Rabbit Hole Dining sits on busy Elizabeth Street, in the middle of town. Once you spot the white rabbit ears, above the nightly bustle, head down a clandestine staircase to the main lobby and dining area. This place promises a lot, leveraging the culinary skill of Chef Tomoyuki Usui and globally recognised for their wagyu beef and brie burger, most visitors have high expectations and rightly so.
That was certainly the case last week at their Spring Cocktail Launch. Guests were greeted on arrival with a small plate of ‘painkiller powder.’ With 40% alcohol content, one half is rum flavoured and the other coconut and pineapple. While the idea is borderline innovative, the flavours were underwhelming and the whole concept, a tad nauseating. The Hendricks gin jellies however, were blissful boasting a fizzy character from the tonic salt.
Opium Orange, was the first cocktail to leave the bar and perhaps by mistake. It was unbalanced, unpleasant and spirit-heavy, despite sounding delicious on the menu. Luckily the ones to follow were lush and made with love and skill.
The cocktails of the evening included the Breakfast Bouquet, Ay Caramba, and the Lava Lamp. However the real crowd wowers, were the XO Zombie ($17), a mix of Mt Gray XO, Cointreau and Joseph Cocody muddled with lime, mint and house made passion fruit caramel. It is shaken with aromatic bitters, pineapple and orange and then served with rim of sugar and mint crystals and fiery passionfruit. Wow.
Similarly the Shruberry ($18) championed the classic flavours, Russian Standard Platinum vodka is mixed with fresh strawberries, house made raspberry and strawberry shrubb, elderflower, lemon, rhubarb bitters and amaranth. Strawberry sherbet and sorrel finishes off this well designed drink.
They all looked and tasted the part and you would happily go there night after night to sip your way through the extensive and exotic cocktail menu. The only downside was the half hour wait, which one might expect due to the complexity of each individual drink. For a night that was all about the cocktails, the canapés, to Tomoyuki´s credit, stole the limelight.
The Beautiful Rabbit Hole Wagyu Beef Sliders are definitely up there with the best of them – floating around the room were also plump, caramelised scallops with celeriac two ways and buckwheat, rich tiede wagyu tartare, egg emulsion and truffle meringue and seared king prawn and lime soft tacos. Moreish and very memorable to say the least.
Tomoyuki´s fresh and modern french inspired menu reflects his well seasoned experience in some of the best restaurants across the world and forecasts a bright future for the Rabbit Hole.
SNAPSHOT
82 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Open for Lunch and Dinner til late
Price Range: Meals range from $20 – $40, Drinks range from $12 – $21
Top Meal: Wagyu Beef Slider
Top Drink: Shruberry
http://www.rabbitholebar.com.au
