Fort Denison Restaurant @ Fort Denison

Fort Denison Restaurant is reachable via privatised cruises, $20 return fee per person. It'll supply you with beautiful views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Onsite tours are available, your tour guide will provide you with information regarding the history of the Fort, and to tickle your curiosity, the cannons are still relatively active; daily gun powder will be fired from the cannon. The seagulls hates it.

Bruschetta with truss tomatoes, roasted red peppers and sheep's milk feta

$16

The waitress asked if we wanted the bruschetta "to share", I said yes, I don't think that made any difference. For $16 I thought we'd get at least 2 pieces of bruschetta. Due to a lack of quantity, we literally had to massacre the piece of bread and eat the toppings separately. The toppings were fresh with refreshing flavours from the balsamic.

Grilled haloumi with spiced chick pea puree, marinated olives and toasted turkish bread

$23

Nothing too special about this tasting plate, typical haloumi

Barramundi - seared, with celeriac puree and fennel with citrus salad

$36

The Barramundi was well cooked, a little slimy - perhaps a little too over-cooked for me, but still a beautiful dish. The celeriac puree and fennel was deliciously flavorsome and creamy whilst the citrus salad gave the fish an interesting burst of sweetness that in no way compromised the fish, making it a dish with well balanced and unique flavors that is worth returning for.   

Kangaroo - Seared loin with pickled beetroot, blue cheese and walnut salad

$34

The loin did not have a lot of flavour and was quite tough. The combination of pickled beetroot, blue cheese and walnut made a flavoursome salad.

 Lamb - 18 hour braised Junee lamb shoulder with paris mash, gremolata and lamb jus gras 

$36

The braised lamb was tender, however, the meat lacked flavour. The salad and mash were quite nice. A rather average dish. 

Pork Belly - Confit of Kuributa pork belly with scallops, snow peas and coriander salad and chilli lime glaze 

$37

Pork belly was deliciously tender and juicy with layers of fat in between the meat. Not too sure what happened to my snow peas, but I was quite happy with the salad provided. Never knew scallops and pork belly would be an epic combination. All elements on this dish was cooked well, except for one significant let down, no crackling on the pork belly.  Unfortunately, the skin of the pork belly was chewy and rubbery.

Sticky Date Pudding with Ice cream and butterscotch sauce

$16

The Sticky Date Pudding was great. Not at all dry like some versions of this classic dessert I have tried in the past. It was so soft that the Vanilla Ice Cream melted well into the pudding and the Butterscotch Sauce was so sweet and mixed well with the soft pudding texture and ice cream. The dish was served hot with the cold Ice Cream only beginning to melt, there is always something magical in a dessert served hot and topped with cold ice cream - that hot/cold combination just can not be beat.

Vanilla creme brulee with biscotti

$16

This was quite yummy, however, the serving size can probably be revised. I'd  put dipping sauce in a bowl of this size, not a dessert. No complaints about the vanilla bean creme, it was smooth and did not split. When I have this traditional dessert I want to hear that sugar surface crack. Unfortunately, not enough sugar on the surface of the Creme Brulee for this to happen. Parts of the Brulee (namely the edges) had no caramelisation. 

Raspberry gel with dark chocolate mousse and praline

$17

A very sweet dessert! The chocolate mousse was velvety and paired up well with the praline and raspberries. I was surprised to see actual raspberries rather than the gel mentioned on the menu, this was quite refreshing.

Sides $9 each

More or less highway robbery for average chips, roasted vegies and mash.

Chai Latte
 $4

Extremely milky, rather average.

Service
We were generally well looked after, we had 3 waiters who served our table frequently. Our water glass was frequently re-filled by cool water in steel water pitcher, the waiter would pour for each person on the table. One waiter, however, dumped the steel water pitcher on our table and fleeted. I felt that was exceptionally rude as he spent a lot of time at the next table filling up their cups and having a laugh.

Worth Returning?
Yes, if you have friends/relatives visiting from interstate or internationally - the dishes were quite expensive (our 2 entrees, 9 mains, 8 desserts and drinks and 3 sides ended by costing approximately $570) , the food was good, but not amazing. However, you must be reminded that you're paying for the food and the view. Service was great apart from the anomaly.

Rating
6.5/10