12-Micron, Barangaroo

My old high school Meenal had a birthday and we decided to head to 12-Micron located in Barangaroo to celebrate midweek. It's not quite on the water so you need to find the right entrance, up the lift. 

As I walk in, I see a sleek and modern bar area and then the dining area where there are dimly lit tables and booths. The kitchen is to the left and is brightly lit up. I look into the kitchen hoping to see Justin Wise who is their executive chef but I can't see him. I have high expectations as 12-Micron is a two hatted restaurant.

We cheers over glasses of wine and talk about all things in life, boys, work and HR. After some contemplation, we decide to order mains and dessert tonight. 

Both Meenal and I decide to order the Mulloway ($37) for our mains which comes with horseradish, greens, almonds and charred corn. The crispy skin is well seasoned and is salty with a nice crunch. The mulloway is mighty tasty with the mildly horseradish sauce.  This is a simple dish but well executed.

Bec orders the Duck ($39) which is cooked medium rare and comes with beetroot, macadamia and alpine pepper. The duck pieces are a decent portion and match the earthly flavours of the root vegetables.



As a side, we all share some potatoes ($15) with edible chocolate dirt. It's a savoury chocolate that's very subtle.

Following the mains, we order dessert. The above is the Carrot Cake ($18) which has a moist carrot cake, candied carrot strips, blood orange cream, cream cheese frosting, carrot cake ice cream, cream cheese snow and freeze dried liquorice. You can throw all images of carrot cake in your mind out the window as the creativity really comes into play. I'm unsure what to expect and taste as I was eating the elements in this cake. The candied carrot strips throw my tastebuds off a little bit but I enjoy the carrot cake along with the cream cheese snow. 

Bec orders the Cheddar Mousse ($19) which is a baked pyengana cheddar cheese, milk chocolate cream, quince paste, burnt milk crumble and honey comb. This is the least popular dessert among the girls.The honeycomb elements along with the crumble are nice elements however the baked pyengana leaves an uncomfortable after taste - with the dense texture and burnt aftertaste making us leave those elements on the plate.

There's also the popular Peanut Butter Rosella ($22) which our waiter highly recommends and is also our favourite dessert of the night. The peanut butter rosella is a peanut butter mousse and raspberry jelly, golden caramelised nuts, white chocolate, toasted sour dough, ice cream and caramel glass shards. Again, the creativity is a buzz and all my senses are heightened as I eye off all the elements on the plate. I like the subtle and sweet peanut butter mousse with the shards of caramel glass. A lovely texture and flavour combination.

Summary: 12-Micron delivers the expected high quality experience and customer service that you would get from a two hatted restaurant. The food is lovely and the decore is nice. I think for the price point though that there is a lot of competition so time will tell how 12-Micron will fare against the big guns in fine dining.

The girls thought the mains were simple and well executed. The desserts were buzzing with creativity and we were all curious about how all the elements would come together. The combinations were at times strange on the taste buds but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Price: $100ish per person

Location: level 2, 100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo

Opening Hours: 12pm to 1am daily