as I saw the menu. She loves Barramundi and she loves fish with crispy skin (and of course tender meat). The challenge this creates for a chef is also noted as many achieve the crispy skin but sadly overcook the flesh! In this case she got the best of both worlds with a lovely crisp skin and delicately cooked fish. She was very happy!

The meal was beautifully presented, so much so that she didn't know where to start. It all looked so good!

The use of bacon was a surprise but it was in such tiny pieces that it added great flavour without dominating the dish. This meal was $35.00.

My main course was the lamb.

It lured me with the description in the menu of roast lamb noisette, shank croustillant, pearl barley and kipfler potato.

The lamb was perfectly cooked with its beautiful pink meat melting in my mouth.

While pearl barley doesn't usually grab me, on this occasion it went so well with the whole dish adding a degree of depth and flavour. The concept at Scarlett Restaurant is "a contemporary flair on home cooking" and this was exemplified in this dish. This dish was $34.00.

A side of beans with confit eschalots went perfectly adding both colour and flavour. They were only $9.00.

We always knew one of us would have the creme brulee because we both love it.

The combination of banana creme brulee with peanut brittle ice cream sounded both decadent and indulgently delicious all in one.

It turned out to taste just as good too!

The brulee was lovely with a nice crisp shell on top covering a smooth creamy base. The fresh banana and tasty ice cream all went nicely to create a sweet finish to my meal.

This was only $14.00 and I loved every mouthful of it and completely cleaned the plate.



Mlady sometimes likes to finish a meal with an indulgent dessert and sometimes with something more fruit based. In this case it was the latter with the berry salad, lime sorbet and meringue shards grabbing her attention on the menu.

Presentation was again, as always here, excellent. What arrived was not only delicious but it looked so appealing.

The combination of berries, tangy citrus lime sorbet and the sweet shards of meringue was an ideal end to a great meal. Again this dessert was $14.00.

But this wasn't the end! Throughout our evening our meals had been expertly paired with wine by Peter Diego. For our dessert he brought Mlady a limoncello and for me a beautiful Hunter Valley Verdelho Liqueur. It was an idyllic finish!


Scarlett Restaurant is lovely fine dining. They focus on your dining experience without rushing you in and out. So settle in for a journey of great food and wine in a lovely restaurant that has simple understated charm and elegance, with service to match.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Scarlett Restaurant. Special thanks to David Lowe for arranging our visit and also to Peter Diego and Cassandra for looking after us so well on our visit.

Scarlett Restaurant

Verdelho Liqueur

Foyer and waiting area

Outside Patio

Front Bar - with Paul there to welcome you

Beside the front bar

Foyer and waiting area

Foyer and waiting area

BAY BUA VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT - POTTS POINT, SYDNEY

Bay Bua
2 Springfield Ave
Potts Point, Sydney

Bay Bua is a bit off the beaten track from the hustle and bustle of the nearby main street. It's in a nice quiet intimate area with an almost tropical outlook onto a lovely paved area surrounded by palm trees. It has an understated, simple feel to it with dark furniture and subdued lighting. The fragrant, light, delicate food was amazing too - and once you try it you'll be back for more.

We started with the beef mince. What arrived was so much more than just minced meat balls though.

It was finely ground beef that had been mixed with vermicelli noodles, a hint of chilli and a hint of peanuts.

The whole taste was very fragrant and came served on a thick prawn cracker.

They came in a serving of four and the crispness of the oversized prawn crackers went nicely with the beef on top of it.

This was a seriously good start to our meal. At only $6.50 for a serving of four they were also seriously good value.

Our second starter looked like crisp melted cheese balls with a soft gooey filling.

We're still not 100% sure what they were but they had a crisp outer from the cooking process. They had a soft inner filling and each lovely parcel had then been cut in half and then they were topped with a dollop of delicious minced prawn meat. They were so light and tasty and melted in the mouth. A serving of six is only $9.50.

The barramundi salad was next and it was again amazing.

It was beautifully presented and oh so fragrant. There was a hint of spiciness but nothing overpowering.

All the flavours worked well and complimented each other.

At $18.95 this is another must try dish.





We then moved on to the stuffed chicken wings and they were oh so nice. They were lovely and crisp on the outside and had a tender tasty filling.

They came with plum sauce topped with sesame seeds.

At $13.95 for a serving of two giant stuffed wings they were again good value for something that tasted so nice.




The stuffed mussels were possibly not something I would have normally ordered from a menu - but in hindsight I'm so glad we had them.

Mlady loves mussels and will often order them if they look like they will be good. These plump, juicy, tasty treats certainly didn't disappoint either - they were so nicely prepared and so delicious.

They were filled with prawns that were also lightly cooked to retain their flavour and texture.

The combination of prawn and mussel meat went well together with each complimenting the other without overpowering.

At only $7.50 for a serving of four these are great value.


The pork crackling belly was lovely. While Mlady isn't a pork eater I really love the stuff!

This serving was nicely done as well with a generous quantity of finely sliced pork belly that had such tender tasty meat. However it was the beautifully crisp salty crackling on the outside that took it from good to great. At only $15.95 for this much pork (and crackling) it was great value too.


During our meal we washed all our lovely food down with a bottle of Harvey River 2008 Merlot and also had a side serving of nice Mimosa rice (which was $9.90 for a large serving).

The crispy duck was another great dish. We almost always have at least one duck dish when we have any Asian food - and this was one we would both have again in a flash. It came with a garnish of deep fried ham which surprisingly went very nicely as well as adding colour.

The quantity of duck too - as with pretty much every dish at Bay Bua - was very generous!

We finished our main course part of this lovely meal with tamarind king prawns.

We both love the combination of tamarind and prawns - its a mix that just seems to work so well.

It was probably one of the more spicy dishes we had but still not overpowering at all.

It also came with a good quantity of baby corn and there were certainly plenty of plump juicy prawns in this dish - they don't skimp here at all!

At $18.90 for this quantity and quality its worth getting.

Some people tend not to have dessert when they eat at Vietnamese restaurants and if this was the case they would miss out big time here.

We started with the Vietnamese caramel flan.

It was almost identical to a creme caramel - which is of course not surprising considering the strong French influence in Vietnam and in Vietnamese cooking.

This was probably as good as any you would get in a top French restaurant and was my personal favourite.

Our final dessert was a Vietnamese version of sticky rice which had a real wow factor to its appearance when it arrived at the table.

It had an almost granular texture with plump rice grains that you could clearly feel in your mouth while you were eating this dish.

This was actually Mlady's personal favourite from our two desserts as it reminded her of her fathers delicious homemade rice pudding.

The black rice came bathed in sweet coconut milk and had several large fresh banana pieces in it for more than decoration. It was a great ending to a great meal.

Xuan Tran (right)

Bay Bua is an excellent Vietnamese
restaurant that has an extremely extensive menu - it's actually a book it's that big! The food is extremely fresh, fragrant and tasty. Service for us was attentive and very friendly without being intrusive. We certainly recommend Bay Bua for a great meal at reasonable prices.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Bay Bua. Special thanks to the lovely Xuan Tran for arranging our visit and for looking after us on the night.

CAFE XXII - PYRMONT, SYDNEY

Cafe XXII
22 Union St
Pyrmont, Sydney

Cafe XXII is an old world building across the road from the new world of The Star. It's right on the corner - in fact the entrance doorway is literally on the corner.

It's a cosy, intimate place with lovely exposed stone walls from a bygone era. It's also a compilation of small rooms that join onto each other. The entrance room has some tables but down a short walkway are more rooms and therefore more tables.

The whole place has a charm about it that appeals as soon as you walk in the door. A memorable feature for us was that the service was impeccable throughout the whole evening.

We started with the mezze platter to share. It sounded attractive on the menu and looked and tasted just as good.

Described as a selection of cold meats, three cheese, olives and roast pimento it was a great starter.

It was all delicious and the platter also had a few grissini sticks on top as well. It was deceptively big and filling and cost $16.00 which was decent value for this.

Starter two to share was the tapas. It consisted of grilled Turkish bread with extra virgin olive oil and oregano served with a trio of homemade dips.

These were again extremely fresh and all very tasty. Mlady and I both loved the semi-dried tomato dip and agreed it was our favourite. The olive dip was also another winner too.

At only $11.00 it was good value for something to share among a couple or a group.

The main courses are limited in number but despite this there's still a variety to cover all tastes.

The "Pasta" was penne carbonara with sauteed bacon, onion, garlic, white wine, creme fraiche and finished with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

It was a good sized serving that was al dente and two in our group that ordered this dish both said that they loved it.

The meal cost $26.00.

I had the "Risotto" and it was excellent. It was described as chilli prawn risotto with olives, capsicum and red onion sauteed in garlic and chilli in a rich tomato concasse finished with spinach, basil and parsley.

There were plenty of plump juicy prawns in this dish - in fact more than you would normally get in a dish of this kind!

This filling meal was $29.00.



Mlady had the "Lasagne" - as she has often been known to do.

She said it was certainly nice but it could have perhaps had a bit more flavour.

Nevertheless she still finished it all so it must have been pretty good.

It was described in the entree section of the menu simply as Lasagne al forno and was a mere $19.00 which was excellent value.

Cafe XXII is a lovely place. The food was really good but on top of that the service was faultless - being both attentive, friendly and helpful in all the right ways. It's this "going the extra mile" that will ensure people come back again and again.