Argyle House in Camden lights up with its Dining Domes. These clear domes are perfect for a special date or a group event – they’re like your own private dining room. Come along as we try one of the dining domes for a date night.
It's a chilly winters night when we make the drive to Camden, about an hour away from Sydney. Argyle House is located within an historic building called Whiteman's Arcade. In 2020 the site burned down and it has now been rebuilt and has reopened as Argyle House in June 2025. Here, one could turn right and have dinner inside a warm dining room or you can head outside where for festoon lighting twinkles above 10 clear polycarbonate and aluminium dining domes. The domes look slightly different from how they appear on the website, nevertheless it does feel like an unique setting. The chef is Camden local Jason McQueen (formerly of Quay, Aria and Bel Mondo).
The first question I had was about whether the domes were warm. All of the dining domes have a heater and once you're in there with the fur throw wrapped around you, it's comfortable. In the domes, diners can choose from à la carte or set menu with the à la carte dining offered exclusively on Friday and Saturday evenings. If going with the a la carte option, there is a $125 fee for dome hire, otherwise there are 6 set menus to choose from including a Japanese fusion menu, a steakhouse menu and a seven course degustation which is what we’re having. These are available from Wednesday to Saturday.
One thing that I didn’t realise was that the domes are dog friendly so you can have your dogs in the dome with you. The couple that own Argyle House Nicole and Morney Schlebusch have a tiny toy Yorkie called Coco who rules the roost. Coco also adorns a couple of pieces of art in the restaurant.
We start with a glass of bubbles and an amuse bouche. It’s beef in a veal jus sauce served in a spoon. The beef is tender and succulent and I enjoy the flavoursome jus that it sits in.
A platter of half a dozen oysters arrives. Morney is proudly South African and he tells us how the Pacific oysters have been marinated in a mixture of palm wine from South Africa before being topped with salmon roe. The oysters are very tasty – I haven’t had Pacific oysters in a long time as I usually have Sydney rock oysters but these ice cold oysters disappear in a flash.
Our next course is scallops with prosciutto on a bed of pea purée and crisp pancetta with a lemon butter sauce. This has an excellent balance of flavours and I could easily have half a dozen of these.
What we really love is the privacy. Nobody can hear what you say around you, although they can see you but it’s actually lovely having this private space just to the two of you. We do see other groups like a group of three women and a group of friends and families dining in other domes but I really love this as a date night idea.
The wild mushroom risotto is served with parmesan shavings on top and it is warming and just needs a smidge of salt and pepper added to it.
The main meat course is duck breast with beetroot purée and poached dried figs. The flavours of this are very good with the aroma of warming spices and I take to the beetroot sauce with a spoon trying to scoop up every last bit. I think a bit of bread would have also been nice to have with the menu just for those sauces.
There is also a refreshing citrus and basil sorbet between mains and desserts.
There's no menu provided on the night and if you go by what is on the website there have been some changes. For example the chocolate fondant cake is said to come with a liquid caramel centre although this one doesn't. The chocolate fondant is more like a cake without a liquid centre and it is very dark, dense and rich and I like that it is served warm so that it melts the vanilla bean gelato on top and into the cake.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever dined in a dome like this and what did you think of it?
NQN and Mr NQN were guests of Argyle House but all opinions remain her own.
Argyle House
100 Argyle Street Camden, Camden, NSW, 2570
Wednesday & Thursday 11 am–9 pm
Friday & Saturday 11 am–10 pm
Sunday 8:30 am–7:30 pm
Monday and Tuesday closed
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