355 Crown Street, Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia.
+61 2 9332 2225.
You can read the name of this three-hatter (
Sydney Morning Herald) two ways: one is the rather bad sort of pun on owner-chef Mark Best’s name and his affinity with things French (though Spain seems quite an influence nowadays). This place is definitely Best’s – there’s nothing focus-group-pleasing about his intelligent forays into progressive dining. His interests and experience intersect on the plate in the likes of lighter-than-air almond jelly with crab, almond gazpacho, prune oil and sweet corn custard, or a dazzling pear soufflé with ginger beer sorbet. The second reading is of a “marque” in the sense of a great wine house. The Surry Hills restaurant has always focused on sublime wines. The list’s foundation was built by award-winning sommelier Nick Hildebrandt, now a co-owner of very vinous The Bentley. Current master Peter Healy enriches it further still.
Open: lunch Friday, dinner Mon-Sat. Licensed. Mains $48, eight-course degustation $145.
-PNSource: Qantas the Australian Way September 2007
Updated: July 2008
Now this is one restaurant where having the degustation makes all the difference. As an à la carte experience, newly refurbed Marque is merely wonderful. Order the dego, though, and get ready to step through the mirror. The room itself is quietly luxe, playing glossy black wall panels against pale marble and the glow of cloths lit by egg-shaped table lamps. Service treads the line between discreet and engaging with care. But really, it’s all about the food and wine. Describing it as “edgy” suggests reach, when what the kitchen here has is a real grasp of the possibilities of fine dining. And they’re not afraid to throw the odd curveball, whether it’s small potatoes baked in edible white clay set on fresh truffle mayonnaise or a startling crab custard with foie gras snow. At other times, the shock is simply how good something can taste, whether it’s roast wild pigeon with abalone and bitter chocolate pastry leaves, or a glass of Agly Brothers shiraz-grenache dispensed by star sommelier Peter Healy. This is one not to be missed.
-PNSource: Qantas the Australian Way September 2008
After working with Michelin-starred chefs Alain Passard and Raymond Blanc, Mark Best wins accolades for his French-influenced modern Australian menu.
-CBSource: Qantas the Australian Way July 2009
At $48, the lunch deal at Sydney’s restaurant of the moment has been called the value lunch in town. The kitchen doesn’t hold back, with the likes of smoked bonito “pili pili”, with parmesan and popcorn bonbons and bitter cress, roast suckling pig with soy beans, mustard and apple, and chocolate croquettes with burnt butter and citrus. Such is the power of the wine list that even on the 18-strong by-the-glass list you’ll soon find yourself tempted by the likes of the 2007 Goisot Fie Gris (“Granny Smith apple, chalkdust,” says sommelier Peter Healy) or 2006 Anima Negra (a blend of two grapes indigenous to Mallorca). If impulse control is an issue, throw caution to the wind and go for degustation with matching wines.
Open: lunch Fri, dinner Mon-Sat. Mains $48, degustation $148.
Website-PNSource: Qantas the Australian Way September 2009
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