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I normally stay away from hotel restaurants as I think they are strictly for people staying there who don’t have the time or inclination to venture outside. So how did I end up at Silverster’s? By accident.
I received an email from Good Living about an upcoming wine dinner which included a great sounding menu and so I signed up for it without really focusing on where the restaurant was. Although in my defence, they only showed a street address for the restaurant and studiously avoided mentioning it was in the Marriott. I suspect this means I’m not the only person who avoids hotel restaurants.
After eating at Silvester’s I may have to rethink my attitude to hotel food as the food was wonderful. So much effort was put into the presentation of the food and it was so colourful you couldn’t help but want to eat it.
The first dish was the Yellow Fin Tuna you see at the start of this post. The Yuzu Kosho dressing gave the tuna a great chilli citrus kick and the rice paper crisp added some nice crunch.
Next course was Spanner Crab. Cudos to the chef who had the skill and patience to cut enough wafer thin slices of avocado to make more than 100 serves off this dish. The avocado and the grapefruit perfectly paired with the Spanner crab filling.
Following the seafood theme, our next course was Glacier 51 Toothfish. I will admit not only had I never tried this fish before but I had to google it to work out where it came from (if you’re also curious it’s the sub-Antartic, about 4,000 kms from mainland Australia).
When I read this fish lives 2,000 kms below sea level I was expecting flesh somewhat like swordfish or tuna (perhaps not logical since these don’t live in the depths but my thinking was surely it would have to have hardy flesh to survive that low). Again, I was very pleasantly surprised.
The company who farms the fish has done a better job than I ever could of describing it so I’m going to borrow their words: “projecting waygu-like characteristics with a complex yet delicate mouth feel that coats the palate appealingly, making it a pleasure to eat. Its snow-white flesh and broad scalloping flakes display a clean and sweet flavour and the elegant balance of flavour and texture in Glacier 51 Toothfish provides a culinary versatility rarely found in fish fillets.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t fit in any more food they brought out the Pinnacle Beef Short Rib with smoked miso glaze. While the beef was melting in your mouth tender it was also very rich and after all the food that we’d already eaten, even my partner who wasn’t met a protein yet he doesn’t love was struggling. We were too full to really do this course justice.
Our last course was a refreshingly light Blood Orange Sorbet. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it, because somehow despite being so hideously full we both found the room to eat all of it before I remembered to take one.
Overall a great experience. Loads of very good food, probably more than we needed and at $129 each including matching wines incredibly good value.
This may well be the hotel restaurant that changes your mind about hotel restaurants.
https://silvesters.com.au/
Bulletin Place, Sydney