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If you find out that eating at one of Sydney‘s hottest new restaurants will cost at least $325 per person, the first question that comes to mind is probably: is it worth it?
It’s a lot of money, whether we’re in a cost-of-living crisis or not. The amount for one person is what many people would spend on a group meal, including drinks.
But what is expensive for some may be good value for others, depending on the occasion and how much an incredible dining experience means to you.
Here’s a look at what to expect from an evening at Allta, should you decide to go… without revealing too much, so there’s still room to be surprised.
The atmosphere
It’s intimate. The restaurant seats 12 people in a horseshoe-shaped arrangement, with most seats offering a view of the kitchen. It’s a fairly relaxed atmosphere for a fine dining restaurant, with jazzy background music and clean lines in the design, which consists of a mix of marble and wooden elements.
The reservation note asks guests to “minimize phone use, other than taking photos.” The food is so beautiful that you want to capture it from every angle, and knowing that most of the other guests are doing the same makes you feel less awkward. But otherwise it’s a good opportunity to get away from it all.
The food
The food is undoubtedly the star of the show – all 15 courses. Chef Jung-Su Chang has created a menu that showcases the best of fine Korean cuisine and offers the perfect balance of taste, texture and beauty.
The meal starts with ‘Tuna Bite’ and ‘Beef Tartare’, both of which pack a flavor punch. Then ‘Naeng-chae’ comes along and you start to really appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into each dish. This has assorted vegetables, cut into matchstick-sized strips, tied together with a boiled egg yolk knot.
I’ve been to some fancy establishments but have never seen (or eaten) anything like this.
Several dishes get the hibachi grill treatment. The delicious dish ‘Leek’ is cooked in the sous vide for exactly 19 minutes and 30 seconds and melts in your mouth.
Their take on gukbap, a rice-and-soup dish usually associated with late-night shenanigans (“Korean version of a late-night kebab,” that’s how it was described to us) is incredibly warming, filling and comforting. At this point we were only half way.
I won’t talk about every dish, but it’s worth knowing that there’s a lot of seafood on the menu, including scampi, marron and dental fish (at the time of writing).
The add-ons
For an additional charge, you can add wine or tea pairings to complement your meal. The tea package costs $65 per person and the most expensive wine package is an additional $777 per person.
We did the tea pairing and it wasn’t what we expected – in a good way. The tea is presented as cocktails, in beautiful glasses with garnishes. Over the course of the night we had four; they are designed to complement three to four dishes. And because the food is the star of the show, the tea flavors are subtle, yet very thoughtful.
The service
For a meeting of just 12 people, you would expect top-notch service, and Allta’s staff delivers. Each dish comes with a detailed explanation, which is welcome as the menu is quite vague. Without you realizing it, empty glasses are taken away and water glasses are refilled.
The personal experience
There are some personal elements of the experience that prove Allta believes the little things count. Coats and bags are packed upon arrival and returned to the correct guest at the end of the evening. Chef Jung-Su makes the rounds once the service is over to thank you for dining and enjoying his food.
I don’t want to give it all away, but let’s just say that you’ll probably leave the experience with more than just a very full and satisfied belly.
Is it worth it?
Ultimately it comes down to what you value. I probably should have prefaced this review by saying that my partner and I are big foodies and enjoyed every bite (even when I was incredibly full by the end). I still think about the food, even a few weeks after I ate it, and I have shown my photos to many people.
It costs at least $650 for two people to eat, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. If you choose to dine at Allta and want to keep costs down, in my opinion you can skip the welcome champagne and accompanying drinks and either stick to water or choose a drink that you enjoy drinking for a few courses. This way the food gets your full attention.
The writer dined as a guest of Allta.
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