nel. restaurant

the 8 course degustation idea wasgoodbut i found the execution was poor. the snacks at the start lacks texture, eg very hard cucumber, thick tempura. the mains got a bit better but not enough to rescue a poor score. you can find better food elsewhere at about the same price. as well the dim lighting was not helpful. nel wasn’t working that night which may have some influence?

the once upon a time menu at nel was sadly extremely disappointing. we’ve been to many fine dining places before and this would be the first time i’d complain that the portions were way too small. it was a degustation course sure, but each item was the size of a chicken nugget before we got to the duck and the dessert.

firstly, the cheese crackers (in the book) started off great, it was umami, cheesy, crumbly & had a nice surprise which set the dinner up quite well.

then we had a charcoal pork dumping. it tasted like any pork dumpling i’ve had before but the skin was thinner and black... so nothing special there at all.

then we got to the most disappointing of all, which was a deboned chicken wing with a dab of peanut sauce. this chicken was oily and had no flavour what so ever. not even a sprinkle of salt. the peanut sauce was even not enough to cover the chicken or add any flavour to the meat. it was thoroughly disappointing and we thought they must have made a mistake.

also, i should mention we ordered 2 cocktails and one of them was wrong. thankfully they gave the wrong one for free and we were given our correct drink.

then the pumpkin bread was next. served in a massive hollowed out pumpkin. i will say the theme and concept is very creative and cute but it did definitely compromise on the food. the pumpkin bread was enjoyable, as well as the pumpkin butter. it had an interesting flavour but the pumpkin bread was tiny between 2. it was like 3 nuggets of bread and a dollop of spread which wasn’t enough for everything.

after this was the venison carpaccio with rabbit popcorn. this was tasty. i did enjoy it but each slice of meat was as thin as tissue paper and would break apart when we tried to pick it up. i’ve had carpaccio cut much thicker than this. it was literally 1-2mm in thickness. again the portion was tiny.

and so we moved on to a glittery broth/soup. it was just soup. almost tasted like pho broth. sadly the concept here couldn’t elevate the taste. not much to say here which really says it all.

moving on was the fish. sadly overcooked. you could just tell how dry it was when you’d cut into it and the nugget sized fillet doesn’t even fall apart. it also lacked seasoning. the purée on the other hand was nice to say the most.

from here, was the last main course of the night. we were still quite hungry and we don’t often feel this way, perhaps ever, when we’ve reached this point. a nugget sized, fried, shredded duck ball came out. it was probably the most flavoursome of the night, but again, not enough sauce and too small. thankfully, a ‘hearty’ cut of duck breast followed. perhaps the fried ball was a precursor to this dish.

the duck breasts were fantastic. cooked perfectly. the jus complimented it well and the fennel was great. however unfortunately couldn’t win us over.

then there were the desserts. an insanely cute melted olaf came out. the yoghurt and garlic ice cream was interesting and quite nice.

following this was a rose and berry slice of cake. it would have been up there as one of the heartier servings. it tasted lovely and the theme for this one was cute.

to finish, we had a portuguese tart with blue cream cheese. it was a nice bite to end the meal but not special.

lastly, we got a wood eye camembert slice (just because we knew we were still hungry) the cheese was okay and the condiments were fine. i personally don’t like pickles with cheese so my partner ate it but it was definitely just a stomach filler.

overall, the menu was not worth $135 per person. i feel like we paid more for the decor and presentation of the food. unfortunately the theme has compromised with the food and the quality. may i add, the chef and portion was disappointing. we ended up spending more than we wanted to ($327) and it had to be the most money we’ve spent on the least food. to finish on agoodnote, their cocktails were amazing.

nel in surry hills really impressed, the menu is creative and there is plenty of technique on display. although there is plenty of technique, taste and flavour combinations are the main priority and it isgoodto see they do not lose sight of this. they offer eight course degustation menus every 10 weeks and the current theme is “australian” (until april 4). since our visit was two months ago, you will find the options we had won’t necessarily be available. however, given their chef and restaurant vision, we’re sure the new menu would be just as good. the new bug dish sounds amazing.

really fun experience. the food was imaginative, tasty, funkily presented ingoodquantities. the staff were really friendly and professional, and it was nice to get served by nel himself a few times.

only quibbles are that the lighting is slightly harsh and that the wine mark-ups are as high as i’ve seen in agoodwhile.

made a reservation almost two months ago and went there on wednesday evening. had a great time there
the service wasgoodand food was fun and delicious
for starters we had some finger foods like popcorn.
the bread with walnuts wasgoodand i’d love to eat it every morning for breakfast.
the ham balls in the beautiful glass were tasty.
i don’t like raw fish so no comment on that.
fish pie came with soup in a separate bowl. i ate the fish pie along as well as mixed it with the soup. the soup was salty so it wasgoodwith fish pie. but the fish pie itself was delicious enough.
i normally don’t eat goat but goat eating hay was great. it was crispy and juicy. the source was good.
the two desserts peter rabbit’s garden and shells on the sand were excellent! i really love them. as dessert they weren’t too sweet. it was refreshing.
in the end we had a little treat- ice cream on a small cone. the staff made it for us on the table. we had 3 choices of toppings to choose from. it was fun.
overall it was a great fine dining experience for us. the only problem is that the portion of food is so small but it’s a tasting menu anyway. it’s more about experiencing rather than going home with a full stomach.

after a recommendation from friends who went a few years ago we were very excited to visit the restaurant. we both love fine food and nel was apparently one of the place to go. also, their instagram was beautifully presented (great marketing bty). i am sorry to say that the entire experience was a huge disappointment. when we arrived we found a compact and noisy room with a very unpleasant smell. the staff was friendly (except the manager) but very young, clumsy and inexperienced (including in the open kitchen). where was the chef? for the food, we found no flavours, the dishes were so unbelievably unbalanced that we started to laugh with my husband, thinking it was a joke. everything is cooked in advance and then assembled on the night. same saucers, presentation plates are reused from one table to the next (yes that plate with these tired onions skins and the lumpy saucepan for the trout rillette (that has bty nothing to do with a rillette. not even sure it was trout given the colour and taste 😳)...i couldn't eat the first dish with the smoke in it (tasted like ashes) and what was supposed to be a crab cream with no crab in it but a piece of frisee lettuce and peanuts (...). i think the breaking point was when a piece of grilled cabbage arrived and we were given a nothing but a spoon to eat it and the waitress came with her half empty bottle of warm bitter beer to pour a few drops in my glass of wine (!). after the appetisers and that second dish we decided that it was just enough and a big waste of time and money for us and decided to leave. we went to talk to the manager who wanted to charge us for the entire dinner (2 menus at $118 and $90 for the matching wines). we refused to pay the full bill. he said that then we would be charged directly on our credit card $280 as their terms and conditions states that if you cancel less than 24h before, you will be charged $140pp. we finally managed to pay 'only' for 2 full menus. looking at the positives, at least we had agoodlaugh but would recommend you go to yellow, bentley's or pilu restaurant instead were you'll find a true magical experience. @nelrestaurant something must have gone wrong somewhere, and i feel sorry that we came at that point of your story.

we dined at nel. on a saturday night for $118pp which gave us an exceptional 8-course meal. everything took us by surprise and tasted amazing. even though each dish is small, it is so well planned and every flavour compliments the other. we also ordered many different cocktails which were different and tasted asgoodas they looked. i would describe nel as having a very low key and vibrant atmosphere, but the food was exceptional and the quality was very comparable to most fine dining places in sydney. all the waiters are very friendly, explained each dish thoroughly and were always attentive to us, constantly refilling our water and clearing the plates. i think nel. is amazing value for money and with a constantly changing menu, i'll definitely be coming back!

nel. restaurant would definitely have made my list of top 5 eats of 2016 – if only i’d gotten round to putting up this post before the end of the year!. i have been to nel. restaurant 3 or 4 times now – in fact it was ds that first found it when it opened a couple of years ago. i’ve gone back so often because of two reasons – the menu changes every 6 weeks (!!!) and i think it’s suchgoodvalue for fine dining. the current 10 course menu is $108, with an added $90 per person for matched wines.

when i first arrived at nel., the atmosphere felt very sophisticated, dark and romantic. the whole restaurant had dimmed lights so taking photos of the food wasn't the easiest and turning on flash would just ruin the atmosphere. i had the christmas degustation menu which is basically the same as their usual menu but just a tad more expensive. food came out relatively fast so i was happy about that. i love the creativity that goes into the dishes at nel. and mixing different textures and flavours is something they are reallygoodat.

my favourite dish was the spanner crab with the tomato water. holy moly. this was beyond words. basically they give you the spanner crab and a test tube with tomato water which you pour on top. genius. the tomato water was so refreshing and it was also slightly cool so you get all sorts of things going on in your mouth, making it confused but ecstatic at the same time. an unforgettable taste experience that you'll be telling your grandkids about.  

the saffron pasta was my least favourite as it had a strange sour taste to the dish which i don't really know if it came from the ricotta or the saffron. 

both desserts were fantastic and once again consisted of different textures like crunchy, soft, chewy, cold and everything you can imagine. at the end, we were given little christmas goodie bags that had mini treats inside which i thought was very cute and sweet because they hand pack it in front of you.

overall nel. was an incredible dining experience and i am definitely returning. it's a must try!

i was very excited to go to nel but felt very uncomfortable from the start - walking passed homeless people and an overwhelming stench of urine near the front door and then be greeted by pretentious staff.  the food is lovely and it is expensive. i found it to be a restaurant of more about bragging rights. a real dilemma on those that 'have and have-not' on a few levels that it can't get my recommendation. there are just asgoodif not better restaurants if you want to treat yourself.

i'll preface this review by saying that before coming to nel i had already been to sepia and lumi the night before and for lunch that day respectively, so the bar was raised very high..
despite that, i had a thoroughlygood8 course dinner here. it might not have been quite up there but it was very close. the staff are excellent and the ambience in the room was quite cosy and romantic.
the dishes were all very good, with great flavour and textures. the desserts were verygoodtoo and the added theatre of the petit fours presented in a mini sweet shop display was a great creative way to end.

dined here last week and what a lovely experience it was. food was reallygoodand the wine match was perfecr for every course. i highly recommend nel and although i wasn't wowed by any one course, it was a great experience and i will go back soon.

went to nel in april. loved loved loved everything on the table!! also the best cocktail i have had. i had 2 of those last time! we have been recommending nel to so many of our frds since. went there again tonight. we were both a bit disappointed. the food are not asgoodas they were 6 months ago. or maybe the food from this season just simply don't suit our appetite. i think it is very gutted to change to menu all the time but some signature ones should stay because ppl like me are loyal on food. i like the food adventure but i prefer more on the food that you know it is going to taste superb 100%.last 2 photo were my favourite from last time. i really hope i could try them again in the future

one word: amazing. nel runs a tight ship in his kitchen. we went there for the dinner degustation. each dish is prepared beautifully and served at agoodpace - our table was right in front of him found him checking how everyone is going in the dining room. the flavours and textures were balanced, presentation was awesome! we will be back at the next special occasion.

i thoroughly enjoyed nel! 8 course meal executed very well! i have always wanted to try it whilst i'm here in sydney but never got the time, luckily this time round i made a reservation. so many different flavours and textures i've never had before. i loved the peppermint chocolate dessert! i couldn't fault any of the dishes and enjoyed watching the chefs do there thing in the open kitchen. such agoodaffordable restaurant :) worth the try.