Rockpool Bar & Grill

If there was an award for Sydney's grandest, most cosmopolitan restaurant, RB&G would surely get the gong. From immaculate (if not always polished) staff to the majestic soaring dining room, this grand diner is all class. The huge menu lists seafood, salads and pasta but at its heart it's all about steak. And so, from the spectacular wood-fired grill, it comes. on-the-bone, off-the-bone, dry-aged wagyu, grass- and grain-fed in cuts from minute steak to a 400-gram T-bone. Skirt is treated with as much smoky reverence as the rest. From the wood-fired rotisserie, plump partridge finds natural partners in pear puree and roasted chestnut salad, but grilled vegetables were less satisfactory, in a pool of goat's cheese dressing. Cured ocean trout sings with potatoes, parsnip and horseradish cream. An encyclopaedic list ensures you never want for a wine match. A lush almond pudding with rhubarb, strawberry and vanilla sauce is comfort food for the city's power brokers, who have made this their natural home.