The Rook — Restaurant in Sydney

You don’t stumble into The Rook - you have to know it’s there. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sign leads you into a fairly anonymous building in the city centre. Take the lift to the top floor, walk through a floral arch, and you’re in. There’s a feeling you’ve found something - not quite hidden, but not shouting either.

To start, I went with the truffle fries ($14). You can get the stripped-back version - no truffle oil, no parmesan - for $12, but you’d have to be wilfully joyless to do that. These ones were crisp, rich, and confident enough to justify the extra $2.

For the main, the Pork Schnitzel Holstein ($35): a classic European situation; breaded pork, fried egg, anchovy, capers. A little history lesson: the Holsteiner schnitzel is named after a Prussian diplomat who liked his egg, anchovy and meat all on one plate, allegedly because he couldn’t be bothered with courses. Friedrich von Holstein: patron saint of the hungry and impatient.

The schnitzel was as deliciously salty as you’d expect from something smothered in anchovies and capers. If you’re someone who snacks on capers by choice, you’ll love it. Hot, golden, unapologetic. I’d order it again.

The rest of the menu looked solid. I was tempted by the yellowfin tuna tostada ($14) and the prawn roll ($31), but my friend ordered the schnitzel I had been eyeing, and I wasn’t emotionally prepared to make the wrong call and have food envy.

One slightly odd touch: cartoons of Tom & Jerry and Pink Panther were projected silently onto the wall. It felt a bit out of place - like eating dinner inside a forgotten childhood memory. Not a dealbreaker, just a strange detail in an otherwise well-executed night.

All up, The Rook is a good rooftop spot that rewards the effort of finding it. Sharp food, relaxed service, and the kind of place you leave already thinking about what to...

This is one of the worst cocktail experiences I’ve ever had. My partner and I were excited for a night out with lobster and delicious cocktails. Ready to spend some money on a niche rooftop cocktail bar as described by the other reviews. But, don’t be fooled by the reviews this place was absolutely horrible. We ordered the “Strawberry Fizz” and “Morning Dew”, after tasting the completely undrinkable Strawberry Fizz my partner ordered and looking at the half poured Morning Dew with half the champagne flute of egg white which was completely average lemon flavoured dishwater, I let the waitstaff know I wouldn’t be drinking anymore of the cocktails we had ordered and that we didn’t even want them anymore - he tried to argue with me telling me that they were very popular and I let him know I don’t care if they’re popular because I don’t want it and I don’t want to drink it. We then had some gins signed as a “house gin” which were very nice and we finished with those and didn’t bother to eat because the table next to us had some food and to be honest it left much to the imagination. We are now drinking cocktails at Burrow Bar, a much nicer cocktail bar if that’s what you’re after. Thoroughly...

Don't use their "Mr Yum" app to order! We were billed through the app, but the order never went through, then we were billed again at the bar, so we ended up being double charged. Because one charge went to the app, and one went to the bar, I can't get a refund.

I did reach out as recommended below by Rory, and the erroneous amount was refunded without fuss. So I guess to the real review. Their Truffle fries are to die for! Had to get that out of the way first. They get the right balance with parmesian cheese to get enough flavour without overpowering crisp fries and sharp cheesy flavour. I had the burger, which was also above average.

It is a rooftop bar, but it's not fully open, they have a sliding cover over the area, and it was open the night we were there. I see other reviews were disappointed when it was closed, or were expecting something different. The atmosphere did feel a little cramped and dingy, which is the only down side I had. But they did have a couple large groups there, who were moving tables around, so who knows what it's normally like.

Overall an enjoyable night, and they fixed their mistake quickly and without objection, so...