It's been a long time since I went to a fine-dining restaurant that gave me goosebumps. The last one that gave me goosebumps when we were on the road was Restaurante Azurmendi in Basque Country back in January 2020. That was just before our bout with COVID-19, almost 3 years ago!
Oncore is one of the hardest reservations to get in Sydney right now and that's not a bit surprising considering it's currently tied with Quay and Tetsuya's for having the most hats (19) in the city.
New Zealand-born head chef Alan Stuart has an impressive pedigree with more than 15 years of experience working at some of the finest restaurants in the world including stops at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (where he met Clare Smyth), Eleven Madison Park, Restaurant Frantzen and of course, Core by Clare Smyth.
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Following our hostess step by step, we were led into Oncore's main dining room and I just couldn't stop admiring this panoramic view.
There, we finally got the signal that this was our table for the night, with a jaw-dropping view of downtown Sydney right before our eyes.
This is going to be a wonderful night and what an amazing start.
The view is definitely taking my breath away and then I realize how much we have missed traveling around the world for culinary gems like Oncore. Thankfully, we are taking steps to getting our lives back together at last.
There were only two menus to choose from, "long" and "short" and needless to say, we didn't have to cast a vote on which one to go for.
Pea and mint gougère – Our first nibble of the night was gougère with pea purée and pea shoot, that came with a hint of mint. A very refreshing start.
Jellied eel, toasted seaweed and malt vinegar – Jellied eel was served on a shell made with toasted seaweed, before our server put the finishing touch on with a spray of malt vinegar. A dab of parsley jelly inside the shell added some herby notes to the mix.
Smoked duck wing, orange and spices – Smoked crispy duck wings with burnt orange and spices served on a stick. Succulent, with some lovely smokiness.
Chicken liver parfait and madeira – A wafer-thin pastry was topped with madeira gel and smoke-infused chicken liver parfait.
The beautifully presented set of amuse bouche finally came to a close.
We were offered a slice of sourdough bread while we wait for our first starter. I could feel my heart pounding with anticipation.
Fraser Island spanner crab – It didn't take long for our first starter to arrive and it was a gorgeously plated salad of turnip with tomato water and basil oil. Mixed with the salad were spanner crab meat from Fraser Island, complemented brilliantly by some crunchy macadamia nuts.
Almost too beautiful to eat.
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'Potato and roe' – Chef Smyth's signature dish of 'Potato and roe' was next.
The potato was slow-cooked for over six hours in kombu butter, then topped with herring and trout roes, tiny fermented salt and vinegar potato chips, shoots of sorrel, chives and rocket. A buttery seaweed beurre blanc provided the dish with a strong, sublime finish.
Asparagus 'tart' – The green asparagus from the Costantino Family was prepared in two ways.
The first serving of the dish came as an asparagus tart, elegantly plated with dabs of egg white, egg yolk and asparagus purée along with perilla flowers, capers, wild garlic and herbs. The second one was a much simpler version with the asparagus poached and served with a combination of lemon hollandaise and asparagus sauce. This was an asparagus lover's dream!
Coral Trout – Our fish course was superbly cooked coral trout with Sydney rock oyster and pressed cucumber. We knew something was up when our server brought a large bowl of Chinese caviar over with a big smile on his face.
Turned out the silky coral trout was waiting for the perfect icing on the cake with a scoop of caviar on top and a very intense oyster sauce was then slowly poured in to give the trout a burst of umami-rich flavors.
Gundagai 5+ Lamb – Jelloman enjoyed the gamey lamb loin with celtuce, baby gem, black cardamon as her meat course.
Duck breast – I wasn't in the mood for lamb tonight and fortunately for me, our server was kind enough to swap it with a dish of pan-seared duck breast. Just the perfect news for a duck lover like me!
I thought the duck meat was really well-executed with perfect texture, lean and tender. My only disappointment came from the skin which was not nearly crispy enough. The peach tart on the side with minced duck meat hidden inside was a pretty nice touch.
'Core Apple' – Pre-dessert was another work of art.
Like most palate cleansers, this one was more on the acidic side with the core of diced apple compote doing its thing to reset our palates.
Yarra Valley Strawberry – We know Christmas was right around the corner when our dessert landed in front of us. It's almost like a Christmas decoration.
Strawberry sorbet, basil cream, lemon meringue, lemon verbena, fresh strawberries, and mint leaves. I hope I didn't miss anything. A very busy dessert again with an artsy presentation, bringing a fruity and refreshing end to our meal.
Petite fours came with some British influence, starting with the mini date pie on the left.
A variety of wine jelly.
We didn't want our night to end so fast but checking our watch, the journey that got us on the edge of our seats for much of the night (view, ambience and food) was already three hours long. Time to come back to earth and return home (hotel).
This meal at Oncore by Clare Smyth was our first overseas fine-dining experience since we were hit with the pandemic in 2020. A span of almost three years! We were so grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to set our travel plans in motion again. This was such a big part of our lives before COVID-19 and the thought of finally being able to travel for food again had us super excited about 2023.
Food Rating: 8.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Crown Sydney, Level 26/1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW 2000, Australia
Closest Metro Station: Barangaroo
Tel: +61 2-8871-7171
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Thu - Sat), 6:00pm - 11:00pm (Wed - Sat)
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