Review from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008
Guillaume at Bennelong
17/20
Two-hat restaurant
Good Wine list
Guillaume Brahimi has come a long way since his days as understudy to French superstar Joel Robuchon. This rugby-loving Frenchman leads one of Australia's finest restaurants in an iconic, soaring and elegant venue. When it's on song, expect an epic production, immaculately staged as fleets of waiters circle wielding encyclopaedic wine lists and offering a choice of butter (salted/ unsalted). Brahimi's rich and generous French - influenced fare can command a standing ovation: sticky braised oxtail pressed into a terrine that's struck with a jewel of foie gras; a quenelle of goat's ricotta teetering on an ultra-fine tomato tart; and wagyu rib-eye that's a curtain raiser in itself - presented whole to the table before carving, then returning with silver serviced vegetables. Lately, however, the occasional miscue has marred the stellar performances, especially when the service is under pre-theatre changeover pressure or when the usually intricate food has fluffed it's lines. But seduction is guaranteed with a passionfruit souflee and sorbet. or just pop in for post-theatre tapas in the upstairs bar.
Review from the Australian Gourmet Traveller, Restaurant Guide Australia 2008
Guillaume at Bennelong
Three-star restaurant
Excellent Wine list
"It's the rare restaurant that can offer a $65 main course with confidence, let alone an entree special. The amazing thing is, seated amid the finery and grandeur of the dining room inside the Opera House, it doesn't seem so preposterous. That course - a sublime tangle of linguine, sweet scampi meat and a generous dollap of caviar - is unusually pricey even here, but, beyond enjoying crab sandwiches at the bar before a show, this is no budget proposition. For your spend, though, you get service rarely matched in Australia, and the benefit of Guillaume Brahimi's good taste and grasp of fine cooking. Go fresh and frisky with Iberico ham, figs and 20 year old balsamico or full-flavoured with veal sweetbreads in a lush veloute of green asparagus and a flourish if truffles with a menu that cossets rather thatn challenges. Rarefied living at it's most comfortable"
Review from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007
Guillaume at Bennelong
18/20
Three-hat restaurant
Good Wine list
"Surrender to the world-class view, to an iconic masterpiece from a Danish legend and to legendary food from a French master. Guillaume Brahimi delivers a decadent, Dionysian experience that makes this site a modern wonder for reasons culinary as well as architectural. A recent make-over has made it all the more spectacular. Feasting under the Opera House's cavernous concrete ribs can feel surreal and perhaps the food can be a little too rib-stickingly rich, but this is true fine-dining theatre. Roasted marron wrapped in proscuitto with risotto, veal jus and truffle is comfort food for kings. Kangaroo Island chicken breast is breathtakingly moist beneath a crisp skin, with duck foie gras ravioli. Whole books could be written about the huge wagyu beef rib eye for two, cooked on the bone and served with field mushrooms and merlot sauce - plus that wonderfully, wickedly rich Paris mash. Superb service under Craig Hemmings and sommelier Stuart Halliday high wires between expert and charming. Grand Marnier souffle with chocolate sorbet is a symphonic finale."
Reviews from the Australian Gourmet Traveller, Restaurant Guide Australia 2007
Guillaume at Bennelong
Three-star restaurant
Excellent Wine list
Guillaume at Bennelong Three-star restaurant Excellent Wine list
“With respect to the various companies that call it home, the most polished performance we’ve seen here occupies the smallest of the Opera House sails. A slew of Sydney’s best floor talent glides between beautifully set tables and peerless views, while the Joel Robuchon-trained Guillaume Brahimi overseas a menu that is utterly French in its precision, and pure Sydney in its vigour. Textbook beef consommé contains a lock of winter vegetables sliced hair-thin and a judicious scattering of fresh truffle and veal tongue. Main courses swing from ginger-spiked barramundi and yabbies with carrot and cucumber pearls to the old-school pleasures of cloud-like roasted veal sweetbreads with green asparagus veloute and more truffles. There are few finer fine apple tarts in the city, while the wine list has great scope (and great potential to scar the gold card). A well-rehearsed triumph”
