Bar Roma, SYD Domestic Airport

Bar Roma is a "Coffee, Bistro and Bar", located in the Sydney airport, immediately after security.

My Treats.

Their marketing makes it sound a bit more exciting than it really is:

Bar Roma blends the mood and feel of a traditional pasticceria or trattoria with the convenience of a contemporary retail outlet. 

Bar Roma’s décor is blond wood and bold colours, and its merchandising draws on the authentic flavours and unique warmth of a true Italian offer. The seating area is supported by a range of styles, including lounge, dining and café.  As well as Roman thin crusted pizzas and great pastas, Bar Roma offers an extensive breakfast menu - cooked to order.  Bar Roma has a full bar stocked with a great range of local and imported wines with beers on tap. 

Relax in front of the mega TV screen and enjoy Bar Roma at Sydney Qantas Domestic Terminal and Brisbane Qantas Domestic Terminal.

How great does that sound? A pasticceria or trattoria ... in an airport!  Uh, no.

I jest, but it did have excellent, excellent onion rings.  I'll be back.  I still get hungry remembering them.

Counter and Bar.

What Bar Roma is in reality is a counter where you can order coffee drinks, pastries, and pre-made sandwiches as quick takeaway, or from a more extensive menu, where you can given a buzzer to wait.  You pick up your own food at the bar, where you can also order drinks and bar snacks.

Seating.

They *do* have a variety of seating as advertised, but, when I was there, every seat was taken.

The pastries didn't look very good, but I wanted a baked good to take on my flight to have in a few hours, so I got one anyway.  And a bar snack, because, well, fried food sounded good at the time.  One of these things was great.  The other, awful.

Scone with Jam & Butter. $5.

The cashier wanted to heat my scone up, but I told her I was getting it to take on my flight, and she insisted on heating it anyway.  "You'll want it heated," is what she said.  I think she knew how bad these were.

The scone was horrible.  Really, horrible.  Dry.  It tasted like ... cardboard.  Flavorless.  Horrible texture.  It had a few raisins in it.

Really, really not good.  Served normally with cream and jam, but, she wouldn't give me cream for takeaway, offering packets of butter and Kraft strawberry jam instead.

Anyway.  Such a bad scone.

Onion Rings with Sweet Chili Sauce. $8.

The bar snacks menu had a number of tempting fried options.  Spicy battered potato wedges with sour cream.  Fried pickle chips with aioli.  Calamari frito.  And onion rings.

I was really, really, really craving onion rings.  I had some truly disappointing ones at the Fish Butchery in Paddington a few days prior, and intended to go for onion rings somewhere else earlier that day, but, a huge rainstorm derailed my plans.

Given how poor reviews of Bar Roma are, and how badly I was craving these, I assumed I'd be really, really disappointed by the rings.

The onion rings took about 10 minutes to be prepared.  I was given a pager, and waited for it to go off, then claimed my prize at the bar.

And a prize indeed they were!  These were fantastic onion rings.  Really, really fantastic onion rings.  I don't understand how they were so good.

Perfectly crispy.  Salty. Not too oily.  Great flavor in the batter.  All assorted sizes.  You could taste the onion.  Not slimy.  The coating didn't fall off.  I have nothing negative to say about these rings.  I adored them.

The sweet chili though ... I didn't like.  Which confused me, as I love sweet chili sauce.  I also hated the Heinz bbq sauce available on the bar.  But ... they went great with ketchup I snagged in the Qantas club.

I loved these hot and fresh.  I loved them as they cooled down a bit and I brought them to the Qantas club to finish off.  I loved them cold, later, on my flight.

I don't understand how they were so good, but, I highly, highly recommend.  I'll gladly get them again, or venture out to one of the other fried items.