Mercure Sydney has unveiled its new signature dining concept, dubbed Platform 818 Restaurant & Bar.

Boasting an ideal location opposite Central Station on George Street, the restaurant pays homage to its surroundings and the area’s history.

Platform 818’s rustic interiors reflect the station’s beginnings as a wooden platform and corrugated iron shed in 1855.

The industrial touches also draw on the restaurant’s location above the now unused, original Goods Line Tunnel that once connected Sydney Rail Yard and the Sydney-Parramatta railway line to the shipping port of Darling Harbour.

Even the produce served at Platform 818 Restaurant & Bar has a great story to tell, with hero items on the menu sourced from railway towns along the New South Wales goods line that once would have travelled via the tunnel below.

Executive chef Simon Harrison and sous chef Richard Batchelor have designed a modern Australian menu with highlights such as BBQ-pressed Riverina brisket, pulled Break Out River lamb shoulder tart, Murray Basin pork cutlet and the Grangeplus scotch fillet.

The restaurant’s signature drink is the highball cocktail, inspired by the practice of serving beverages in tall highball glasses on steam trains.

Platform 818 Restaurant is open seven days a week for breakfast through to dinner and the bar is open for late night drinks.