Chef Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt who’ve created Bentley Restaurant and Bar have now brought its quality to Potts Point. This is a bar with good food. But as explained to us, they wanted to create a place to drop in and have a drink. There’s no bar at this end of Macleay St, Potts Point – now that Lotus restaurant/ bar has been transformed into The Fish Shop in nearby Challis Ave.
The space – the bar and kitchen on one side as you enter – seating and tables line the wall on the opposite. The room has a dark warm ambience and a modern feel – all cleverly delivered by architect Pascal Gomes-McNabb.
We started with a couple of glasses of wine from their impressive collection of 500 plus wines – a sparkling Domaine du Moulin Vin de Table Bulle Rose – from winemakers in the north of the Loire Valley in France producing natural and organic wines. The rose surprised – more complex than a champagne rose with very fine bubbles and a great match with our food the grilled scampi with hazelnut butter. The sweetness and smooth texture of the white flesh of the scampi balanced with the hazelnut.
The other wine which we asked our somilier to suggest was – Domaine Lucci Noir de Florette from Lucy Margaux in the Adelaide Hills – matched with marinated and grilled pork neck with charred baby cucumbers, The pork neck was cut into three small strips which was crunchy on the skin and the flesh was very moist and quite smoky. This wine was also a natural wine – many of the wines on the 500 plus list are organic, bio-dynamic and preservative free. It was exciting to try some wines we had not tried before.
We love that you can choose 30 wines not only by the glass but also by the carafe – a great balance between single glass but not a full bottle. This is one of those wine traditions that we should pick up more from Europe in particular France and Italy, we think it is slowly starting to happen. The Food: a bit more care placed on the food presentation, but its early days at Monopole.
Next we tried a South African chenin blanc – again a natural wine. This again surprised – not the dry notes of a French chenin blanc – more of a fruity start leading to residual sweetness with unexpected latter notes.
To finish – we went for the nectarine sorbet which was velvety and light – luscious pieces of fresh nectarine with minute meringue halves, caramel and a crumble dust scattered about the plate. A deconstruction going on here and it was good.
Monopole is a wine bar with good food – the menu is well chosen and works well with this interesting collection of wines and will be a good addition to Sydney’s cool bar/restaurant scene.
Go for; Very Interesting wines that you can try by the glass. Good food and a chic cool modern space
Don’t go for; Quiet romantic – it gets loud as it fills up.
Monopole
71A Macleay Street, Potts Point 2011, Sydney
Pingback: Best of cool Sydney restaurants - 414 - Quay - Marque - Momofuku Seiobo