Ripples at Sydney Wharf, Pyrmont

It's been a bit quiet on the blogfront here, and uni is solely to blame. The thing is I haven't stopped eating and cooking and so a sizeable backlog of photos is developing which I have yet to post about. Hopefully there will be more frequent posts from now on but I'm not guaranteeing anything because I think the onslaught of assignments and exams has only just begun!

It was my parents' anniversary and they were jetsetting off to Europe for 3 weeks to celebrate (they've been back for a while now, which just goes to show how late I am with this post). We wanted to have one last family lunch together before my sister and I became parentless for 3 weeks, and we decided to go to Ripples at Sydney Wharf in Pyrmont.

Beef shortrib bourguignon, creamy parmesan and parsley pomme puree - $27

Ripples currently have a lunch promotion running which lets you have one of four mains, a glass of wine or beer plus coffee or tea for $29, Monday to Friday, which my parents and Sir D took advantage of. Dad chose the beef shortrib bourguignon, which was two fat beef ribs with the meat so tender it only needed a fork to prise it easily off the bone. The pomme puree was magically creamy and soft - it was so good I kept stealing some off his plate.

Vegetarian tasting trio: Potato and leek soup with gruyere toast, mushroom and rosemary risotto, goats cheese pomme dauphine - $28

My mum decided on the vegetarian tasting trio which consisted of three small morsels. The potato and leek soup had a super crunchy piece of gruyere toast with a small quenelle of garlic aioli and although I didn't try this, Mum seemed satisfied. The mushroom and rosemary risotto was ok, but I really liked the goats cheese pomme dauphine (probably because it was deep fried!). It was like a potato croquette, and thankfully it wasn't too heavy on the goats cheese flavour but I loved the crispy exterior and the smooth potato on the inside.

Ripples famous fish and chips, homemade tartare sauce, lemon - $24

I convinced Sir D to get the fish and chips, mainly because I wanted to try it hehe. It came in a huge portion, and when I tasted it I was almost disappointed that I hadn't ordered it myself because it was that good. Ok, so the chips weren't the best I've had, and the fish was nice especially with the light and crunchy batter but the star of the dish was the tartare sauce! I reckon dipping anything into that tartare sauce would make it taste amazing but it definitely made the dish for me.

Roast barramundi fillet on chive gnocchi, petit peas bonee femme with lardons - $29

My sister and I didn't take part in the $29 lunch special because we wanted mains that weren't part of the promotion. Charm went for the barramundi which sat prettily on top of some gnocchi, baby onions and buttery peas. The barramundi was cooked perfectly with a nice crisp skin and moist flesh. I liked the addition of the lardons on top of the fish - everything is better when paired with bacon :)

Confit ocean trout with crab, tomato fondue and parsley risotto - $29

I decided on the ocean trout which looks a little dry in the photo but was actually really juicy on the inside. I was very pleased that you could actually see chunks of crab meat in the risotto which had al dente rice and a nice tomato flavour that wasn't too acidic. The portions of the mains looked quite small but we were all surprised to find that we were struggling to finish our dishes (especially Sir D and I who were suffering from major carb overload).

Burnt lemon tart, lemon curd bombe alaska and macadamia toffee - $13

But of course I always miraculously still have room for dessert. I was insistent on getting this lemon dessert after it came highly recommended from food bloggers, and it definitely did not disappoint. The burnt lemon tart had the most amazingly short and buttery pastry which went well with the citrusy custard. And I always get so much satisfaction out of the cracking my spoon through toffee and this tart had a great toffee crack. I couldn't get enough of the torched meringue on the bombe alaska either, and I loved digging my way through the soft meringue to find the tart lemon curd on the inside.

Chocolate trio: chocolate fondant, salted caramel tart and chocolate marquise - $14

The other dessert we selected was the chocolate trio, and I'm so glad we shared this because it was so, so rich. We made our way from left to right, starting with the chocolate marquise which had a few semi-dried grapes on top. This was probably my least favourite of the three, with the sponge cake being quite dry and the marquise on the inside not quite enough to overcome this dryness. The salted caramel tart was like a mars bar (minus the nougat) with a lovely chocolate pastry to hold it all together. It was very sweet, I couldn't really taste the salt in the caramel but I think the addition of more salt would have helped the tooth-aching sweetness after a while. The chocolate fondant looked like a plain ol' chocolate cookie to me but once you put your fork into it, a dark chocolate lava oozed out from the centre and it was without a doubt my favourite of the three.

It was a very satisfying lunch and we left feeling full to the brim. Needless to say for the next three weeks I did not get to eat lunch as nice as this because my cooking could never compare to restaurant-quality food haha but more on my cooking adventures next time!


Ripples at Sydney Wharf
56 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW 2009
Ph: +61 2 9571 1999
Breakfast: Saturday & Sunday, 8am-11am
Lunch: Monday to Friday, 12pm-3.30pm; Saturday & Sunday, 12pm-4pm
Dinner: Monday to Sunday, 6pm-9pm


View Larger Map