Noma Australia - Barangaroo

Because the experience was so surreal & perfect, a review on trip advisor needs to exist, and where better for it to be, then alongside reviews of Noma's previously successful pop-up: Noma, Australia. From the beginning to the end of the dining experience, there was...More

Whilst fine dining at the pointier end is certainly expensive, I do think it is one of those luxury experiences that is actually very accessible to almost everybody. Do you want to taste the best wine in the world? Stay in the best hotels? Ten, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. You're probably going to need to be a millionaire, but to eat the best food in the world in the best restaurants? It's a fraction of the price.Anyway, that's how I justified eating at Noma.For us, it was worth every penny. The smart and knowledgeable service team were faultless. Watching them work together was like watching a fine clock work. Rene Redzepi even waited tables at the start of lunch before the kitchen became busy.Chefs serve the dishes themselves and give all the information you'd expect, without ever becoming boring or intrusive. Matched wines were perfectly selected and enhanced each course.At the end of the meal we drank gin in their garden on Barangaroo and chatted with Rene himself, before he graciously had our menus signed by the whole team and posed with us for a group picture.Once in a lifetime? I think so. One of the world's best restaurants for a few weeks in our home city experimenting with our own ingredients? Doesn't happen often.

I was very fortunate to be treated to this rare event- because that's what dinner at Noma is like. An event or exhibition. Basically food as theatre.They made every effort to embrace the wealth of produce available in Australia, and every dish came with a story and a theme. My salivary glands worked overtime on some of the dishes using native berries- kind of like eating potpourri. I liked some of the dishes very much but to say it was something I'd love to eat over and over is not correct. They were telling a story with the food- kind of like their adventures in Australia. Somehow I think that if they more conversant with the ingredients they would have made better dishes. I still enjoyed the experience and would love to see what other stories they can tell with food in Denmark

We went for lunch on a grey Sydney day. On entering the restaurant, all the staff (I'm not kidding) stop what they're doing to assemble and greet you. The room was gorgeous - stark, beautiful Australian stone, red concrete floor. The staff in their crisp cream uniforms became part of the scenery. Table settings were faultless. A bit odd that the only drink available on arrival was a gin and tonic. We were offered matched wines without price being disclosed ($215 and $90 for matched juice). The food was interesting and intricate. No meal (as in food itself) can be worth $485, but the experience was worth it and we could definitely see where the investment was made in time, training, research, staff, presentation etc. Rene also personalised the experience by making generous time to speak with diners. No regrets!

Thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Noma, being greeted by Rene on arrival set the tone for the day. The staff were super friendly and very informative as you would expect. Trying different foods that were sourced from all over Australia was amazing and something we will always remember. Would probably recommend not getting the matching wines, as it is mostly seafood, I think just getting a nice bottle or two of white would have been sufficient.