Aria Restaurant Sydney — Restaurant in Sydney

“Fine dining” describes exactly what Aria Restaurant is - mediocre at best, abhorrent at worst. Needless to say take your money elsewhere, because this was not the way to spend your NYE in NSW.

To begin, we had immense difficulty acquiring our entry passes, as it is impossible to get to the restaurant with the barricades. We emailed, and emailed, and emailed again, but our passes were never delivered to the hotel in advance and we were left with last-minute, half hazard instruction. When told a staff member would be in front of the barricade with a sign waiting for us the day of, once again, we were left with last-minute, half hazard instruction. Another email sent and half a dozen failed phone calls later, by 5:55 we had no sign of making it to our 6pm reservation. Yet, one instagram message later and we receive a long-overdue phone call saying that they saw our DM and for us to “describe what we are seeing” visually - local security confirmed we were indeed at the correct location written on their very own instructions…

When finally greeted with our passes and arriving to the restaurant only a touch later than our reservation, we had good food and decent service - which is to be expected at this price point. Nobody offered us a complimentary additional champagne or mixed drink on the house for our troubles, which would have numbed the aforementioned pain of getting to our pre-paid “luxury” meal. Aria does not get praise for acting accordingly for what they charge. For $200+ USD per person I can happily eat many delicious dinners in Sydney, but instead was greeted with one far too logistically challenging and poorly planned meal.

Upon finishing our dinner, we requested to stay at the bar to view the fireworks from the restaurant. Yet, we were told that the bar had to remain available for “incoming guests waiting to be seated.” Not only were we only a party of two, but the bar had plenty of room to seat us. When asking reception to explain why they rejected our request to stay at the bar, paired with recounting our entry pass experience, we were told “1 quick drink” maximum - pathetic for a restaurant trying to actually make money. The receptionist in glasses condescendingly chuckled saying “did you have good service? Just making sure,” as we described our prior challenges inflicted by their poor planning - it is TO BE EXPECTED when you are paying so much money that service and food is good! That is your job, Aria Restaurant! Nothing to laugh about.

Upon conversing with the woman who claims to have sent out the passes for delivery, she asked us to elaborate on our Instagram communication. As this occurred, she held the door open for us, signaling us to leave. A blatantly disrespectful way to kick out your business - such a shame you don’t even pretend to listen to or care about your customers.

TLDR; Do...

We made our reservation 5 weeks in advance. When we arrived 10 minutes early, we were shuffled off to a bar area to await our table. The two men behind the bar never even gave us eye contact, let alone a drink. At 5 PM others began to arrive and they were whisked past us directly to their tables. When I asked what had happened to us, a man with a bun on top of his head and horn rimmed glasses (I did not get his name), ushered us to a table by a post, three rows back from windows with the views of the Opera House and Bridge, in spite of the fact that there were empty tables in the second row, and at the window. I declined the table, and he rushed off to consult with someone. When he came back, he grudgingly moved us to the second row. I asked him what the seating criteria were, and he said it was based on how early the reservation had been made. I pointed out our reservation had been made 5 weeks earlier, and that we arrived early as well. He admitted that others in the rows ahead may not have met the advance criteria.

Both my wife and I were dressed appropriately for dinner and the opera. Then the man began to drill us: "What part of United States were we from?" I advised that we are Canadians. Then he started to name provinces, not satisfied until we advised that our province is Alberta. He was rude, arrogant, and had pegged us as "Americans".

We asked for a wine list and made our choice: a $26 per glass Cabernet Sauvignon. When our Asian Wine Steward arrived with the bottle in hand, she just summarily poured wine directly into my glass and began to do the same with my wife's glass. I asked whether it was not appropriate to at least allow me to taste the wine to ensure that it was good, and more importantly, that I liked it. She just responded: "the wine is good -- I don't offer an advance tasting because it is by the glass". I have never encountered a more ignorant response from a wine server in all of our world travels.

The food portions, while small, were very tasty in spite of some ingredients which I did not recognize. The dessert, a chocolate egg with cream inside was outstanding. This is in comparison with the food on the luxurious Regent Seven Seas Explorer from which we had just disembarked.

My bottom line is that I have never been made to feel as tawdry as some of the wait staff did, being pegged as an American which seemed undesirable by this restaurant.

If you are North American, I suggest you steer...

Unfortunately, Aria seems content to rest of the laurels of its location and past fame. While our Indonesia waitress was lovely, few other elements were able to make this a pleasant experience.

Went on a Saturday evening, and we were 5 minutes early for our booking at 8:30pm. When informed that the table was not ready, we took the offer of sitting at the bar for a drink. For the next 10+ minutes the hosts and waiters walked past us, meeting our eyes as we tried to order but ignoring us. Not the worst start but overall a pretty cold one.

We selected the four courses for $225 per head. The food itself was generally uninspired and overpriced. Treats were dropped off at the table however without an explanation - the pork pate-type dish was in a truly stale pastry shell which had a horrible crunch to it. For entrees I had the beef tartare which was the tastiest of the evening and the most adventurous take on a classic on the menu. The pork was quite oily though pleasant, the crab simple while again pleasant, same for the scallops. The oysters were yum, but also extra. Unfortunately, the mains were really quite boring - my lamb came with parsnip and gravy, and it was chewier than a boot! The duck main was very simply done, just a slice of breast among jus and blackberry. The other options didn't seem any more creative. I've eaten this food at the pub restaurant I worked at during Uni. We've been to attica and francescana, and the menu offering at aria pales in comparison yet costs the same.

When selecting our wine, the somm scoffed at my partners decision to follow the cold entre crab entre with the pork and snowflake mushroom entre. When asking for a white suggestion that might suit both (as we were having red with our lamb and duck mains), the somm scoffed and said very bluntly well if you don't want a red then just order whatever you want. Sure, white would pair better with the crab than the pork, but it wasn't an unreasonable request, was handled very poorly, and certainly couldn't be the first time the somm had heard such a request.

All in all, the general vibe was 'you are lucky to be here'.

We had booked dinner as a going away celebration, so this was pretty disappointing. The restaurant also never replied when I provided this feedback...