LOCATIONSouthbank
DETAILSRockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne is the latest offering from Neil Perry.
At Rockpool Bar & Grill, Neil elevates the steakhouse concept by uniquely combining an impressive dining room, with professional and informed service, and a menu featuring the finest and freshest ingredients sourced from Australia’s best suppliers.Signature dishes on the menu include dry aged Grass Fed Beef and Wagyu, and live seafood and dry filleted fish, while the wine list features an impressive selection of over 700 wines from Australia and Europe.
PRIVATE DINING Rockpool Bar & Grill’s private dining room and terrace area, with elegant interiors and superb views over the Yarra River and city skyline, are some of Melbourne’s most impressive locations for private dining occasions.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIARockpool has been a stellar Sydney seafood restaurant for years, but when Neil Perry set up shop in Melbourne, the brand was in for a change. Melbourne’s Rockpool is a bar and grill: the main feature is dry-aged beef. You can smell it as you enter – sweet, meaty and surprisingly appetising. The restaurant and bar are both rather clubby and comfortable, with lots of timber and brown tones and even occasional pictures of cattle.
The focus is on the quality of the produce, which Perry sources with great determination. The best food here is often the simplest: say, grilled king prawns or a plate of cured ham, followed by a steak with a simple salad and potato gratin. At these prices, you ask? You bet: this raises simple food to new levels. Or try the four raw tastes of the sea to start – exquisite Japanese-influenced mouthfuls. There’s actually a wide choice that includes imaginative seafood dishes and delicious salad combinations, and even an occasional dish for vegetarians. Bar food is more limited in choice, but again, takes the familiar to new heights. Try the wagyu bolognaise with hand-made spaghetti, or the hamburger. The wine list is big and international, well chosen and fairly pricey.
Rita Erlich, September 2007
