Grain Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

This is a nice place to have a drink if you are staying at the four seasons hotel and don't want to head down into the rocks. It has recently been refurbished, and is reminiscent of a London hotel bar.

They have champagne by the glass ($25) however 4 out of the 5 visits has resulted in me sending it back because it was too warm. Being a champagne lover, the temperature is importantly. More so at $25 for a glass. I'd always recommend just ordering the bottle :) Most importantly, they have Ruinart BB available by the bottle. Is it $215 though :(

I have only had the fries when eating here, so can't really comment on the food but the fried chickpea rings and pepperberry yogurt sound delicious.

Atmosphere: 8/10 verging on romantic when the music isn't on too loud, but it is definitely a suits place. Chairs: 9/10. Definitely somewhere you can sit for a while. Bubbles: 5/10 - when they consistently give me a cold glass i'll be happy. Staff: 9/10. Despite me sending back bubbles they are more than happy to give me another glass without getting snooty. Very good service.

Oustanding point: check out the mini metal figures art climbing up the back wall. They are all individually different. Beautiful to look at. I asked about it once but the bar staff didn't know about it...

Ambience was nice, sat by the window and people watched while having a drink and a couple bites. Found the cocktails good but a tad too sweet.I probably should have stuck to the whiskey. The wait staff was very nice and attentive.

The food I thought left a lot to be desired. I ordered the $38 steak medium rare, it came medium well. Sent back and they said they would fix (ok, not a huge deal as long as they fix). Came back a second time well done. Waiter was nice enough to take it off bill, give me a glass of wine on the house, and get a 3rd steak which only came out medium. But after waiting over an hour and a half for a medium rare steak I never got, I wanted to go back into the kitchen myself and cook that thing. Crazy.

However, what really boggles my mind beyond is I asked for a steak knife (I had a butter knife) which they said they don't have. I was told 'the steak is very soft'. What!?!? How does a restaurant that serves a $38 steak attached to the Four Seasons not have steak knifes?Please explain to me how you have not made this very small investment in your restaurant.

Lesson for this place is stick to the whiskey and you'll have a very...

I had heard that this was one of the top bars in the area, so we were really looking forward to it, and also to the concept of it, where the drinks have a bit of an international flare. And although I greatly appreciated the concept, and my husband’s drink, my drink fell a little bit flat. It just wasn’t complex or interesting enough. Perhaps I just ordered wrong? I had the Discover pandan. He had the Eastwood martini.

Also, our server was quite attentive, and the place was pretty, but even after it was all dressed up with the beautiful wood, I could not help but feeling like I was in a hotel bar. Some places just have a hard time shaking that vibe, so even though it’s part of a high-end hotel chain, it still felt hotel-bar-like. It certainly was a great example of a hotel/bar though.

The little bar snacks are nice and appreciated.

So I would place this as a four out of five. Good drinks, excellent service, but did not really feel like a local place, if that makes sense? With so many other places in the area to choose from, this was not a...