ARIA Sydney...Disappointing experience

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Katie said:
Matt Moran is the chef, and I believe therebis atleast one other business partner involved.
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But he can't be everywhere at once. Too many restaurants with the same name, is the chef any ( as) good as Moran ?
If he/she is , then why work for Matt Moran?
 
GPH said:
But he can't be everywhere at once. Too many restaurants with the same name, is the chef any ( as) good as Moran ?
If he/she is , then why work for Matt Moran?
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When they spend most of their time on TV, planes, food shows or whatever else celebratory chef's get up to - IMO it's time to go & find an upcoming establishment that actually has the chef in the kitchen.
 
I think they are trading off the name.

There is 2 restaurants and only 1 Matt Moran unless they have cloning technology so I guess your restaurant is only as good as the person in the kitchen.

I would be guessing Matt would be spending less and less time in the kitchen's and more and more time on his other commitments.

Many years ago I went to Darren Simpson's restaurant Aqua Luna in SYD and he was in the kitchen and it would have had to be one of my best meals I have ever had.
 
Moran isn't only involved in the execution of a meal - he is involved in meal creation, training the staff, managing the restaurants. I'm sure any well versed cook could construct one of his meals but not all cooks are creative enough to come up with the recipes.

I've eaten in both Aria's and think the Sydney one was better than Brisbane. But it was great to have a choice for a nice big name restaurant by the water in Brisbane, which for a while was lacking. As an aside, I want to try the Brisbane Sake as we love love love the Sydney Sake.
 
Possibly the worst restaurant I have ever eaten in. A massive disappointment all round, apart for the lovely wine waiter. Service was terrible, food almost non-existent and inedible; $450 to go home hungry & fill up on toasted sandwiches. As another diner there said, I feel as if I've been mugged. If you want a really special night out, go to Tetsuyas instaed & experience real service.
 
Whereas I spent the same ( for 4 ) on Thursday night in Townsville at the Salt Cellar.
I was really impressed with the food, as good as anything I have had anywhere.
Palmer st has some pretty good dining experiences
We did have 3 bottles of red, mains about $35.00 and entree about $20.00-$25.00
I can highly recommend it


It is I, Leclerc !
 
I had an, overall, enjoyable meal there once but agree that it wasn't really filling. But I'm not a huge eater anyway, so wasn't a big deal for me.

BUT what was a significant disappointment was the weevil in the fig for entree. It was a half fig with some sweet cheese and as I was cutting into it, I noticed that there was a silky web over the middle of the fig. I thought 'oh that's strange', so as I removed the web, there, lying back staring at me, was a little weevil or worm thing. I called the waiter over discreetly, so as not to embarrass my host, who removed the plate and replaced the item with an apology. But how bad is that!

Notwithstanding, the rest of the meal was lovely. But I could never return on the basis of that incident. Every time I see Matt Moran bleating on on Masterchef about food prep and presentation, "yeah", I remember that weevil!
 
We go to Aria,Cafe Opera and Sydney Cafe when it is my turn to cook in Sydney. Otherwise it could be David Jones Food Hall and we have never had any issues. No bugs out of place in our food.
AFL football and Melbourne ....The Langham smorgasbord works for us even though they surcharge 1.5% on a credit card.
I guess you can be unlucky pretty much anywhere but usually you can get the problem fixed.
 
Bumping the thread along has anyone been to aria since and all good?
 
Believe it or not I went again 2 weeks ago after the less than stellar experience a couple of months ago. Wasn't my choice, was with friends. Food is definitely declining and wasn't the wonderful experience it was when I first went there a few years back. Highlight is the truffle mash which i adore. Rest of the menu wasn't too inspiring. Stayed well away from the Pork Belly this time, and had the Barramundi which was ok.
Service spotty. Too many wait staff not really doing much at all, and all stand around and watch you eat.
 
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mella2007 said:
hehhehe....no, but I felt like pulling out pen and paper and pretend to be a food critic just for the reaction!
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The idea of looking like a food critic would work, if it was not for the fact that they have photos of all the Food critics on the wall in the kitchen.Like you I have had mixed luck with Aria,they will never get 3 stars from Michelin, but are happy to charge like it is a 3 star, if they need photos of the food critics then you must ask yourself how consistent they are at producing good food.

I think Matt may need to spend a little more time in the kitchen, and less time promoting his talents on TV

The Dyslexic Traveler
 
We do the 5.30 pm pre show dining and Aria has always been good for us. We do let them know we are locals and we call ahead to make the booking. Mrscove is a fan and she can be picky. We never do the later evening dining.
 
Spruce it is next door when we are in Sydney. Aria and the smorgasbord up the street at Cafe Opera in the IC are both good fun but Cafe Opera only give us one free meal.
 
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Yes we go there often. It is Machiavelli's for an Italian lunch.....yum!
 
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