saint peter

sea urchin roe is a definite favourite; just like an oyster, eating it lets you have an intimate encounter with the sea. at home we eat our urchin roe on hot buttered sourdough, so we had no problems easing our pambula sea urchin ($28) out of its spiky shell, and smearing it onto a decadent buttery crumpet during our brunch atsaintpeter. throw in a savoury daytime drinker – the 2014 tripe iscariot ‘aspic’ rosé ($75) – and i was as close to content as you can get in the current political climate.the talented josh niland takes scrambled eggs to the next level by teaming them with a whole donnybrook marron ($44). it’s visually spectacular, and the tender, sweet crustacean eats beautifully against just-set eggs. while it’s hard to resist comparing the ever-changing roster of oysters, it’s the breakfast-styled dishes like this one that i’m most enamoured with on this clever brunch menu.however for the oyster aficionados, despite being tiny, the moonlight kiss oysters ($4.50/each) scrubbed up best against wonboyn rock oysters ($5/each) and four year old tathra rock oysters ($5.50) on this particular occasion.making smoked silver lake eel ($18) into something akin to a brandade is a clever twist, allowing you to liberally coat pikelets then dress them with your preferred condiment(s). capers, shallots, lemon, herbs – they work well in tandem – my only complaint is the generosity of the eel brandade made me want for a few more golden pikelets to play with. we contented ourselves with ordering barley-rye sourdough and cultured butter ($3) and smearing our remainders onto that. while this is a pricy place to brunch, you need to weigh that up against the impeccable, sustainable seafood you’re consuming. you can also fill out any corners with sides like fried cauliflower ($14) turned seaward with cuttlefish ink and shallot, or niland’s epic king edward potato scallop ($2). it’s the best darn potato scallop you’ll ever eat, and it’s only two bucks.note: you can find a review ofsaintpeter's dinner menu here.saint peter362 oxford street, paddingtonph: (02) 8937 2530

the 1st rank restaurant in my favorite list:saintpeter

i couldn’t even describe how delicious those dishes are in words. it was a breeze in summer with full of tastes. totally recommend for anyone as long as you love seafood like i do!

lemon tart did a great job in giving a nice touch of sourness. nice way to end the dinner ♥️

talk about wines. we chose ministry of clouds chardonnay to complement our dinner. and it was a great choice! 🥂

i would say i am a self-proclaimed foodie hence why i ve been doing my instagram account for 7 years haha and through that time, i have made many friends and there are some friends who always have the best recommendations! lorraine is one of them and when she said she got us a table atsaintpeter, i squealed because it is so unique and delicious. so for sydney siders, you may knowsaintpeter to be the restaurant of fish butchery and as the name suggestions, specialised in seafood and fish in particular!

we started our lunch with an array of non-alcoholic drinks, virgin apple cider, blueberry and fennel soda, lemon and mint soda. followed by started a snapper sausage and egg english muffin and fish butchery ham, terrine and pâté. everything was made from fish!!! yes fish! so think swordfish ham, dory liver pate and snapper sausage to name a few!
we then had a puftaloons with sea urchin taramasalata, which was the absolutely bomb! i often call this the “pink” dip haha but this was next level! hint save the rest for chips haha

next up our main was the 800g bermagui mirror dory, cafe de paris butter and chips! the fish was absolutely devine and with the paris butter what a great combo.

let’s finish up with dessert, lemon and passionfruit tart, which had the most perfect custard texture and a thin crust. followed by chocolate and murray cod fat caramel slice. who knew fish fat could be used for dessert hehe

overall, i don’t remember the last time i had a full meal of fish. it was a truely unique and interesting experience which i would recommend to anyone who wants to try something different and not the usual bacon and eggs for lunch hehe

if you are a seafood lover and you are wanting a very special brunch spot,saintpeter is the place to go. the brunch menu is more like a lunch menu and i am totally okay with this, it just means you don’t eat until dinner. the seafood here is seriously good and it’s all sustainable which means the menu will change daily and it’s possibly the freshest fish you will eat, unless you caught it yourself. chef josh niland is also all about cooking fish head to tail. it was truly a memorable brunch! #saintpeter

+3 standard points for food
+1 sustainably sourced
+1 interesting and well executed menu
+1 if lost, staff are helpful and knowledgeable
5+ lunch went swimmingly

if you hate fish, thensaintpeter might change you.
i enjoy fish and it was a great to see such a variety of cooking techniques. the broths were especially divine and well matched with the sweeter fleshed fish.

if you’re less convinced, items like the sanga will turn your world upside-down. i also highly recommend trying some stronger flavours, like the mackerel, grilled.

note that the menu changes so read carefully and ask if you’re unsure.

it is quite pricey, but worth it if you:
- care about sustainably sourced food
- think fish boring
- think fish pretty sweet
- appreciate the skilled and varied cooking methods

noise level: normal.

if want to try something new and have an unusual seafood experience thesaintpeter in paddington is definitely the place to go for.
they change the menu every day so all pictures and comments can be taken as a guide only.
firstly, you better make a booking before you go there.
amazing knowledgeable and careful staff, they know answers for all your questions, will recommend you want to try and how to eat.
and now about the food- they took the seafood to the next level and now making it as an art. you should definitely start with their oysters and pick a few of them to try. we then took mackerel with beetroot and cherries, kingfish with green cherry tartar and john dory liver with sweet and sour white radicchio and macadamia. they all sound unusual but the way how the tastes are blended together surprised us in an undesirable but good way.
all dishes are recommended to share.
will defy go back soon again.

my husband took me here for my birthday. it was a memorable night. the waiting staff was ready to give you advice which is good for a first timer. there are many choices of oysters. i am used to the japanese style which usually tastes sharper and refreshing. what we had insaintpeter is softer and more tender flavored. it is also good. we had the white fish which was not on the manual. slightly too fishy for my taste but i would say it is my own preference. the restaurant was cozy and long. it was packed on the evening we went there. i tend to associate fish eating with quieter environment. apart from this, everything is good. it was quite dark though. i love shooting photos of food. but it was too demanding on my phone. but for a birthday dinner, playing with the phone too much was also not so nice i guess -:).

in short: if you have only one seafood dining experience, be sure to havesaintpeter at the very top of the list. josh niland’s little space on oxford street is exciting with dishes that pay respect to the ingredient and champions it in ways few others can at the moment. our tip, oysters and the pikelets with sea urchin. a brunch and dinner menu means that you should come back at least twice.

the story goes that peter, the saint, was originally a fisherman. paddington'ssaintpeter tells its own story featuring australia's local seafood, with a menu that changes daily based on the catch of the day.

saint peter boasts a genuine love and appreciation of seafood, so much so that 99% of its menu is curated around showcasing seafood in its best form. each dish has a different flavour and highlights the protein well.

while some dishes amazed me, others didn’t meet expectations. the raw diced mullet served in crunchy little pockets was a memorable dish and a great start to the night! the coorong pippies andsaintpeter xo sauce was so simple but packed a great flavour punch. however, the cobia fillet served with brand and belly bacon was rather flat in terms of flavour and didn’t live up to the sp standard.

overall, good service, decent food. keen to perhaps come back and check out its normal menu, seeing as i came for the valentine’s special menu.

i’d heard various rumours of greatness; a smart young food blogger told me at our christmas food bloggers event thatsaintpeter 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..

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 tosaintpeter 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.

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,saintpeter!

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 patronsaintof 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.

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’ssaintpeter’s game.