You could teleport from anywhere in the world and I feel experienced diners would identify they have arrived in Sydney almost instantly. There is a natural razzle-dazzle. It could be in the surrounds, the venue, the clientele, or a combination of all of them. If there is a coastal city of a similar size that utilises its vantage points, and expense account lifestyle more, I’d be interested to travel there.

Harder to instantly identify, but perhaps sensed by more experienced diners than myself, the now celebrity chef, entrepreneur, and innovator of 30 years, Neil Perry, has a feel associated with his restaurants that is not unlike his Sydney restaurant heritage. Perhaps he has opted more for the look of the venue, than the surrounds, but the clientele have always been of a high calibre.

Neil was established early enough that he never had to prove himself with Australian native ingredients, but always supported local and seasonal, without needing to voice its virtue. He has an intimate relationship with beef in particular which spawned the grill offshoot of Rockpool. Thinking back over the past almost 30 years, I have never had a meal at a Neil Perry restaurant that didn’t provide some sense of awe or grandeur, and often both in equal measures.

While Margaret is a tribute to his Mother. Perhaps the inclinations shown by Perry over many years have paid tribute to his Mum many decades into the past too. This feels like a modern day Rockpool. It is off the beaten track in Double Bay, rather than the old Rocks (and later Circular Quay backstreets) of Sydney. We caught the ferry here for an even more pleasant lead-in, on a beautifully temperate evening.

My risk to book an outside table for Catherine, Sydney, and myself, worked a treat, with a table directly to the left of the entrance, that was atmospheric and protected from the wind. We were in good hands with the floorstaff, and the sommelier was quick to act, while giving us some time to settle Sydney, which we have discovered is the most stressful part of our family fine dining experiences.

It was time to order and with a diverse, but not overly intimidating menu, we had a lot of attractive dishes to choose from. Balancing between trying diverse parts of the menu, and not over-eating (also known as being dessert ready), we ordered three dishes and a few sides to share. First up were the freshly shucked Merimbula oysters by Wheeler’s. Better matched to Catherine’s utterly delicious Lancelot-Royer Blanc de Blancs champagne, than my delightfully made Four Pillars Olive Leaf martini, the oysters fitted the brief of what you expect when dining at a top class restaurant in Sydney.

Next was the compelling Albacore Tuna sashimi dressed with avocado, nori, kombu, and brown rice vinegar. Not messing with the freshness of the tuna, the flavour combination is both classic and refined. By this dish we were drinking McLaren Vale Roussanne, and Petit Chablis, and everything was wonderful, as it often feels on a holiday, or a short break, as you make the transition from the working week.

We shared the coral trout as our main, with a side of green beans with anchovy cream. Having earlier taken a sample of Syd’s excellent chips, and addictive Baker Bleu sourdough, we were happy with our decisions. The coral trout is stunningly simple. There is a lot to be said about some perfectly cooked fish, nicely sauced, with some lightly cooked crisp vegetables.

All of this restraint now ended as we turned to dessert. Rather than narrow down the eleven sweet options, we chose four of them to share. Syd dug into the ice cream offering, demolishing it in quick time. He also assisted with the flourless chocolate cake, which was mousse-like in its lightness, and a clear winner. “Sam and Neil’s Wedding Cake” was a clear, but distant, second. The first few bites of the merengue in particular were divine, but the choice of multiple desserts probably meant the richness was a hinderance. Finally, the raspberry mille-feuille was the only weak dish of our entire meal. It was beautifully presented (although it did need to be taken back to the kitchen the first time as it fell over) and clearly fresh, but it desperately missed the sweetness it needed, and was not enticing whatsoever.

We certainly didn’t expect the perfection of a Rockpool tonight, but Margaret was measurably better than expected. Similar to many meals where I am pleasantly surprised (and talk incessantly about it) Catherine eventually told me to stop raving, so I wrote about the experience instead! Having had some great meals recently that were let down by the service, I could tell there is a fair bit to the training and experience of the floorstaff at Margaret. It wasn’t perfect, but for such a large and busy restaurant, offering a la carte instead of a tasting menu, it was certainly very impressive.

Margaret
https://margaret-group.netlify.app/venue/margaret/
30 Bay Street, Double Bay
Thursday to Sunday lunch and dinner; Wednesday dinner
info@margaretdoublebay.com
(02) 9068 8888