Make sure you look up the directions before heading to 12-Micron as it’s a bit tricky to find. Make your way past all the restaurants on the water and find your way to the entrance and hop in the lift and you’ll find your way into this enormous venue. It occupies a whole level of this Barrangaroo tower.
The space has huge kitchens, with separate kitchens for savoury and sweets, you can see them busily working from afar. There’s also a bar where you can order drinks and a few small bites to eat. The view from here is superb. In regards to drinks the salted caramel martini was amazing.
Named after a superfine grade of merino wool fibre (or so i’m told from my farming friends), the aesthetic is beautiful, tying in these influences into their architectural elements.
With a menu prepared by executive Chef Justin Wise of The Press Club and The Point Albert Park, the menu features food with Australian ingredients and influences from the earth, ocean, land and air. There is a 5 or 7 course tasting menu as well as ala carte. We went for the ala carte. The food was all presented beautifully, showing a great deal of technique. We did have mixed feelings on the taste of the savoury food. Keep reading though as the desserts are an absolute hit.
From course one, we tried the 64 degree egg with cauliflower and grains – this was a lovely light dish, as well as the Kingfish, fennel, jalapeño, finger lime.
From course two, we were all not fans of the Yam dish with olive and myrtle flavours, it was just a bit bland and expensive for what it was.
The Moreton Bay Bug, king prawn, shellfish emulsion had some lovely bugs, however the “pasta” and liquid in the bottom was a little odd.
One of the best dishes was the Pork jowl, black pudding, riberries, chestnut
The steak was a bit expensive, and not amazing for the price, served with a few thick cut chips, but the duck was lovely.
The service was not particularly good. The main desk staff were a little abrupt and the waitstaff, despite trying their best and being extremely polite, they all seemed a bit lost. They were a bit confused as to who was taking the order, or who was getting the drinks, removing the plates etc. To take down your order on a notepad, seems a little 20th century. It simply seems the staff need more training and coordination. I think the staff member sensed this, and was very encouraging when we asked to have our dessert at the dessert bar.
The dessert menu and space redeemed the visit. 12-Micron’s 64-seat dessert bar is like a separate venue – there’s a different menu and you can order off the menu or try the degustation. We sat at the bar watching the chefs in action. We appreciated the engagement from pastry chef Ashley Smith as he explained the dessert concepts, how they were put together. Every single dessert we tried was incredible. Below are those we tried. All showing divine flavours and great technique. They were generous servings and the winner on the day was 100% the Mango!
- Peanut butter, rosella and toast icecream
- S’more – brown sugar, wattleseed and bitter orange
- Chocolate, passionfruit and rainforest lime
- Mango, macadamia, dessert lime and white chocolate
We did enjoy the savoury menu, just a few of the dishes we could have went without. Desserts are a hit and we would certainly re visit for those.