V Rating: V-ware
Where: Level 36, 176 Cumberland St., Shangri-La Hotel, The Rocks
When: Dinner: 6pm - late, Mon - Sat.
Tel: (02) 9250 6123.
Price: Veg Entree: $25. Veg Main: $35.

Altitude, on level 36 of Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel, was the venue for a dinner with overseas work colleagues. It was awarded the Australian Hotels Association (NSW) Best Restaurant of the Year in 2005. I naturally feared the worst and decided to check out the menu online.

At least there were a couple of veggie options listed on menu. For entrée, Altitude offered a pressed terrine of heirloom plum tomatoes wrapped in basil served with Woodside goat’s cheese ($25) and for main, a “rice less cauliflower risotto” with blue cheese courgette flowers (at a hefty $35).

A note on the menu suggested that the daily offerings could differ from those listed on the menu, so I took the precaution of emailing the restaurant. My email went something like this:

A few hours later, I had a somewhat concerning reply:

Hmmmm. This was not a good sign. While I would not expect the average Joe or Joanne to know what the term “ovo-lacto vegetarian” means, I do expect better things of people who make a living out of preparing and serving food.

So I decided to chance it.

On arrival, the view was spectacular – overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it’s one of the best in Sydney.

I followed the lead of my dinner colleagues and ordered a mixed leaf salad with sherry dressing ($10) as a starter.

Before it arrived we were served a small complimentary palate cleanser of apple jelly with small salmon chunks. It looked so carefully and delicately prepared I didn’t have the heart to send it back, but nor could I eat it.

The salad was fair, and then came the intruiging “rice less cauliflower risotto”.

Ha! This appeared to be little more than roughly pureed cauliflower, topped with the ubiquitous deep fried zucchini flower filled with (yawn) blue cheese.

So there you have it. The wine list was excellent.

Open up the V-ware files. There is still room for Altitude.

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