poly

35 minutes before our 2 hour booking we were informed we had to leave with another booking arriving…. before we ordered 2 desert wines and desert 25 minutes before 7.30pm we were reminded that we had to leave at 7.30pm. we decided to leave despite enough time. food was great…. but service was very poor. won’t be returning. the bartender is the person who unsolicited told us we had leave twice…. rest of staff were inattentive and self absorbed. cocktails no good. you missed out on desert wine, desert order and tip.

i may have been a bit bummed about the service so far, but this garlic bread ($8) was all i needed to feel better. drenched in garlic butter, this massive golden ingot of bread was cooked over the wood fire until it was hot and crunchy on the outside, with a crust of cheese baked into the top, whilst leaving the centre moist and fluffy. but that’s not even the full story; the sheer gloriousness of this bread was elevated to the next level with a dish of smoked butter, adding another layer of woodsy fragrance (not to mention extra richness) to the already intoxicating flavours.

the food was amazing here. great date night or group night place. awesome wine menu. the best allergy substitutes.

all the dishes were fantastic and so well balanced. highlights for us were the fried potato, bread with an amazing whipped sesame dip and the bone marrow. i’d eat those just as a meal! portions were decent and we left there full and very satisfied. can’t wait to go back!

whole table forced to get set menu.
set menu little disappointing with the amount of carbs. there's so much bread, potato and corn. all cheap fillers.

preferred set menu at ester. lots more seafood and meat plates there.

not worth $75 per head here. would not be back.

fantastic venue with a fantastic selection of wine and a delicious set menu for a reasonable price (the time i visited anyway). the highlight was without a doubt the fried potato with salted egg yolk and chives - it was perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the potato bread with whipped sesame is also worth an honourable mention. the desserts were a perfect end to the set menu as they weren’t overly sweet and had strong flavours. service could’ve been better, i felt like we were constantly being rushed to finish our dishes and kept wanting to clear our dishes despite us still picking at it. we were very aware of the two hour seating limit but felt that the constant hustle to finish our dishes was unnecessary.

organised a 50th birthday for 1 oct. poly completely forgot to do any of the things i’d asked for. sent them feedback by email which they’ve completely ignored. don’t waste a special occasion here.

whilst the food at poly was good, i was extremely disappointed by the service received at the restaurant. we ordered the set menu on an early saturday evening. at this time, the restaurant was at around 1/3rd of its capacity. the food that was served to us started from the middle of the menu, so we were quite confused. when i notified the waiter whom was in charge of our service, she simply replied by saying, "oh, really?" without apologising nor offering an explanation, then walked away. when the food eventually arrived 20 minutes later, they all came at once, and we felt quite pressured to eat quickly for the remainder of our seating session due to the time limit. this meant that we were unable to full appreciate the food. we also asked a different male waiter about the the bread dip (as i wasn't sure we had received it due to misunderstanding the female waiter) and he gestured 'it's here' with his chin, and walked away. finally, i wanted to make this dinner special as it was my partner's birthday, and had specified this in the reservation notes when i called to make the reservation. however, this point was not acknowledged during our dining experience as there was no candle serviced at any point. i probably won't be returning to dine here again

wow! poly is one of my all time favourite restaurants and is worth every penny. the value and quality of the dishes are well worth it as it is not pricy at all. great for a date night or even a girls night since the set menu provides a variety of dishes.

the ambience is quite dim and moody, so it is quite intimate. my highlight dish/es of the night was the grilled sourdough and whipped sesame, macadamia cream, crispy potato, sticky date donut and the marscapone dessert!! all the flavours were subtle but also perfectly balanced, i did not think any of the dishes were missing anything.

it was unbelievably perfect but i’m not going to lie, because we did order extra dishes... we were quite full half way! we did try our best to power through but we did have to take away the wagyu, the desserts were too good to pass as they were not overly rich and portion size was good for 2.

the only downside was that the waitress got our cocktail order wrong and forgot to take it off the bill so subsequently we did pay for it, even though we should have double checked ourselves as we only realised when we got home. one waiter did have to read off our menu as he forgot what one of the dishes was called but no big deal there.

seriously, one of my favourite restaurants in sydney and it never disappoints!!

highlights;
- pork belly skewer
- lamb ribs
- kingfish
- sourdough bread
- fried potato with salted egg

some other dishes were overly salty.

overall, a great experience. would have had preferred to have the option to pick the a la carte menu for dining’s after 6pm.

i’m always wary of the weight of expectation. poly came highly recommended by more than a few people i trust. the experience was far from what i had expected. the roll was good, the oysters we ordered never arrived, the rissole was dead raw, the potato with egg sauce was amazing, anchovies on toast bang on, the agnolotti special was raw and inedible, the lamb ribs were good. too many misses for the price. i understand that every kitchen has off nights but i expected a bit more from a place so highly rated.

wonderful pear cocktail - complex, beautifully balanced finished with a spritz of absinthe - fantastic. only tried a few small dishes but they were sophisticated and delicious. contrary to some other reviews, i found that the service was exemplary - professional, friendly, knowlegeable.

this is my 4th time to poly. the menu regularly changes and everytime i have been here the food has been incredible. bread to start can’t go wrong with and they always have a roll/sandwich special - first few times i had the steak sandwich & tonight it was the rissole roll. the only disapponting thing is the service - everytime i have been here the staff have been lacklustre/disinterested and borderline rude. apart from this, food is 10/10.

one of the worst customers service and the food was incredibly average - not worth the price. the only dish that was meeting the expectation was the flounder.

poly is the sister restaurant of ester, a brilliant restaurant in chippendale. both restaurants are high on our list of sydney favourites. poly is located in a great spot on the border of surry hills and the southern end of the cbd. you will find it in a large converted industrial space part of the paramount site on commonwealth street. the restaurant’s bar is large and very prominent, which could give play to poly’s vision to be a bar, which also serves food. although the kitchen is small, they utilise the space well and the food is superb, making this an all round top dining experience. there are many different table configurations, great for groups, our favourite tables are by the kitchen and the mesmerising wood fire.