Restaurant Updates: Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong

I've had the good fortune of having some really great clients, clients that I really hit it off with. AF is one of those gem of a clients. She got back from her trip to Oz with her family and was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to give me a detailed update over a 2-hour breakfast chat at Starbucks (even though she doesn't drink coffee). Here's her update:

Sydney
Rockpool is still great. The only other meal that ranked higher during their trip was Ezard in Melbourne. Bill's (433 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst; T: +61 2 93609631) was a great place for breakfast and Four Seasons is showing its age, although their baby amenity kit and bed-setting was a nice touch (although the mix-up in luggage was not).

Hayman Island
Service was excellent. The rooms exceeded her expectations in terms of decor and spaciousness. Food was very average and insanely expensive if ordered a la carte. Whitehaven beach was gorgeous, but the Outer Reef Experience operated by Cruise Whitsunday's was poorly operated (the so-called swimming enclosure for children was a joke).

Melbourne
As mentioned above, Ezard was super. Saville Park Suites was great value for money in a great location. The European was great for breakfast and The Press Club was inspiring with its Greek molecular cuisine.

Back in Hong Kong, I was in for a pleasant surprise when AP suggested going to Opia at JIA for dinner. I had been to Opia when it first opened (and incidentally heavily-marketed as having Ezard ties), but had not been impressed and hadn't gone back since. I should have really learnt by now, never to judge a restaurant within the first 3 months of its opening, but I can never resist trying a new restaurant. And I also know to trust in Chubby Hubby's evaluation to give Opia a second chance. The 6-course tasting menu was very good value for money at HK$695/head; it offers better food than some of the restaurants that currently receive top billing in this town. My favourite was the crisy skin Mulloway on top of a truffled potato cake with a drizzling Bhutanese honey. Absolute ambrosia!