Bacchus

Bacchus doesn’t do things by halves.

A hotel restaurant that’s actually worth frequenting, this opulent eatery with its luscious design and chestnut colour palette harnesses the financial firepower of Rydges South Bank to deliver a level of service hard to find elsewhere around town.

Chef Massimo Speroni’s menu is suitably ambitious. Speroni is a veteran of the Michelin-starred Café le Paillotes in Pescara and San Domenico in Imola, as well as Naples’s five-star Romeo Hotel. He brings all that experience to a menu featuring dishes such as octopus ragout with crispy connolo, buffalo ricotta, wasabi and cauliflower purée. And ocean trout served with black turtle bean, parsley gel green beans and puff rice.

There’s a degustation menu that includes an outrageous dessert-only spread that dials Speroni’s flamboyancy up to stun. There’s even a high tea set, if your grandma takes her cuppa with smoked salmon and dill cream cheese cones and za’atar croissants.

The drinks are just as good. Go by the glass to make the most of gun sommelier Andrew Giblin, who wields a Coravin system to peddle an intimidating list of Old and New World options by the glass. Bacchus even has its own highfalutin house wine, courtesy of Kaesler Wines in South Australia.

High tea is held from 2.30pm to 4.30pm Tuesday to Friday, and 1.30pm to 4.30pm on weekends.