Mint Bar & Dining, Bridge St, Sydney

Mint Bar & Dining, Bridge St, Sydney
Saturday 31 December, 2005

There's always so much talk around what you are doing for NYE. In previous years I've done some pretty special things - fly over Antarctica, picnic in Taronga Zoo, play in the snow in Whistler etc. This year some friends decided to hire a suite at the Hotel InterContinental.

Before the 9pm fireworks we had dinner at Mint Bar & Dining on the ground floor of the Hotel (formally Sketches - for those of you who remember the famous pasta place). There has been some hype around this place with a new chef coming on board recently - Jeff Campbell. Apparently he has worked with Jamie Oliver and all over the world.

The staff are attentive but have that air of pretentiousness that is completely unnecessary. There seemed to be an awful lot of staff working but it was difficult to get anyone's attention.

The food is good but the staff were clearly distracted on NYE. There was a set menu for $95 pp which included:

- Glass of bubbly & amuse buche (I had no idea what this meant but it translates to 'tease the mouth') with beetroot & goats cheese tartlets and pesto & parmesan spread on bread
- MINT share plate of tomato, basil & crab meat bruschetta; marinated BBQ prawns; and lime & ginger oysters
- Lime sorbet
- Beef of wellington with wild mushrooms, truffle and spinach
- Chocolate tart with mascarpone ice cream and honeycomb

For a 7pm booking we weren't served our mains until 8.30pm, so I think someone in the kitchen had not planned or timed out how long the beef of wellington would take before serving. We had to ask how long the mains would be as we didn't want to miss the 9pm fireworks.

The food was good and special mention must be made of the beetroot & goats cheese tartlets, the beef of wellington and the chocolate tartlet.

Mint Bar & Dining - 62 Bridge Street, Sydney - (02) 92401210

http://www.mintbaranddining.com.au/html/index.htm