Bennelong, Sydney

When I found out that Guillaume by Bennelong was closing, I was sad that I never managed to eat there before it closed, even though it was definitely on my wishlist. There was a lot of back and forth about who exactly was going to take over the iconic Opera House space, so when The Fink Group re-opened Bennelong under the helm of Peter Gilmore, I was so ready to book a table.

This proved more difficult than it sounded, because even though it's been six months since it first opened, Bennelong shows no signs of slowing down. We had to book a couple of months in advance just to find a Saturday night booking that was at a reasonable time (i.e. not a 9.30pm booking), and so it wasn't until late last year that we managed to finally sit down and enjoy our meal there.

There's a choice of dining in the Cured and Cultured area or in the Restaurant. We chose to go down the Restaurant route, which meant that we were seated on the lower level of the dining area underneath the soaring glass windows that give you unparalleled views of the Bridge and Sydney harbour. The three course a la carte menu will set you back $130pp with about 6 different dishes to choose from per course.

Grilled Lady Elliot Island bug, organic turnips, radishes, XO sauce

The first thing that strikes me with each dish is that it is impeccably plated. Every dish is styled to perfection, so that your eyes can feast on the food before your stomach does. The grilled Lady Elliot Island bug is no exception, with a golden piece of the bug meat draped over turnips, pink baby radishes and micro herbs. The XO sauce really accentuates the seafood flavours of the dish, and complements the sweet, juicy bug meat nicely.

Smoked Blackmore Wagyu tartare, fermented chilli paste, cultured cream and grains, mushrooms, seaweed, egg

A day trip from Osaka: Miyajima and Hiroshima

Even though this is about a Japan trip I did more than a year ago, I've had quite a few people asking me about where to go and what to do in Japan, so I thought I might as well do a post about it, even if it is a bit outdated.

Apart from visiting the Fushimi Inari Shrine and Kyoto, we decided to spend another day out of Osaka to visit the floating torii gate at Miyajima, and the Peace Memorial Museum at Hiroshima.

Floating torii gate at Miyajima

Miyajima island is just off the coast of Hiroshima, and is easily accessible with a JR pass. From Shin-Osaka station, we took a shinkansen to Hiroshima, then hopped on a local train to Miyajimaguchi station, which is closest train station to the island. At the station, there was plenty of signage to direct tourists to the wharf, where Japan Rail operates a Miyajima ferry to take people to and from the island.

Leaving the mainland on the ferry

The first thing we noticed when we got off the ferry was the number of deer walking around the island. They weren't wary of humans at all and mostly kept to themselves, though look out for the daring ones who will try to steal your food!

Sleepy deer

oh hai!

We timed our visit to coincide with high tide so that torii gate looks like it's floating. At low tide, you can actually walk all the way out to the gate itself.

Floating torii gate at high tide