1945

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

1945 - Pyrmont

On Monday night I joined a dinner party for a friends birthday. Fourteen of us attended making a total of 24 covers at the restaurant. I was given a quick history lesson to understand the cuisine. Dutch east indies = Indonesian food served in a Dutch manner.

The menus were beautiful, small wooden cupboards. Table cloths were crisp and cutlery was sparkling. Most of our table ordered the set menus. Personally I couldn't decide what to order because there were numerous options. I took the easy option, Set Menu 2 $40. Served on large wooden dishes. The sweet n sour soup for entree was unique.

Mains arrived all at once on the wooden dish, surprising. I couldn't fault the meal though, it was delicious. More than generous servings make up for the moderate pricing.

Located at Pyrmont point you expect high quality food and 1945 doesn't disappoint. The pic attached is Set Menu 3

Apr 17, 2012 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  10     

Wow, why such bad reviews. This place was a Dream when my friends and I went last week. We ordered 3 of each of the chef's specials to share. The waiters were extremely helpful and prevented us from ordering too much. The dishes were unique and delicious. And since we had Entertainment Book voucher, we ended up paying only $20 a head! Will be returning.

Apr 12, 2012 

2 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  1     

This restaurant is obviously overpriced. The dishes served were of average quality, which is pretty much the same as the Indonesian restaurants you can find in Kingsford (In case you do not know, there are a few really good and authentic Indonesian restaurants in Kingsford, which cost much lesser than this). Also, the service here is extremely slow. This is such a rip-off, and I am not pleased at all. I do not think my friends and I will be coming back here.

Mar 25, 2012 

5.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

Disappointed.

The short: food was ok, service minimal but friendly, main gripe: booking at 8pm with a kitchen closing at 9pm (which also means: no desserts of coffee after 9pm). Seems too crazy for words.

The long: We’ve booked for 8pm on a Thursday night and ordered the grand rijst tafel for our table of 4 ($85 for 2 ppl), it gave us plenty of food. Starter was a sweet soup and then the rest of the dishes on the rijst tafel menu were served on a big wooden plate. They were tasty.

I guess, being Dutch, having eaten plenty of rijst tafels, it was disappointing all dishes came out on one big platter and not gradually in separate bowls and plates. When we were half way through our very filling rijst tafel the waiter came up to us to ask if we wanted to order anything else because the kitchen was closing at 9pm. (Mate, we were not even half way through our rijst tafel!). I didn’t ask if that included dessert, to me that just seemed silly: booking a table at 8pm and not being able to order anything else including dessert after 9pm (seems strange in an upmarket restaurant like 1945 claims to be).

When we finished our food at 9.30ish, the waiter finally cleared the table 15 minutes later. We didn’t mind, we were having a nice time, chatting. After chatting/waiting for a dessert menu for another 15 minutes, we decided to ask for the bill.

Two reasons: we were not offered to order anything else, we were the last table left, the other group of 6 had just left and it left the room empty and hollow, so I don’t recommend it when it is a quiet night. We were very surprised not be offered a dessert menu or even offered to order a coffee or a cup of tea.

After reading another review on Eatability, I read people wanting to order poffertjes (a lovely Dutch treat) implying 1945 serves desserts. I’m just flabbergasted not to be offered dessert and coffee in an establishment like 1945 on a Thursday night in a popular suburb like Pyrmont. Did the staff want to go home early that night? Did they just want to make a quick $200 in under 2 hours? I won’t be going back.

Mar 02, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  4     

Nice enough restaurant but very poor service. Had booked for 6:30 pm. Turned up on time and was immediately seated. Then informed that we had to be out by 8 pm. Ok - time enough we thought. Ordered the full rijsttafel and it was fine. Not great, but well prepared and presented.

Half an hour later, we came to order dessert and at 7:15 and was told we couldn't have dessert. Unbelievable! 5 minutes later another waiter came to our table saying we might be able to have dessert but would have to rush. The idea of rushing our poffertjes and finishing them on the pavement didn't appeal so we left.

All in all, a bad experience we won't be repeating. If you book then you should mention that you also might be wanting dessert, or heaven forbid, coffee as well!

Response from Management:
Dear sir,

I'm sorry to hear about the unpleasant experience at our restaurant and that you haven't received the kind of service you deserve. This is truly one of a kind, and not something we practice here in 1945. 



Please allow me to clarify as I believe the whole thing is caused by a gross case of miscommunication. What we wanted to do was to advise you against choosing certain desserts which will take substantial time to prepare, and we wouldn't want you to rush through it, in order to complete the meal by the purported time of 8pm, which was stated as the terms of booking in Dimmi. 



Perhaps, this has been inaccurately communicated and please accept our genuine apology once again for spoiling your evening. I hope you will be kind enough to give us another chance to show you our real hospitality. Thank you.

Nov 13, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

At first I wasn't sure what to expect coming here. However if you like the idea of trying a lot of things and sharing your food then this is definitely the way to go. This concept is pretty unique to Sydney and sure we are definitely not lacking in our choice for Indonesian food especially if we take a walk along kingsford but this place is just that extra bit special and different. So it seems unfair that some readers are comparing the two as you definitely don't get the service nor the ambience at your regular indo restaurant.

Came stuffed to the brim for approx $35 pp which I thought was pretty good value, def a good place to take people to for its fun value and dining experience.
The waiter was charming and very helpful in recommending signature dishes. I was surprised at how fast the food came on and before we knew it we had a feast on our table. They recommend about 3-5 dishes per person which is about right although 5 might be a bit much. The drinks were interesting and I loved the grass jelly drink as well as their refreshing pandan drink. I'd never seen that anywhere where else

The menu is slightly mind boggling as you try to narrow down the dishes and very meat heavy so I'd definitely recommend getting some vegetables to break it up or the pickled cucumber for a palate cleanser.

The chicken dishes were all quite tasty, the eggplant and tomato dish was very similar to what you'd get at a Japanese restaurant without that miso sweetness to it, while the stewed pork belly dish whilst tender didn't wow me, and their deep fried squid was disappointingly overlooked. However their oxtail honey glazed was tenderly charred, as well as their pork satay with a great depth of flavor. Try their turmeric or coconut rice with was the perfect accompaniment to all these dishes, grated vegetable dish wasting peanut sauce had a good spicy kick to it as well.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend this place and come back to try the rest that's on offer. Also the waiter was great and it was pleasing to see someone so willing to help without ever being forceful.

Oct 26, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

We met another couple here for the first time last week. We had a booking for 8:00 pm and were quickly ushered to our table when we arrived.

None of us were particularly familiar with Indonesian cuisine so rather than choose a few dishes each we opted for 2 orders of the banquet menu #3 (the largest of the three banquets). The soup arrived first, followed by the remainder of the banquet (a tasting platter of roughly 13 other dishes).

Although the food was beautifully presented and very tasty, there was too much all at once. I think ordering a few plates each would’ve been the way to go and next time we will do that.

In terms of service and setting, the wait staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. It was a Friday night so there was a nice buzz of activity, but it was not overly noisy. The ambience was warm and inviting, and the space was tastefully decorated.

Overall it is a great BYO restaurant to have a casual dinner and indulge in a unique cuisine. I would definitely recommend it to others and will be going back.

Sep 05, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

Have been here a couple of times and sure I will be back soon. Great food with innovative flavours and very well priced. Staff are very accommodating and friendly.

Aug 11, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Went here with a couple of friends on Saturday night. The atmosphere was very welcoming from the start with friendly staff. We selected individual dishes to share, rather than the rijstaffel and were very impressed with the delicate spicing and presentation. Servings were not overly large and the rice was well cooked without coming in a lump. Licensed as well as byo with reasonale price.
Definitely recommended and we'll be going again.

Jul 24, 2011 

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

I was rather disappointed. Service was friendly but food was average and too expensive for the quality.

Jul 10, 2011