Firedoor Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

To get a booking at Firefoor, it is best to call or email them (via Fink) directly. They can add you to a few wait lists and will be very helpful to try to get you a table. Great service at Fink.

Firedoor's concept of cooking quality ingredients over fire is simple but not easy, and also elegant. There's no other restaurant in Sydney like it. There's an open kitchen so you can see all the action unfold.

Ok, to the menu options. Each diner has to have the $140 five course set menu. The menu varies depending on availability of ingredients. On our evening our five course menu consisted of bonito, oyster mushrooms, murray cod, bundarra pork and a morello cherries and mille-feuille dessert.

Now, there's also premium optional add-ons on top of the set menu. On our evening the additional options were oysters, marron and two beef options. One option was a wagyu rump at $57. The other option was (wait for it), a 700g+ black market dry aged Rangers Valley rib-eye at... $390!

We were taken aback by the price, but at the same time we've been wanting to try the famed dry aged beef for sometime now. So we decided to go all out and opted for four oysters (total $28), 1 x 150g marron ($56), and the famed dry age beef.

So, how was the food you're now wondering? It varies: The bonito was nice, has a light mackeral like flavour, the blood plum and mouse melon were nice accompanying ingredients to balance the mild saltiness The oysters are smoked in a terrine and topped with seaweed and gooseberries. I personally loved the smokey and salty flavours. My partner wasn't a big fan, preferring them natural Sadly the marron was quite underwhelming. The meat was quite bland, not sweet at all The STIX oyster mushrooms with cabbage, leeks and grated cured egg oak was one of the standout dishes. Everything was smoked to perfection. There were these smaller saltier immensely flavoured oyster mushroom ends that were nearly crunchy that complimented the larger mushroom bodies with the natural sweet flavours that took centre stage. Mixed with lightly seared cabbage and leek, with a wiff of egg yolk, this was a beautifully prepared and a delicious treat The murray cod with cos lettuce comes out on a paperbark. It was smoked perfectly, with the meat still juicy, and the skin nicely crispy The bundarra pork was also a bit disappointing. It was tasty, but the meat was quite dense and the pork skin which is meant to be crunchy and airy, was rather tough and difficult to chew Now came the dry aged beef. How was it? It was beautiful. Amazingly fatty, tender with a unique sweet smokey flavour. It wasn't too 'beefy', so while we were already full, we still appreciated the juicy and decadent meat. Worth the price? Let me come back to that The morello cherries comes with mille-feuille and creme. It was like a light deconstructed cherry pie

They also top and tail the five course with a fun starter of a green chili pepper wrapped with an impossibly thin piece of bacon, delicious. And also the now famous smoked marshmellows with some sort of soft caramel log inside, lovely. There is also the sourdough bread that is made with a 13year starter for the dough. It had like a spongey texture, it was thick and fluffy.

Lennox Hastie was working hard in the kitchen with the rest of the crew. The wait staff were all friendly and efficient. Lennox even noticed me taking some photos in his direction, and kindly stopped to pose for me.

While I don't mind paying for in demand quality items, I personally think that if there's a substantial item on offer for two people, to allow them to either substitute or have it as a standalone offering maybe in a three course course. The beef would have been so much more enjoyable if it wasn't at the end of a five course menu where you're already full and that you also have to pay for. Also the five course option doesn't have any beef options included.

Expensive night!! Good food, a lot of food! Nice cocktails too. I hope this review helps set expectations on what could be on offer for new...

I don't normally write restaurant reviews, but I thought I'd share my experience here, to potentially help any fellow foodies avoid the disaster of an experience I had eating at Fire Door.

Personally I've never heard anything about Fire Door, so I was quite skeptical about the place. My partner researched the place and convinced me it was a good idea to dine here.

After checking out their Instagram page, I wasn't quite sold on the place, but thought why not, let's give it a shot.

Knowing it took us almost 3 months to make a booking to the place, the excitement start creeping in the night before and we were quite eager to get to the place and start our feast.

Walking in to the place, the ambiance was quite nice, well lit and cosy.

The waiters seemed quite helpful and explained all the meals in great detail.

The menu was a daily changing 5 course menu.

ENTREE

The first meal was a bonito raw fish dish. Normally I love sashimi, so does my partner. But the fish seemed quite smelly and off-putting.

Shockingly there was a massive hair, which was bigger than the entire dish, surrounding the entire meal.

It was literally wrapped around the bonito fish, and unmissable.

We called the waiter to replace the dish, asking how was this missed? Only to hear that "She doesn't know".

Without giving out any real apology at all.

To top it all off, we asked for sparkling water and the waiters came back to refill our cups with normal tap water each time.

Almost like there was no coordination between the waiters.

SECOND ENTREE

They had a potato dish that was sprinkled with cheese. Dish tasted completely boring. Tasted like something you could easily put together at home without really much thought or creativity to it at all.

BREAD

The bread came out after that and it was a cold piece of bread with some butter. I'd personally expect a warm piece of fresh bread, considering the name of the place is "Fire Door". Although my partner enjoyed it, the cold bread was just not inviting to me at all.

MAIN MEAL

They had a Murray-Cod dish served here. The flavour profile was non-existent. Fish tasted completely bland. Almost like the chef had no idea of how to pair the fish with actual flavour. This seemed to be the case with every meal.

MAIN MEAL 2 (ADD ON)

Since one of their most popular dishes was the steak, we decided to get the additional add on for $95 the wagyu steak.

Hoping that this would be the saving grace of the night. Boy was I wrong...

Steak came out completely blue! They didn't even ask how I wanted the steak to be cooked.

I tried the steak and it tasted like the cow was still alive.

Extremely meaty flavour, which almost made me puke.

I left the dish after taking a quarter bite of one of the pieces.

I absolutely love wagyu steak and never leave steak behind.

This was literally the first time I've hardly touched a wagyu dish, which speaks volumes about this place.

DESSERT

Pear and chocolate sauce with a Danish pastry on the side.

The chocolate sauce tasted very cheap, as if it's a Woolworths chocolate sauce, with very little flavour.

The flavours of the pear, chocolate and the cream sauce just didn't match at all.

Again seemed to me like the chefs just literally threw whatever they had in the kitchen and called it a day.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE EXPERIENCE

Although the ambiance was good and the waiters spent a good amount of time explaining each meal...

The eating experience was completely butchered with very bland dishes with zero flavour profile.

We spent close to $400, for a meal that I would hardly say is worth $80.

We would certainly never come back and still don't understand how overhyped this place is.

Yet in recent memory has to be one of the worst dining experiences I've had.

Hopefully this review has shed some light on my experience and helps fellow foodies to make an informed decision.

I'd hate for someone to book a special night, only to be left as...

AMAZING EXPERIENCE! DEFINITELY BOOK! You won't regret it. We're planning to book again soon!

Pictures and dishes are based on when we went in December 2023.

Before you come, I recommend watching Chefs Table on Netflix, Lennon Hastie episode to understand the chef's journey. It will get you even more excited for the night.

We opted for the 6 course meal and we did not regret it. It includes the snack David Blackmore beef and Kiwami Wagyu.

Service: Impeccable. To a point where I ordered my second mocktail and the waitress noticed there was apple juice in it and came back to check with me (I'm allergic to apple and other things). Every time the plates were taken, the waiter cleared up everything very smoothly. It felt like clockwork. There was an instance where another customer accidentally knocked against our table and when the waiter came by after, he was shocked at the mess cause he knew he made sure everything was clean. We explained what happened and he even offered to make our spilled drink again. The attention to detail and efficiency is the best I've seen in Sydney.

Food: We still dream about our meal. We talked about it to all our friends. 6 course meal: $245 was worth every penny.

Add on: Smoked Oyster - lovely taste, texture and well presented.

David Blackmore beef - burst of flavour and perfect match with the wasabi leaf.

Bontio, blood plum, shiso - Mind blowing. It was one of my favourite dishes.

Charred Cos - this really showed how Lennon Hastie also puts as much focus on vegetables as he does for meat. It was absolutely delicious. It was paired with a wonderful 16 year old sourdough smoked in house and smoked butter.

Murray cod - good

Bundarra pork - This was out of this world. The best pork belly I have eaten in my life. This could rival any beef dish. When we cut into it, it was firm but when we put it in our mouth it was so soft. The texture and taste was 10/10.

Kiwami Wagyu - ✨✨✨✨✨ We stopped talking to each other and just savoured moment of this Wagyu. This was perfection. Not sure if it was because we were full but we didn't eat the oyster mushrooms as it was too heavy on the flavour.

Strawberry, tarragon, pepperberry - good

Then surprisingly we had an extra 3 mini desserts that weren't on the menu. They served it to all the tables too.

Smoked s'mores - shock of smoke accompanied by sweetness of marshmallow and dark chocolate center.

Pineapple jelly - roller coaster of sweet and sour. Loved it. It tasted like they fit 8 pineapples into this tiny cube.

Chocolate Cherry truffle - lovely

Drinks: Cocktails: Plum what may. My partner was the waitress to surprise him and he got off the menu Peach keen. Mocktail: Wildfire and I forgot the other mocktail names but they...