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Awards
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2007 |
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SMH Good Food Guide 2007 - One Chef's Hat |
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Related Editorial Content
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User Reviews on Oscillate Wildly
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 157 comments
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| Overall |
  
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Not Recommended |
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Food 2 |
Ambience 1 |
Service 2 |
Value 2 |
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The prices look good value but when you look at the very average quality of the food, the crammed dining room, and the rickety dining chairs this is definitely one of those overhyped places to avoid.
We were here last year and there has been no improvement or noticeable evolution in the cuisine. The chefs and wait staff have clearly brought into the hype of a few good reviews and awards, and are now clearly losing the plot of the simple things that got them these credos in the first place. It's also clear why the lights are so dim in this restaurant so you can't see the stains and dead insects around the place.
Not to mention the month wait to book the table. The hours you waste trying to get through on the phone are better off spent getting a bite at the local Thai up the street.
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JamieO -
See my reviews 1 , 08 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Not Recommended |
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Food 2 |
Ambience 2 |
Service 2 |
Value 2 |
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It so overated and over hyped. It was not worth the 1 month waiting time to get a table for 2! The food was average and I thought I could microwave something better. Very disappointed with food, ambience and service.
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GordonR -
See my reviews 1, 01 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Is Oscillate Wildly better than Tet's?! It's a big call to say that a humble 30-seater in a converted terrace just off King Street is even in the same stratospheric league as (arguably) Australia's number one restaurant and an establishment regularly voted into the top 10 in the world. But Oscillate Wildly did for me on Tuesday night what Tet's failed to do a month or two ago that is, give me goose bumps and leave me with a Cheshire cat grin at the absolute serendipitous brilliance of what was going on in my mouth; not just with one or two of the nine degustation courses, but almost all of them. The whole meal felt somehow more "authentic" than Tetsuya's. As an aside, August was my second visit to that hallowed shrine of fine dining, but it felt a bit like the army of staff there just were going through the motions. They've been serving many of the same 14 dishes to a hundred-odd punters every night for too long. There was little personal attention, no engagement between kitchen, waitstaff, food and customer. Dare I say there was a whiff of cynicism in the air that cold August night. Oscillate wildly on the other hand had a true buzz; there was a palpable excitement and passion in the air.
The room is unpretentious and almost cramped. The vibe is comfortable, Inner West-come-as-you-are, without being overly casual. There's starched, white linen on the bistro tables, but the staff don't do that silly fine-dining crumb scrape thing between courses. The two floor staff worked hard to ensure diners were comfortable and that the meal was moving at our pace and rhythm. Their tone was spot on. Right at the beginning of the night we were invited to ask any questions we may have about any of the dishes or ingredients. A tick for avoiding snobbery and making it OK not to know what "Tonka" is! Dishes were explained matter of factly when brought to the table and when compliments were given as empty plates were taken away, staff seemed genuinely pleased to hear them.
So, what did we eat that was so good? Delicious, warm house sourdough was a promising start. Memorable dishes were the duck with sassafras, sweet potato and cinnamon, and the "deconstructed" pumpkin pie for dessert. But the absolute crowning highlight was the liquorice-cured salmon with blood grapefruit and beetroot sorbet and lavender foam. I still marvel at the phenomenal combination of flavours on the palate. I quite simply can not think of another dish in my entire life as a foodie that made me that excited. (Though, granted, Tetsuya's sashimi scampi with passion fruit and white miso comes close).
All of that sensational food with a decent espresso and heavenly petit fours at the end came in at just $202 for two - plus $45 spent earlier at the bottle shop for a decent bottle of BYO Eden Valley riesing.
My only thought as to how this place could improve (and I've had to scrape the barrel) would be to put the price up by $20 and concentrate on sourcing local and organic ingredients of the highest quality. Maybe I'm a victim of a current food fad, but I almost felt lost not knowing whether the ingredients were locally sourced, biodynamic, or somehow special, or whether the kitchen hand just popped around the corner to Franklins to get them.
I'm glad to have dined at Oscillate Wildly while it is perhaps still just on the cusp of fame and greatness and while it is still small and intimate. I kind of hope it stays that way rather than expanding and losing its authenticity.
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Chai1022 -
See my reviews 14, 26 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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Dropped in here last Wednesday, on the chance they'd have a table for 5. Luckily they did! The food was excellent and the staff were superb. This place is definitely worth booking ahead for!
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Birdman1963au -
See my reviews 5, 08 September 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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My husband booked Oscillate Wildly for our wedding anniversary. However, it was so booked up that we couldn't get in until the week after. It is certainly a small place definitely around 10 tables or less. The atmosphere is nice but probably a little on the noisy side. Service was great and corkage was only $3pp.
The degustation menu was very good, but did leave something to be desired. Some combinations of ingredients were genuinely surprising and original - but others felt thrown together for the sake of having an unexpected ingredient in there.
Obviously, I felt Oscillate Wildly's menu leaned towards the pre-prepared too much. The first 2 courses (Cauliflower and white chocolate panna cotta topped with salmon roe, and creamed cottage cheese with cucumber and tomato snow) could have been prepared totally in advance. And I also felt they relied far too heavily on purees for incorporating extra ingredients into the dish - presented in the same manner (a smear on the plate) in every course in which it appeared. I think it must have been in 3-4 courses (of an 8 course menu).
I think desserts were probably the let down for me. The Long Pepper and Ginger Panacotta with Pineapple Granita were refreshing, but the coffee-soaked sponge topped with ice-cream and candied kumquat and coconut ice was not nearly sweet enough. Perhaps a course with chocolate (and I mean dessert, not the venison) would have been a nice touch.
I felt the portions were too small for 8 courses granted, some flavours work best in small portions - so given that, I think this menu really needed one more course.
I guess the problem lies sometimes in trying too hard to be creative. When every course is a pile of ingredients you don't usually associate with each other, then by your last courses, it's not unexpected anymore. There's nothing wrong with doing a traditional dessert but doing it brilliantly. Or pulling back on one course to let the next one shine even more. It's definitely a pleasant dining experience, and one I would go to again but I see definite room for improvement.
Updated: I have since returned to Oscillate Wildly since my above review and happy to report that my opinion of the restaurant has improved. However, my least favourite course from my first visit (tomato snow) was also the one course that was repeated. The deconstructed pumpkin pie was probably my favourite course - but 'pumkpin pie' is really a misleading name.
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chinalilly -
See my reviews 7, 08 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 7 |
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Beautiful food but when I ate there a couple of months ago the full degustation menu was the 'sole' option - this unfortunately means that we patronise it far less than if a la carte or even a shorter degustation menu was available. For occasion dining it's great and has a slightly less formal feel than many restaurants which have embraced the degustation craze. Reasonable value for money.
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Chaff -
See my reviews 1, 04 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 8 |
Value 10 |
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I have reviewed Oscillate once previously, however I have made several visits since it is was re-configured for degustation and owner Ross Godfrey relinquished the floor to focus on the administrative and creative aspects of his other restaurant interests.
What I sense is that the culmination of Daniel Puskas’s wonderfully intuitive comprehension of flavours is now complete with the addition of James Parry which has clearly resulted in the consistent preparation, execution and presentation of dishes that in my opinion are touching two hat status. I have never doubted the potential of this young and immensely talented brigade, but there was a balance and harmony on the plate tonight, across the whole degustation menu, that was simply both breathtaking and astonishing. The Parmesan crusted mulloway was simply sublime and the Duck with sassafras, sweet potato and cinnamon was just cooked perfectly. The deconstructed Pumpkin pie for dessert was not only a conceptual triumph but a wonderful way to finish the journey my palette was taken on.
If this current service and kitchen brigade can stay intact over the next year, a tilt at two hats would be a fitting reward for the culinary odyssey that Oscillate has allowed the Sydney dining to partake in at a price that removes the exclusivity that can unfortunately pervade fine dining. The accessibility that Oscillate provides is a tribute to Ross Godfrey, as never once has this restaurant throughout the ensuing torrent of attention, been anything but itself – an intriguing, intelligent and rewarding conversation between the food and the diner.
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le bon vivant -
See my reviews 15, 04 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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This restaurant is king. Exciting food with every course being a new adventure. I'm no foodie but I ate with three well travelled and extremely experienced food nuts and they also loved it. These guys will need a bigger space very soon to pack in the eager punters. We'll be back. Congratulations!
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markpod -
See my reviews 7, 27 August 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 7 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 7 |
Value 8 |
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I went back to Oscillate Wildly for the 4th time recently, to find they have changed the menu to a degustation. Still very very tasty food, good service, good value, we could still BYO. But I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the previous menu (your choice of 3 courses). Bring back the other menu!
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bekk -
See my reviews 7, 24 July 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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The best service I've had for ages, just uncomplicated hospitality. Even though they stopped us to describe each course, the staff were charming.
The ambience has its pros and cons. The chairs were uncomfortable, but I loved the unpretentiousness of the place. The music was pleasant and not too loud. This set the scene for a really enjoyable dinner, where our conversation was agreeably punctuated by the arrival of the many dishes of the degustation.
The savoury dishes, just as described in other reviews, were too creative for my taste, and I can understand why some people don't like the food. The novel approach works better for the desserts. And why don't more restaurants serve small, varied desserts like these?
The degustation at Rise, the Japanese restaurant, is more subtle and tastier, but Oscillate Wildly scores well on the whole experience.
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