Bentley Restaurant & Bar

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  6     

Great atmosphere, the service was a little slow. Cocktails were unusual but they seemed to work ok.

Jul 22, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  6     

Been here a couple of times, the first was a work function, which I enjoyed much more because I didn't have to pay, the tapas and wine selection are perfect for such an occasion.

The second time I also had tapas, which was creative, surprising, but I wish I hadn't been feeling so hungry!! I will return for dinner, after a while, I think this place will be around for some time. Nothing to rush to.

Jul 15, 2008 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

How fabulous is this place? We loved everything; the anchovies, cod & potato, crispy chicken and potato & chorizo to start - taste sensations.

Mains, he had the duck and said it was the best he's ever had. I had the veal - to die for (except the asparagus foam wasn't to my taste).

The dessert degustation - superb. My fav dessert now is the carrot cake with olive sorbet *Brilliant*.

Great job you guys are doing - fantastic service - can't wait to return.

Jul 07, 2008 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

We usually have the tapas here sitting at the bar and it is always fantastic. Very busy on our Friday night but the service didn't miss a beat. You could feel the happiness of diners all around you which makes the atmosphere sing. Outstanding dishes were the squid with ink risotto, the soft shell crab (best ever- now I can see what the fuss is about!) and the amazing artichoke dish with little artichoke chips on top. It's delightfully inventive food without being so crazy sounding that it doesn't appeal.

The sommelier, Nick is charming and knowledgeable and a very modest man for someone with so much skill. This is the one place we recommend to all our friends and o/s visitors knowing that they'll have a fun time as well as an excellent meal. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Jun 15, 2008 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Interesting, very interesting. Some unique idea's and pairings that I wouldn't necessarily say didn't work, I just don't know if they worked..ie carrot cake and olive sorbet...I dunno. I disagree with some of the below comments however, as a consumer I think I have the right to assume that no matter how wacky the combination, the dessert (in this case at least) will still ultimately be a dessert.

Chicken liver parfait in 2 forms was the best I've had in Sydney, the main courses really stood out for me, very good indeed!!! Little disappointed at the attention to detail on the service side of things for this 2 hat restaurant, perhaps the food critics need to receive the same service as everyone else or floor staff levels needs to be fine tuned a little. But hey who's perfect I guess.

I have a feeling this is why this restaurant gets such a hard time on this site. Their product is very good all in all, but as an entire product perhaps it doesn't always meet the high expectations that are set I guess. I enjoyed it none the less anyway!!!

Jun 13, 2008 

5.5 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  4     

We had booked in advance and were looking forward to a great Christmas dinner with our best friends. We ordered our dinner (couple with a couple of bottles of great wine) and mentioned to the waiter that we were excited about the dessert menu, as heard great feedback from friends. We were served entress and main, yet felt the food took quite a while between courses.

When we came to dessert we were told our time was up and the table was needed for the next round of guests. We can appreciate it was a busy time of year, but at no point during the night has we been told we needed to be out by a certain time. Also, the fact the food had come at a very slow pace more or less made us miss dessert. We left disappointed and curious how this place could have won two chefs hat?? Definitely not expected and won't be going back again.

Jun 11, 2008 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  6     

Expensive, but a Big night out. Did the degustation and loved every course. Food is worth the hype and the wines were a great match. Service is what it should be and it is expensive but it is good.

Jun 05, 2008 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

There are certainly some daring flavours here, mostly hits but there are a few misses - we got the carrot cake with black olive sorbet for dessert, the saltiness of the olive was hard to partner with a sorbet. It did make a good story to tell people for a few weeks after though. Just about everything else was spot on - I'd recommend the basil pudding or the caramelised pork cheek for entrees (the pork comes with bright pink ravioli - tastes much better than it looks) and everything I've tried on the tapas menu was good. I've never had the tasting menu but it's definitely on the to do list.

As other people have said, the wine list is mammoth - if you're not big on wine, definitely ask the bar staff for a recommendation, they seem to know what they're talking about.

May 13, 2008 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

I love this funky little restaurant. I have been here several times and have never been disappointed. I would recommend forgoing an entree and filling up on the yummy tapas. The oysters are always super tasty and I still dream about the Kingfish Ceviche!

The wine list is killer! There is no need to splash out for an expensive wine as everything on this list is gorgeous, the house wines are fantastic (especially the Chilean Sav Blanc if it is still on the menu). I dine out alot and Bentley is one of the only places that I continually come back to!

May 07, 2008 

5 Average

Food  8      Ambience  2      Service  3      Value  7     

Our booking was for 8.30pm on a Saturday night, but our table was not ready when we arrived, so we were pointed towards the bar. After finishing our drinks, it was almost 9.30 and we asked when our table would be ready. We were asked to pick something from the tapas menu in the interim and shared half a dozen oysters as compensation for the delay.

When we were finally seated at around 9.45pm, it was a long time before wait staff helped us - despite having over an hour to peruse the menu and being quite hungry at this stage. Service throughout the evening was pretty poor.

The food was quick to come and when it did it was really lovely, but the noise from the bar was deafening and made it very difficult to enjoy. We ended up cancelling a dessert that we had ordered because everything was taking too long and it was almost 11.30pm.

Entree, main and dessert a glass of wine each plus a pre-dinner drink came to around $200, which was great value. Nice wine list. Not the place to go if you are looking for a quiet dinner where you can have a conversation. Literally can't hear each other across the table without yelling.

I would go back again, but perhaps on a week night when the bar isn't so full. The noise and the slow service kind of ruined what could have been a nice experience.

Apr 30, 2008