Berowra Waters Inn — Restaurant in Sydney

IF YOU’RE READY FOR A RIDICULOUS MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE

My partner and I booked for dinner for birthday and 10th anniversary back in Feb with Berowra Waters Inn as it is beautiful location away from the city and an ideal location for celebration with view to enjoy as they claimed in their bio. We booked weeks in advanced, got email confirmation, a call 3 days before to reconfirm the booking and our dietary preferences, also an email reminder a day before our dinner reservation. We were so looking forward to this.

After 2 hours drive in a windy rainy Friday with after work traffic on the road, we realized we might be 5-10 mins late for arriving to the wharf to take a boat ride to the restaurant, so we called them 20 mins before our reservation time, and they told us “ our restaurant is not open today, there is no one working in the restaurant “ and we were shocked and didn’t know how to respond, then I asked “ we are 10 mins away and driving all the way to the special venue, what should we do now “. Someone on the line just said “ I don’t know what happened “. She obviously didn’t know what to do and we understand a lot of hospitality venues struggling with finding right people to work. Then I said can I have someone knows what is going to call me back. 5 mins later, Daiva from reservation called back and said the restaurant is close tonight as they don’t have staff working and the person who called us 3 days in advance to reconfirm the booking supposed to let us know the booking will be CXL instead. We were even more speechless but we were calm as we know they couldn’t magically give us something on that spot. However, I hope venue like them ( far location from everywhere ) could provide contingency plan same as when hotels overbooked, they communicate with other hotels nearby to walk their guest to other hotels upon checking. So, how many fails in one reservation from online booking, email confirmation, phone call to reconfirm, reminder email a day before and customer to find out the booking was CXL whilst driving 2 hours to the special venue.

She tried to move our booking to other dates, however it is a special venue people needs a long drive to get there and it was booked occasionally for birthday and anniversary. We reached out via Instagram again ( please notice that we reached out to them again, not they found out and notified customer what has beem done wrong !! ). Victoria replied us and explained that they work with a remote reservation company that was the mistakes from, she said she was going to have a chat with reservation team and email us again with follow up actions. She never emailed or called us. I texted them via Instagram again 3 days after and she told me the same thing that she would email. She never emailed, either.

As customers perspectives, booking a dinner occasionally in a location where requires a lot of efforts to get to on a rainy Friday evening, turned out there were multi-mistakes since the reservation, reconfirmation, reminder of booking, and on the day, customers found out how bizarre it was while we were outside after 2 hours drive. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere to call and understand what was going on and any other options they could provide. Most importantly, they knew they made mistakes BUT NEVER FOLLOW UP ! It was too memorable for my birthday and our anniversary...

We gastronomically welcomed in the new year with a 6 -course degistation menu at Berowra waters inn, which i can confirm is firmly in good hands at least for the next 15 years .

Although its only an hour’s drive or fast seaplane flight from Sydney to the beautiful Hawkesbury, Beeowra waters. We opted to stay on a house boat for theee days and soak in the scenery . For dinner we were collected from our house on the river by a small boat, captianed by friendly Darryl.

The Inn itself is a beautiful 1800’s sandstone building reinvented by Glenn Murcutt- It has an iconically Australian look, which i love. Large floor to ceiling glass lovre windows, give you a front row seat to a river scene like a McCubbin painting, swooping birds, and Australian bush reflected in the sparkling Berowra waters. The somillier Darcy was easy to talk to and full of knowledge, and found us the perfect wine .

The menu is very carefully considered and has incredible clean, precise and joyful dishes, which is a credit to the talented kitchen team. We had some gorgeous houredervesthat started with a teaspoon mouthful size smoked Flathead beignet, a tiny ceramic cup of pea consommè with mint, then a delightful little fresh cucumber toped with kangaroo pastrami with a centre of cottage cheese. The next dish flawed me, a crab and miso custard, the sweetest silk i have ever eaten.

Then the performance really got started, with Kingfish, Coconut & Cucumber. A sweet little brioche loaf with tomato butter, was fluffy and so cute. Then the nicest Murray cod piece seasoned expertly with yuzu and pepper, delicately succulent duck slice, served with blueberries flavoured with lavender. The perfect amount of Lamb, topped with Chickpea. Here we were offerd an extra cheese course of Holy goat cheve, but we declined, already wondering of we would be able to fit in desert. The desert really impressed me, the rhubarb, with yoghurt and davidson plum, was akin to some kind of cheffing alchemy, plated like a flowering pink sea urchin, with slithered dried rhubarb perfectly placed that then dissolved like tart fairyfloss in my mouth, exceptional cooking. To finish was a glossy little unasumming round of dark chocolate tart, with a pairing of fresh berries and cream. This was so well balanced and with the lightest thinest pastry This is a magnificent magical dining experience. I highly recommend...

7,000 years is a long time for a location to be used as an eating spot, particularly as that spot now plays host one of Sydney’s finest restaurants.

Aboriginal midden (eating) remains were uncovered during Cellar renovations of Berowra Waters Inn by Tony Bilson in 1976 and carbon dating found them to be 7,000 years old. It’s not much of a stretch to say that the area could feasibly claim to be the oldest continuously used dining room in the world.

While it’s only 50 minutes by car (and a short hop on the private ferry) from central Sydney or 15 minutes by seaplane from Rose Bay, the location still feels like a throwback to an earlier time in Sydney’s history, even if the menu is anything but. We arrived on a sparkling autumn afternoon and climbed aboard the ferry for the short hop to the restaurant. The sun glistened off the floor to ceiling cantilevered windows as we neared the restaurant and finally pulled into the wharf. On colder days, a log fire crackles to life and brings further warmth to the bright, airy space.

The present custodian of Berowra Waters Inn is chef and operator Brian Geraghty who has an impressive roster of kitchens on his resume, from two-Michelin Star restaurant Pied a Terre in London and three-hatters Quay and Bilson’s in Sydney. The menu has evolved considerably since the 1930’s where the degustation consisted of oysters on shell, fried fish and potato, cakes or scones and tea or coffee. Today’s menu is seasonal and takes advantage of the best market produce on the day.

There is a 4 course menu on offer, but my dining companions and I opted for the full 7 course tasting menu with matched wines.

We began with delicately spiced Karid Prawns served with a cauliflower puree and served with a textural Domaine des Aubuisuers Vouvray.

Other highlights on the menu included a Wagyu Tri Tip of Beef with Tarragon Braised Leek and Pickled Shallots and rather suprisingly for me a Blue Cheese and Red Onion Sorbet.

The food at Berowra Waters is a triumph of style and substance with an equally well thought out wine list, attentive staff and a view to kill, making this a must visit...