'Stralia Day at The Rocks

Idea: Celebrate Australia Day at The Rocks

Today was hot. Very hot. The kind of hot that makes you feel like you're melting. We headed to Cruise Bar first and after being told that they weren't doing any jugs or cocktails as they would "make us drunk" (um.. hello - it's Australia Day... I'm pretty sure that people were drunk by the time the pubs opened and it was 2pm) we ordered some Pimms and Lemonade.

Some random dude in my shot...

We watched Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers from the Rock Stage from our spot at Cruise Bar. But eventually we had to retreat to shade. We strolled up Argyle Street past all the people to The Argyle. Since I've been there last the Argyle has had a make over. A Gazebo - style make over. However, it doesn't quite work. Yes, it's an improvement from the old large booth style seating arrangements. The problem is that it's trying too hard. In the dining area, what is now called Argyle Bazar is like that nerdy little kid at school trying so desperately hard to be cool, but totally missing the point.

Menu

The ugly light shade above our table. Tacky much?

View of the bar section from our table

Passion Sangria

Trying to work out how to pour the sangria with some much fruit jammed into it. We try using a fork, a knife...

Got there in the end!

Sher Wagyu Roast Beef Tortilla $14

Char-grilled Tortilla layered with rare roast beef, horseradish,
capsicum, lemon juice & fried capers

Valencian Bread Salad  $14.  A colourful mix of capsicum, Roma tomatoes, croutons, pine nuts 
& herbs, dressed with balsamic & olive oil

Patatas Bravas $11. Crispy potatoes, served with chilli aioli. To the left: Albóndigas $17, Sher Wagyu meatballs, served with warm tomato relish

The ever elusive water. You may have to ask more than 4 times for this.

I didn't like the new stylings overall. A bit too tacky and not enough kitsch to be cool. The service, or what service should I ask? Was all over the place. Despite being Australia Day, the Argyle Bazar was not packed. We had to repeatedly ask for water and ended up getting some well after all meals had been eaten. All meals were average and too expensive for what they were. The "wagyu" meatballs were bland, the kind of thing you would whip up at home in a minute from cheap mince. The tomato sauce was too thin and no spoon - like implement was given in order to get the sauce. The patatas bravas were average, especially after the amazing ones we had in Jah Bar a few weeks ago. They weren't crispy and tasted like they had been cooked hours ago.

The Valencian Bread Salad was fine. The Sher Wagyu Roast Beef Tortilla tasted like rare roast beef on cold thin crust pizza with a few capers added for decoration. Overall I was extremely "whelmed" as Miss B would say. The Boy also had an air conditioner drip on his head, into his food and in his beer, not a happy chappy. This isn't acceptable even in a dodgy pub.

My recommendations would be to fire all of the staff and start all over again. I asked a man working there clearing plates if we needed to wait to be seated or not, and he looked confused and told me that he didn't know. Unless he clears plates as a hobby, he certainly worked there. Then we waited to try to get someone's attention. Finally, we were told to wait and a table would be set for us. This took some time. I haven't had this bad service for a long time. Next recommendation: get rid of the hideous lamps. Add a bit of character, rather than bland mass produced "attempting to be funky" stuff. And my final recommendation: use jugs that you can pour drinks out of for sangria. Oh, and one more. Improve the food and the prices. That's all for now. Yes, this is one harsh review, but come on! Up your game. There's just too many great options these days in Sydney to be so sloppy.

We decided to have a bit more picnic rug on the grass time, stopping to grab a hot corn on a cob. We were still hungry after our few mouth fulls of "tapas," read: poor excuse to serve pricey small dishes so we got some more food including kababs on sticks and gyoza from the Rocks markets. We watched some more bands then headed home on the ferry enthusiastically waving our free Aussie flags. Good work Angus and Julia Stone for no. 1 in the Triple J Hottest 100! Happy Australia Day everyone! I hope you all had a fab day!