Rock Sugar Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

I got a $100 voucher to try Rock Sugar so I invited my friend AT to go in for a night of cocktails and Thai food.

We got seated at the bar at first where we can view the fully action of the bartenders making yummy cocktails, but alas our legs are too short for the bar stools so our feet kept dangling. ThankFully the friendly waitress helped us move to a lower table, so we can relax and enjoy ourselves.

I chose a yuzu gin cocktail while AT had a peach cocktail. We had a sip of each other’s cocktail and they were both delish!

The menu was fully of tantalizing food and we had a hard time deciding. There IS a feed me menu but we decided to order our own cos I am a bit of a control freak and want to know what we are getting 🤣

We started off with spiced tuna tartare and smoked ocean trout with betel leaf. Both were delicious and super fresh and it’s one of our favourite dishes of the night.

Corn on the cob came with sriracha butter, but sadly the flavours were lacking. We both lamented that the best corn was at Mamasita, where the flavours somehow seemed into every corn kernel, which this one at Rock Sugar failed to do.

The chicken ribs was another dish that did not impress my friend. There were two sauces that goes with it but it was placed on two different sides of the dish in big blobs. I would have preferred them to just put it in a little sauce bowl so we could dip the chicken ribs because it’s just a bit hard to get the sauce and without the sauce the chicken ribs are a bit dry and tasteless.

Mains came and we got soft shell crab salad and green curry with coconut rice. There wasn’t a lot of soft shell crab in the salad, but it was yummy. The salad itself was ok, the flavours were not punchy and well balanced. I kept thinking back to the Thai food we had in Long Chim which has bold and super well balanced flavours.

The green curry was the same, probably to cater for milder palates.

We shared the mango tango dessert which once again the peanut and cookie crumble was frustratedly put on different sides of the plate. If I hadn’t spotted that it was different, AT would have mango tango with all peanuts and I would have mango tango with all cookie crumble. Darghhhhhh. Otherwise this dessert was quite yummy.

The bill came and it comes to ~$160. Was glad that we had the $100 voucher otherwise I think the whole meal is a bit exxy for what we got.

Nonetheless the atmosphere of this place was great and the staff was friendly and accommodating. It would have been a great place for cocktails and food if they improve their flavours and their plating .

I would like to thank Rock Sugar for your wonderful hospitality and inviting us to...

We really enjoyed all of the food and especially the cocktails, it was all absolutely delicious.

However - we all felt the end of our night was tarnished which was real shame as we were asked to leave half an hour early when were advised we would have 2 hrs until 8pm

We were advised this via email and this is also stated in the terms and conditions when booking online - and we understood and were happy with this 2 hour time slot.

However at 7.30pm we were given the bill and told we would have to be out in about 10-15mins

Yes this may not seem like a big deal - however two of my friends had just ordered another cocktail each at 7.30pm thinking they would have half an hour to finish them. Instead they had to quickly chug them.

When I questioned with the waitress I felt like she wouldn't even listen or let me show the email I received stating we would have 2 hrs.

I understand with covid that you have to have enough time to clean the tables etc

But when it is even stated on the website that you have a 2 hour seating and is stated again via email correspondence - and I also the fact that the next seating isn't until 8.15pm - surely 15mins is enough time to clean the table?

I just feel that if this is not the case and if it's not sufficient time to clean the tables, then this is something that shouldn't be stated on their website that you have 2 hrs when in fact, you only have about an hour and a half

We just felt it was a real shame as we absolutely loved all the food and the drinks - I've been so excited to try Rock Sugar as have wanted to go for a long time and this was mine and my friend's first experience there - and we just felt extremely rushed at the end and felt like we only got a bit over an hour and a half to enjoy our dinner.

Yes I know they are dealing with restrictions - but then don't promise a 2 hour seating and then kick people out with half an hour to go. It's not fair.

I would really like to come back again as we really did love all the food, we couldn't flaw it, but just a little sad and frustrated how the end of the night was. We did also order quite a bit of food and drinks as well so it's not like we didn't order a lot. I really hope management take this feedback onboard. **(this review was from May last yr/2021- I noticed I had a few typos and went to correct them & didn't realise it would refresh the review to be...

We sat down for our dining experience for my birthday and we ordered two drinks to start with. The first incident was one drink came but the other never arrived, there was no follow up until asked and just that it was checked on and will be coming. These things happen so brushed it off.

The drinks were delicious when it arrived. The second incident was once we finished ordering our food, the food took over 45 mins for it to arrive. The wait staff was kind enough to get us complimentary soju shots while we wait.

The staff notified us that there was only 1 tartare left which was fine as my friend ordered something else. As the food all arrived, two salads that was ordered did not arrive. The two salads NEVER arrived and my two friends were left hungry, the kitchen simply forgot their order. The salads arrived 5 mins after we complained and it looked unappealing, half of the items on the menu wasn’t even on there. It was obviously rushed to order as they didn’t make it appealing. They ordered the chicken salad which was meant to have vegetables and garnishes - the chicken salad came with only dry chicken bits and seaweed.

After all food and drinks were finished, no one came to clear our table, no one came at all until we had to walk in and ask them for the bill. The food and drinks, besides the chicken salad - was absolutely amazing. The kitchen staff was too slow and have forgotten some items, the wait staff was friendly but not attentive, they did not check that everything is out - they can clearly see my two friends had no food on their table. Although they gave us complimentary soju and the two chicken salads for free, this could’ve been avoided if they were being more attentive.

Highly disappointing for such delicious...