Rose Bay Needed an Adventurous Wine Bar Like Rasa House

The word “rasa” comes from both Indonesian and Hindi, meaning “flavour”, “essence” or “juice”. It’s an appropriate description for Rose Bay’s new 60-seat “flavour and wine” bar.

“There was nothing in Rose Bay that was accessible but affordable,” says Rasa House owner-chef Vinay Matta. “And, you know, interesting. I always compare the place to Zara, because it’s chic, but it’s not stupidly expensive.” The cooking style? “Borderless, number one.”

Matta’s menu roams freely across South and Southeast Asia, pulling in turmeric, tamarind, curry leaf and charred chillies along the way. Most dishes are designed to share, though some are built for solo diners.

When Broadsheet visits, okra fries with lemony mayo were a highlight, alongside Nepalese paneer momos floating on a tangy orange sauce. The Afghan Indian lamb shank boti – slow-braised until collapsing – is served on creamy hung curd and then studded with pomegranate and slivered almonds, with chapati on the side for tearing and scooping, of course.

The chicken satay skewer coated in a peanut sauce hits every mark of smokiness, sweetness and nuttiness. Matta says it’s the most recognisable dish by design: “When creating a menu, you want to kind of do an 80-20 split – 80 per cent you give the people what they’re familiar with, and 20 per cent you have fun with it. But in this instance, we inverted it … it just came off intuition.”

Bar manager Yohan Darriere’s cocktails follow suit with Asian-leaning classics such as The Orange Order (a house take on a Singapore Sling) and a Japanese tea Old Fashioned.

For a new Sydney wine bar, Rasa’s natural-leaning wine list is noticeably tight and was curated with spice in mind. “I’m not the type of person to have 250 bottles,” Matta says. “I want things rotating all the time. Once something’s done, I want to get something new.”

Past the glinting yachts and genteel cafes, Rose Bay’s new addition hums with a looseness that’s rare for this part of the harbour. Low-lit and textural, the venue’s interiors feature plenty of dark timber and earthy tones to offset murals on the wall. A record player spinning everything from Boney M to Wu-Tang Clan sits in the corner, and outside, a bunch of tables overlook the water towards Shark Island.

Rasa House
639B New South Head Road, Rose Bay
0434 618 790

Hours:
Mon to Fri 5pm–11pm
Sat & Sun midday–11pm

rasahouse.com.au
@rasahouseau