saint peter

i’d heard various rumours of greatness; a smart young food blogger told me at our christmas food bloggers event that saint peter was her favourite current restaurant; i’d seen a few good reviews but not read them carefully; smh’s good food section was reporting on new developments such as the plan to open a fishmonger down the street, using particularly modern methods of preservation and sales..

the place is cosy, some would say cramped, with my neighbouring table literally at my right elbow. we bump a few too many times.

the waitress owns the space. she's everywhere, but not intrusive.

we share the meals, which naturally extends our range. we start with the sashimi swordfish, diced, with an egg yolk tartare mixed at the table. the textures are so subtle and delicate.

then the moreton bay bug with chilli thousand island dressing. how good is this! the sauce defines the dish.

then fillet of garfish - this makes my heart sing, reminiscing of childhood fishing on buccarumbi bridge up near nymboida with the family (the filleter deserves a medal!), it is exquisite.

then the grouper, which is succulent and moist, albeit strangely pale by comparison to the garfish. who knew!

no capuccino machine (and resultantly, no noise of the steam wand), sadly the meal ends all too soon - for love nor money, call me a baristasnob, but i've moved beyond filter coffee.

ably washed down by a gruner veltliner from longview vineyard, it was all happening.

very good.

was so looking forward to their sea urchin but was not avail on the day.

pipis 3/5, good prep, there wasnt a grain of sand in all the pipis. as it wasnt drenched in the ‘westernized’ xo sauce, we were able to take a few unmolested clams to taste how fresh they were. a good starter.

battered mirror dory n chips 3/5, dish was done well with the batter being way different from your fish n chips shop. our monster said it was ‘weird’, i didnt think so. you decide.

mud crab crumpets 2.75/5, not our crowd’s fav but hey i didnt mind it. i thought it went ok with the crumpet which you use to mop up the creamy sauce with. otherwise the crumpet 1.5/5 was bland.

marron scrambled eggs 3.75/5, the most exxy dish yet quite worth your hard earned. the firm slightly sweet crustacean paired well with the creamy scrambled eggs. an indulgent brekky.

smoked eel hash browns 3/5, in my pre-caffeine haze, i ordered this thinking that i will be presented with a smoked eel. when the hash brown came, i waited patiently thinking that the eel would be along shortly. and waited and waited. imagine my embarrassment when i was told that the hash brown is the smoked eel hash brown. face palm*. while i was turning almost as red as the cooked marron, the graceful wait staff kept a straight face and smiled politely.

albacore n yolk 3.5/5, one of my personal fav. no, i could not find the yolk either but to prevent further embarrassment (to myself), i refrained from hailing the waitstaff. the slightly sticky wafer like cup which the ingredients are piled upon was not a gimmick as the slightly sweet n crunchy ‘cone’ provided texture to the slightly acidic n ‘slimy’ (cant find the right word to describe, but slimy is not a negative in this case) fillings.

blue mackerel on toast 3.75/5, i am wee partial to mackerel. i simply love its fishy smell. and its beaut flaky flesh. kudos to saint peter for not overdoing it. simply smoked n lightly cooked. the ‘toast’, however, rated a 1.5/5. hard as a rock. i suppose in their awesomeness, they forgot how to toast a toast.

easily a $50 pp brekky affair, drinks not included.

for someone who doesn't love seafood, i really really love this place. food and service were impeccable. we had oysters and crab as entrees, the dory, mahi mahi and broadhill for mains and the chocolate brownie for dessert. they all tasted lovely, so perfectly done! i would definitely come back again!

went back and finally dined there. front of house is truly pathetic and wonder whom they paid or partied with to get considered for any awards. the food side is great, not so memorable but good. the cocept and executing is conflicting, such crap quality sea urchin for a place that is meant to be all about seafood. it's a nice local restaurant if the staff know you.


visit 1: it's a shame that some venues hire such an incompetent group of people to look after the floor. second time in my life to ever walk out of a venue, first time in over a decade and the first time i didn't feel bad doing so.
if i ever bump someone or accidentally knock something on someone's table, i would expect to acknowledge it and apologise. if this was a customer of a a business, you bloody dam well should. if the head/senior water need to rush around so much focusing on a select few tables he is useless to your business. you can't always judge a book by it's cover. sure you swiftly took another tables food and drinks order ever so attentively due to them looking the part due to them being western and middle age, however forgetting to serve the water order you took on another table and ignoring the customer's attempt to order a bottle of wine because you're too busy serving a glass of wine to the table you decided requires your attention for the night. so you leave your incompetent team guiding the remaining diners to be read out the whole main menu when asked for suggestions. the most pathetic attempt of selling a menu.

saint peter is a remarkable seafood restaurant in paddington which serves some out-of-the-world brunches and pastries. the cozy and comfortable hatted restaurant pushes the boundaries of a stagnating (or declining) culinary scene in sydney and it must be a permanent fixture on everyone's bucket list for breakfast.

located in a long shophouse on oxford street and within a four hundred meter radius of 10 william, paddington, lucio's and four-in-hand, the restaurant features a stripped interior with a combination of polished concrete, sandstone and exposed brick walls. the simple restaurant attracts you immediately with its down-to-earth vibe and some extremely friendly service team.

the nondescript crab meat was fishy and buttery. served in its furry shell, it appears drab and unappetizing. however, when i scooped them onto the house-made crumpet and took a bite of the warm, salty and buttery crumpet, a gazillion neurotransmitters were released and immediately lifted my mood. amazing! this is one of the few memorable dishes ever, just like tetsuya's ocean trout and cirrus' parfait.

the passionfruit and lemon tart absolutely stupendous too. the nice, acidic custard-like tart combines flawlessly with the crispy tart to give an explosion of flavours. the nice white cream thens wrap your tastebuds to prevent the punchy flavours from becoming too overwhelming.

i will come back again and see if their dinner is worth my buck. go, saint peter!

yum!! this has to be one of my favourite restaurants in sydney! the fish is fresh and carefully prepared, then matched very simply with just a few other things on the plate like salt-crusted baked celeriac. if you want to try something interesting, then make sure to book for brunch or lunch on the weekend. you'll get the opportunity to try smoked eel pikelets, sea urchin crumpet, fish liver on toast or octopus head scotch egg. 

make sure to try the dessert - the lemon tart is a perfect end to a beautiful seafood meal and the chocolate artichoke slice is dark, rich and delicious.

an interesting yet underwhelming meal of seafood....in short we expect a lot better for $130 lunch :(

so let's begin with the oysters...four types is a good start but while there was undeniable freshness, we wouldn't say they were the best oysters...?

sea urchin donut...hmm two delicious bites but...does this donut really add anything or we just being fancy with dough...felt gimmicky :(

the spanner crab...not the most attractive dish....yes the pieces of crab were lovely but nothing was really marrying it together with the crumpet...almost like something was missing...again just feels like we're being served fancy brunch and not really selling us - we can cook seafood :(

finally the octopus...a great dish, where things on the plate work well together to actually give us a rich experience; this bumped you up to a 3.

we had so much expectation coming in...thinking about maybe we would have to come back for dinner as there were a lot of things we wanted to try...and we were on our second lunch....but yea nope! we don't want to ride the roller coaster again and not for that price tag....

some good some bad....so if you wanna feel a bit fancy....come here and roll the dice :)

saint peter is not your typical fish shop – even though they call themselves an australian fish eatery and have a classic fish & chips on their menu. this sleek restaurant is named after the patron saint of fisherman and serves up modern seafood dishes which are beautifully presented and let the freshness of the produce shine through – but all this means that their menu is priced at the premium end of the spectrum.

a small space with cosy decor, the environment was really good. the smoked eel was full of flavor, the spanner crab and mussel tart was fresh, with the natural sweetness of the seafood, was absolutely gorgeous, my favorite dish of the night. the cod again was full of flavor, with the sweetness from the pear, the savory flavor, a bit of crunch from the macadamia, the fish itself was very moist and delicate, yum!!! finishing my dinner with the lemon tart, love the sour from the lemon, but the cream on the side balances it out, which was simple but very lovely. loved this restaurant a lot, it definetely has one of the best seafood i've had in sydney!!!

i disclose that i am a rare species in this town: a native of eyre peninsula, sa. seeing pt lincoln whiting on the menu was a thrill; thinking perhaps i might get a slight taste of home. i was miffed but more so dismayed to learn it was no longer available that early afternoon. for such a tight menu it is just poor planning for something so fine to be listed and for it to run out long before going into evening service. the real story was either that the kitchen was setting aside portions for evening service or that they bought so few portions that it should have been mentioned as a special instead of being listed on the menu.
i chose ling instead, expecting it to be far less fried in much cleaner oil than that of a local burger joint. it really was a slimy, sodden soap-cake slung atop soggy dark-coloured chips. shocking! my dining companion ordered a crab-cake and surely that saturday must have been among the sloppiest of days of the eatery. in no way did its presentation or taste meet expectations set by the many favourable reviews we'd read.
...and then there was the well-intentioned but bumbling service: two staff tripping over each other, not showing any understanding of the value of working in assigned sections; and resetting tables when no customers were arriving while i was waiting too long for clare (not claire) riesling. they managed too to bug me with surely the two most common annoyances of service in sydney: pouncing to check if all was ok at the table when we were clearly chewing and not settling the bill quickly enough.
i expected a better experience.

saint peter in paddington is the ultimate weekend brunch experience - it's a casual and relaxed eatery with amazing food made with quality produce. it's one for the seafood lovers, as the menu is driven by fish and seafood. . it's also a nice revival of oxford street, after seeing so many empty shops and for lease signs around.

very overpriced for what you get. we shared the donnybrook marron scrambled eggs ($39) - the portion was super small, it tasted good but nothing amazing. the 'fish and chips' essentially was okay, again nothing special, the batter was very thick and the chips were quite bland ($28). the only thing that actually stood out was the kingfish, the flavours were tangy and it was complemented with some interesting sides (pear? and nuts). still wasn't worth the price tag but it came close. the restaurant's decor was nice, and the small place quickly filled up by half past 12. still, likely won't be back, just can't really justify the cost.

if you love seafood this restaurant is a gem! we had a lovely sunday lunch here a few weeks ago, it's a small restaurant with not many tables and it focuses entirely on fish with a menu that changes daily.
we had sweet and sour mackerel on toast, delicious. then we had a 9 days aged kingfish dish and the trout with egg dish. the fish was cooked to perfection, the combinations of ingredients worked perfectly, portions were a good size. we also had a side of kipfler potatoes with sour cream and fish roe that were sooo delicious. a lemon curd tart to finish was simple but perfectly executed. can't wait to go back and try new dishes.

in sydney, it’s quite often the case that serving great food just isn’t enough to guarantee a restaurant’s success. if you don’t already command a strong name for yourself, then it’s time to take some risks. how about a restaurant that does away with red meat entirely, focusing purely on catches from the sea? that’s saint peter’s game.