Big-ticket steakhouse knows how to play the hits.

There’s one thing that dining at Rockpool always guarantees, and that’s a sense of occasion. The entrance is grand, the room grander, the menu epic and the wine list more so. Thankfully, its other promise since Neil Perry founded the Sydney original – to source excellent Australian produce, cook it attentively and plate it elegantly – has remained true, even well after a change of ownership.

Blackmore dry-aged rhone wagyu skirt, aged for 19 days, is grilled beautifully rare, rested properly then served on warm plates with a lemon cheek and condiments of your choice.

A lot of it is down to Brendan Owens, who keeps a grip on an enormous open kitchen. In their hands, Pemberton marron is rendered sweet and translucent, before a sauce of Kampot pepper and curry leaves bring bite and fragrance. Fresh pasta is skillfully folded around goat’s curd to form tortellini that’s topped with prawns and sauced in brown butter – but then at $44, so it should be.

Service can vary wildly: one waiter may have never heard of a Negroni, another might not know the cut of beef in tartare, but then if you flag the sommelier, you’re likely to get some of the city’s best wine service. And the steaks? Blackmore dry-aged rhone wagyu skirt, aged for 19 days, is grilled beautifully rare, rested properly then served on warm plates with a lemon cheek and condiments of your choice. Promise, meet execution.