There could probably be reams of paper wasted on how hopeless I am at following directions. Even though the eatery 13B has the very street number in the lane, I was the person looking around confused and scowling with a facial expression that reads “Where is that damn place?”.

I finally figure out where I am and enter the black walled and small eatery with some quirky, whimsical touches. The lunch menu has a total of 14 items including some version of pizzas and sandwiches which do sound awfully good. But me I’m just besotted by the current slider and mini burger trend and the fact that the burgers come with fries (which I feel all burgers really should). Formerly called The Safe House it has been renamed to 13B because of course that is the number where it sits on Burton Street in Darlinghurst (not that that helps me). There are black walls and ornate gold candlesticks and the atmosphere is welcoming and warm.

Chai $6

The chai tea comes in a teapot with a milky loose leaf Elmstock chai tea. I had to ask for the honey which was quickly furnished and a teaspoon was all I needed for a sweet, aromatic cup of milky chai.

Mini burgers $13

The burgers come out on toasted slightly hard buns with a herbed pork and veal mince which is moist and juicy like a sausage mince filling with a good amount of garlickly aioli sauce, caramelised onions for sweetness, tomato, lettuce and melted tasty cheese. They’re very good and even though I only meant to eat one of these I ate both quite happily. The only thing that I would possibly change is the buns to be a softer bun as they were a little harder to bite into. The chips are more oven baked wedges which have just the right amount of seasoning via some rosemary and salt on top.

Prawn risotto $18

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I find myself getting constantly lost in the new Westfields Shopping Centre (there’s something quite strangely spiral about the layout or maybe it’s my brain that is spiralling). But if I were to give you directions on how to get to 360 Bar & Dining it would be the way I find things-via shop name. So walk past Prada, Miu Miu and Gucci and go up the escalators where there is a reception area on level 4 (even though level 4 is just one level above street level-confusing right?). There you will be handed a card with your name on it and the number of passengers for the elevator ride (in our case, it wasn’t correctly filled and this caused a minor kerfuffle) and your bag will then get a bit of a search too from a security guard.

An ear popping ride up to the 85 storeys above and we have arrived at 360 Bar and Dining. operated by the Trippas White Group it sits on the level below the buffet and revolves at a rate of one rotation every 85 minutes. Mr NQN and I had visited for a Ferrero Rondnoir chocolate degustation dinner two years ago for the Crave food festival and this year we are visiting to check out their Crave offering- any 2 courses with matching wine for $90 (normally $85 for 2 courses without wine which is admittedly on the higher end of prices in Sydney).

Peach bellini $19

We first have a cocktail in the cocktail bar which given that I was drinking on an empty stomach may not have been the best idea. The cocktails are potent and my white peach bellini made with sparkling wine is a pretty specimen and before long the whole room is spinning-and I don’t mean the slow rotation. One thing that I do wish they had were some nibblies like crackers or nuts because I was only able to finish a third before I started to feel things going around me.

Ginger boy $20

Spicy and heady like a gingerbread man it was described as “Hennessy VSOP cognac, Tia Maria, ginger liqueur and spiced cardamom syrup. Shaken with chunks of fresh muddled ginger and cinnamon sugar.”

Bread

I need to eat now as my brain is spinning in a multitude of directions and so we take a seat at a table.The bread can’t come out fast enough and there’s a choice of sourdough and soy and linseed, both nice and fresh (although I do love warm bread) and served with a great butter or olive oil with a sweet vinegar and gratefully, it was replenished.

Oysters ½ dozen sydney rock oysters, cider & seaweed vinegar

There’s only one way to eat Sydney Rock oysters and that really is to eat them with a Sydney view. And these come with half a lemon and a chardonnay cider and seaweed vinegar which adds a refreshing tangyness to the fresh, iced oysters.

Tuna tataki yellow fin tuna, asparagus, baby coriander, fried courgette & lime dressing

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When we dine out with a particular group of friends, friends of nearly 15 years, I get a bit nervous. Because one of my  friend’s husband’s is called Hot Dog. He has a Grizzly Adams beard and as I say on my dining companions page, for a waiter he can either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. And we’re just hoping that we get a waiter with a sense of humour because when dining at expensive restaurants, Hot Dog likes to play it up. It’s hard to explain 15 years of friendship with his wife to restaurant staff, so we just hope that they play along and realise that he is only joking.

The six of us are booked into Quarter 21 which is one of Justin and Georgia North’s new restaurants. The quarter in the name represents the four quarters of the business; Becasse, Etch, Quarter 21 and Le Grand Cafe. The twenty one is a reference to twenty one grams or what has purported to be the weight of the soul. The restaurant slogan says “eat for the soul” and I almost expected slightly different food to reflect this although the offerings are very much in line with their other restaurants.

We decide after some dithering to go with the degustation for the whole table, $90 for seven courses or $130 including wine per person.

Amuse bouche

The amuse bouche is thin slices of bresaola (air dried beef), feather light with some anchovy mayonnaise. It is a lovely salty start to the evening and of course Hot Dog starts on our poor waiter where he asks if he had to pay for this course. The waiter is well versed in people like Hot Dog and has him firmly in his crosshairs charming him. Relief!

Salad of beetroot and endive, Bellingham blue, hazelnut and pear

This salad has beetroot in a few incarnations: pickled, raw and confit with small endive leaves, some Bellingham blue cheese mousse, hazelnuts and lightly poached pear. It comes together perfectly with the slightly sweet beetroot, rich blue cheese mousse, a contrast from the slightly bitter endive leaves and the toasted hazelnuts give the dish a lovely warmth.

Cured kingfish, citrus, radish and black pepper

When they sat this down I exclaimed that this was one of my favourite dishes. I’ve had it at their sister restaurant Etch a couple of times and I’ve had it at a recent dinner where Etch chef James Metcalfe cooked it for us. It’s a fillet of kingfish that is marinated in aromatic Asian spices like star anise and coriander and it is then cured with salt. Although this time it wasn’t my favourite dish as it just tasted predominantly of citrus from the sour pink grapefruit. I much preferred it when it had ginger and sesame on it which also gave it a lovely sheen and glossiness whereas the kingfish is comparatively more matte on top.

Civet of ocean jacket, prawn and mussels, scallop tortellone, lemongrass and ginger

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