sixpenny

sixpenny is one of our pilgrimage half dozen when in sydney over from wellington, a place to walk to from the cbd, knowing that the meal will be an intellectual journey, considered to death, coaxed into form and presented in some of the most beautiful ways ive seen. this isn't a place to indulge the stomach, it is almost a zen experience to be paid homage to - shared with pleasure by its young cooks. 
sixpenny is one of those wonderful restaurants where the bravery and passion of youth finds a cheap(ish) suburb and as a group decides that its going to do its own thing unconstrained by the snobbery and rents of the cbd. sydney is lucky it has places like sixpenny. 
the ambience is fitting, modernist lines for a modernist degustation. a small dining space allows a concentration on food. the service ditto, careful and professional. the wine match was ok on the two occasions ive been but it was more interesting for the actual wines than for the match - i don't believe there is such a thing to be honest, and if a match really exists its rare and isn't going to pop up in everydegustationin australasia. 
the courses are usually clever, surprising, often minimalist jewels to be thought about and considered. they aren't chicken nuggets. the shaved macadamia nut creature was one of the highlights on both occasions that we went -, maybe 8 months apart. compared to some of the higher end sydney restaurants the courses are not fancy constructions but spare combinations of perfect ingredients.
this is a precious little restaurant.

restaurant sixpenny, we learn is named after the sixpence restaurants that operated in the late 1800s in australia. generally these were 5 or six courses with pastry for six pence. now, be sure to save your pennies to dine here, for it costs a fair tad more than that today. your seven coursedegustationwill set you back $175 pp. despite its high cost, it is one worth saving for a special occasion and it is one of a few restaurants awarded the prestigious 3 hats in good food guide to back it up.

wasn't sure what to expect of this place as it was a first time visit with a friend who lives locally but was pleasantly surprised. adegustationmenu with either 6 or 8 courses. we chose the 8 course menu. it's a bit heavy on the seafood but go on the journey with an open mind and you will be richly rewarded. the flavours had beautiful contrast from dish to dish and were surprisingly complex. but the highlight of the meal would have to be the chuck tail. it was brilliant. definitely coming back with the family next time!

you may not expect a restaurant of the year and fine diner like sixpenny in sleepy suburban stanmore & the surprise does not end at the door. walking into this modern, minimalist yet inviting space you feel immediately welcome & warm. every single member of the staff are professional yet friendly with the right amount of humour, chattiness, professionalism and knowledge. the wine list offers some familiar and lots of interesting drinks and each recommendation and description was spot on. so definitely trust the sommeliers and staff on the wine front. and the food is no exception - simple, elegant, clean, packed with flavour yet so refined and beautiful. you can choose between the 6 or 8 coursedegustationalthough from 2019 there will be only one menu of 7 courses. the kitchen staff bring the dishes to your table and it is a lovely concept and being able to see and speak to the people behind the beautiful food. the 3 amuse bouche definitely awakens the palate and is light and tasty especially the cheese gougeres which i would happy to eat more of! the stand out dishes for me was the venison tartare, swordfish which i am not usually a fan of as it is often tough and overcooked, but here it is tender & sweet. the pork belly was superb with the skin akin to breaking the top of a creme brulee. then the beef... so tender, full of umami flavour & the sticky, port like jus was perfect. dessert looks simple but dont let that deceive you. its creamy yet refreshing and not heavy. the white chocolate dessert with poor man's orange particularly good especially the caramelised white chocolate. a wonderful, special restaurant that is well rounded with service, ambience and food.

the year was 2007; and my first introduction to daniel puskas came in a little newtown restaurant called oscillate wildly. i ate a denver (trimmed and deboned) leg of venison with pumpkin puree and chocolate soil that haunted me for years. despite knowing this talented chef graduated to sixpenny in stanmore in 2012, i held off going for no reason other than growing weariness withdegustationdinners; both with the oft-excessive amount of food and the time they take to orchestrate. and so it was that a decade – even more – came to pass before i found myself in a charming parlour dining room eating my second dan puskas dinner. this time it's a 6-course ($125/person) affair where i am but one of twenty diners arranged at lustrous wooden tables encircling a wooden service hutch where gleaming glasses hang in wait. a flurry of snacks lands almost immediately...

our restaurant this week is listed as one of the top restaurants in australia located in a very quiet street in stanmore, sydney. they have held two hats status for as long as i can remember. their chef, daniel puskas, is the chef of the year in this year’s good food guide. sixpenny only has twodegustationmenu: 6 courses and 8 courses. they also cater for children with a 2-course menu for $65 on some days – we actually got 3 for our little one as he really wanted our dessert. as usual, the dining starts with warm bread and butter. halfway through the service, they gave us a different kind of bread (but not pictured here).

food: we tried the 8 coursedegustationmenu which was very filling and satisfying. nothing too mind-blowing, but quality food. complementary small entrees in the beginning and sourdough was a nice touch as well.

service: high standard, with each chef coming out and explaining what their own dish was made of (i assume). wait staff friendly and accommodating (esp the tall guy) 

ambience: yes like what others have mentioned, it did feel like eating inside someone's house. but that's a-ok because it felt different for once.

what a gourmet food experience we had here again! we celebrated my birthday last year and we loved it. so we came back here last month with friends. professional but casual approach by wait persons made us feel so comfortable. yet, each course we had in it'sdegustationmenu was beautiful to look at first and fantastic in our mouths. strongly recommendable.

this one is definitely a hidden gem in stanmore! best dish is the salmon roe and crab entry; second being the black angus beef and third being the roasted potatoes!! it is a sixdegustationmenu and we have truly enjoyed.

the two-hatted sixpenny had been on my go-to list for a while and it certainly delivered in terms of flavour, texture and service. we were seated in the private dining room, where we had a full view of the kitchen watching the chefs weave their magic. . our 8 coursedegustationstarted with a trio of snacks. side note: each dish is brought out by the chefs and they take great care to explain the dish to you. the green tomatoes, grown in the blue mountains, looked like tomatoes but tasted like sour grapes. the pumpkin scallop is a tasty morsel of confit pumpkin deep fried and topped with some pumpkin seed salt. my favourite of the snacks though were the cheese gougeres. they were delightfully fluffy, covered with a layer of cheddar shavings. the filling of cheese combined with the green tomato jam was simply delicious.

sixpenny is a cut above the rest. no matter how extensive your experience is with fine dining, you’ll never have experienced it all until you try sixpenny.

the service and attention to detail here is just amazing. sixpenny helps create a whole experience that is more than just a dinner with chefs bringing out their dishes and explaining the flavour combos and how they’ve been made. some dishes were wholly made in house and took months to complete!

we went for the 8 coursedegustationand had no regrets. each dish was brought out by the chefs and carefully explained to us. the crab entree was definitely the standout for me. the 3 dessert courses were each magnificent in their own way. the menu featured a lot of raspberry--something i'm not complaining about because i love berries!

the intimate and serene atmosphere at sixpenny is one of a kind. just go and treat yourself!

totally overrated. the sourdough bread is outstanding. everything else was thoroughly uninspired, from the stingiest pour of wine i've ever had (at $19 a glass no less) to a whole series ofdegustationdishes whose flavours were either bland or poorly combined. not recommended.

the tiny restaurant, which has been opened for less than a year, offers only adegustationmenu and almost everyone dining there had reservations and came from somewhere else. rarely do neighborhood residents ever drop in for a bite. apparently, that’s the experience chef james parry wanted to create – a dining destination that would entrance food lovers from around the world.

...thedegustationis a true journey and full of tasty and interesting dishes which will have you thinking. the way the vegetarians are catered for is also very well done as some of the dishes are variations of the meat versions in look and flavour combinations which isn’t always the case for set menus.

having recently dined at oscillate wildly in newtown, i was very excited about treading the boards of thedegustationscene again.

unfortunately, while the food was well cooked, the flavour combinations were uninspired. it was of little surprise that the only enquiry from waitstaff of the food came as we were walking out the door. otherwise, i would have happily provided feedback.

at $135 a head for the longer menu, give this one a miss and head to marque or oscillate wildly...