Historic = ●
Distinctly
average = ●
Dismal = ●
Oliver Reed was a tearaway. In the
purest sense of the term. Where Reed went, controversy would follow.
A fine actor aside (who could forget when he famously wrestled naked
with Alan Bates in Women In love), he was also a raging and unashamed
alcoholic, notoriously opinionated and forever infamous for being one of England’s
finest hellraisers. He was also one of the first people ever to look good
in a beard.
Oliver Reed died from
a heart attack on May 2nd 1999 while – true to form - drinking with his wife
and friends in a bar in Malta.
Oli Reed
– we salute you as a honorary SupperClub member.
Food rating: ●
Meh. The Smoked Cod Roe Dip with water crackers, trout roe was too salty.
BBQ
Carrots with almond dukkah, labne – really? as a course? The Kingfish
Carpaccio with Nomad creme fraiche, horseradish & kohlrabi was
adequate. The Jersey Milk Haloumi with BBQ zucchini, pinenuts, raisins - decent.
Service: ●
Poor.
Some of the best, worst service I have had in a long time. Comical to a point.
To start with, we had a table booking for 6pm. We were told to arrive promptly.
We did. Only to be left waiting outside until 6.05pm, in the rain, whilst the
staff kept tantalizingly dry inside partaking in a wine tasting exercise. Some
places like to leave customers queuing outside so that people walking/driving
by see how wonderfully popular it is. Great for the restaurant. Not so for the
people waiting outside. But the worst was to come. Whilst talking with my neighbour
the waitress topped up my wine glass (topped
up, it wasn’t empty). I suddenly asked:
“What
wine is that?”
“The Shiraz.”
she explained.
“But I was
drinking the Pinot and I had some in my glass.” I countered.
“No, you didn’t.”
she sparred back. Shrugged, then walked off.
Dear
reader, my glass was not empty, despite what you may know about me. My neighbour
concurred. Empty or not (it wasn’t!) the
waitress reaction was poor form.
General
comments included that the staff were surely and disengaged. The sommelier was informative.
Atmosphere: ●
The building itself is atmospheric. High ceilinged
and stark. A gloomy warehouse turned trendy restaurant. It was cold. But that
may have been due to the fact that I was wet. I believe you create your own buzz
with stories and banter and good cheer. But the Nomad gloom extinguished our
spark this night.
Well, this gets the worst review from a restaurant we have ever visited. Not even getting roaringly drunk helped. It normally does.
Cost: $130 per person. Over ten guests meant we had
the ‘Feed Me’ set menu at $65pp. The rest was wine. This was generally deemed
an expensive night. Worth it? Re-read above.
The
search for Sydney’s best restaurant, continues...
