Babylon BC was the place to be. Royalty, immortals, wannabes — they all scrambled for a piece of the opulence beneath those famous Hanging Gardens. Some 3,000 years later, Babylon AD (or maybe CBD) atop Westfield Sydney is tempting sinners and saints alike. The new restaurant and rooftop bar complete with its very own hanging gardens opened this month — and no stone has been left unturned for the millennial version of the excavated ancient city.
The Levantine-style space has a spectacular view over the new world, but the extravagance to be found inside this 1,200 square metre bar takes you back to another era and another world.
The interiors, by Hogg & Lamb architects and interior stylists Stewart + Highfield, comprise a series of adjoining buildings and rooms, bound by a laneway.
Lining the walls are Italian beige travertine archways with booth seating on parquet floors and in the restaurant is a tailor-made Ege carpet and dazzling canopy of gold beaded chains. The tables are Verias Green marble from Greece and Orazia Gold marble from Cairns, all edged with brass. Chairs are in burnt orange and pink mauve velvet or unstained mahogany and leather.
The terrace’s trailing and upright plants provide a modern-day homage to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Tables are as decadently dressed out as they are inside, with Verde Fusion marble tops and chairs in unstained teak and beige vinyl. Glossy black Spanish marble lines the floors and the outdoor bar is in gold brass.
The interior’s centrepiece is the nine-metre bar top of Emperador dark gold Spanish marble, which leads to a veritable metropolis of dining spaces. But don’t go until you have sampled one or more of the six signature cocktails crafted by bar manager David Nutting (Restaurant Hubert, Eau de Vie). Inspired of course by the flavours and spices of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, they include Smoke & Baklava, with mezcal, baklava caramel, lime and eggwhite.
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“The cocktails are rich in colour and taste and together with the whiskies and broader spirits on offer, are the perfect complement to the space and food,” says Nutting. Bottled cocktails include the Baharat Fashioned — a Middle Eastern take on the classic old fashioned, with fat-washed Baharat buttered Plantation Original Dark Rum, banana liqueur, house-made banana sherbet and chocolate bitters. There are also more than 250 whiskies and a curated wine list by sommelier Simon Howland (Nomad, River Café London).
Food by head chef Arman Uz is influenced by the span of Levant including Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt, with the bar menu focusing on mezze (try the duck, almond, coriander and cinnamon sugar gozleme, pictured above) and the 212-seated restaurant combining the seafood influences of the Eastern Mediterranean with the rustic and bold cuisine of the Middle East, split into categories of flora, fauna and ocean and mostly cooked over wood and charcoal.
Try the 12-hour braised lamb neck with manti (lamb dumplings), yoghurt, mint and chilli butter (pictured above)— a play on the traditional Turkish ‘wedding soup’ designed to be shared among many.
Finish with a modern take on the popular Turkish dessert Kazandibi (pictured above), a caramelised, burnt milk pudding with house-made sour cherry sorbet.
Much of the menu was inspired by chef Uz’s childhood in Turkey. “It draws upon food experiences of my youth, such as eating hummus from street vendors who make it fresh-to-order, and recipes handed down within my family.” The sum of it all is pure indulgence, Babylon-style.
Just next door is another new arrival, Babylon’s sister venue Duck and Rice. It shares the same rooftop but pays homage to the food and culture of the Cantonese.
Visit: babylonrooftop.com.au