Gracing the harbour foreshore along the Hungry Mile, where shipmakers and stevedores made their craft along the wharfs in days gone by, the Barangaroo precinct in Sydney is a development in development. At the end of the precinct, adjunct to Walsh Bay & Millers Point, sits Hotel Palisades.

Once an ugly duckling, this establishment has transformed (with a lot of work and vision) into a swan. And what a beauty she is, and adorning her crown is the rooftop bar and restaurant, Henry Deane. Gone are the vagabonds and in their place, the cool kids of new Sydney-town, the beautiful people, frequent this place.

Beauty surrounds.

The staff are beautiful.

The furnishings are beautiful.

The view is beautiful, and importantly the food is beautiful.

Seated in low lounges with coffee tables separating us, leather bound menus are casually shared amongst our table, whilst copper cutlery, clean-as-clean stemware and share plates are scattered between us. In flipping through the menu, I have to say, I was a little nonchalant about it all. You shouldn’t underestimate the value of words and for me, a lover of words, the descriptors for the food was a little “blah” and nothing really jumped out to order. As the menu is designed to share and as a boisterous group with mainly carnivores and the need to cater for a herbivore, we left the food selection to our beautiful waiter and for all his beauty, he did pick well.

The shared plates came thick and fast and we quickly ran out of table space. However, that really did not matter and I have to say, the flavours were simply incredible. If you love seafood, then this is the place to come. The lobster risotto was by far, the best single meal I’ve had in a very long time. Garlicky, chilli, lobster goodness, rich in flavour and takes you to a heavenly place. Everything we ate was, quite simply, delicious.

We shared

• Oysters natural, merlot vinegar, eschalot
• Salad of tomato, ricotta, confit garlic, basil, soft bread, vino cotto
• Spiced cauliflower, almond crunch, smokey sauce
• Kingfish Sashimi
• Lobster risotto
• Vongole linguine

The downside:

• It gets quite hot and the ventilation isn’t great.
• The tables are tight when balancing shared plates, food and table accoutrement.

The upside:

• Great for long lunching, groups.
• Unbeatable views.
• Unbelievably delicious food.

Where?

35 Bettington Street

Millers Point

Henry Deane at Hotel Palisade