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Awards
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2009 |
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SMH Good Food Guide 2009 - One Chef's Hat |
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2008 |
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SMH Good Food Guide 2008 - 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 161 comments
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| Overall |
 
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 10 |
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From the moment of entering and tasting the most beautiful sourdough, our experience was superb. The food is fantastic. The three mains we had were as good as any mains I have had. The entrees and desserts were a bit more experimental, creating plenty of intrigue. A case of every mouthful was going to be a surprise, as it was all so new. We had an absolutely awesome experience and at 495 for an 8 course meal is outstanding value.
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Lamb Chop -
See my reviews 11 , 30 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 9 |
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I don't know what previous commenter's are complaining about, I had dinner here last night with three friends and it was one of the best nights out I've had in a long time. The food was delicious, so imaginative and delicious and well-presented, and the service was lovely, just the right combination of friendly, knowledgeable, guidance and unobtrusive.
We were occasionally a little rowdy (as were other diners), not over the top but laughing at jokes as you do, and there was never a frown or a problem. The food, oh my goodness so fantastic. Every course was a new adventure, but each built on the other to tantalize the palate. Some (tomato snow for example) had crystal clear flavours up front, and others such as the ginger and pepper pannacotta with rhubarb and hibiscus granita, had lovely up-front flavours but if you sat and let it develop for a minute, the ginger warmth came through and other, more subtle flavours swirled.
It was a whole-of-mouth experience, as well as being a feast for the eyes and the mouth. The first course was a delicious celeriac soup with tonka, brazil nut and a little surprise of a white chocolate ganache at the bottom of the bowl. As I write it it sounds weird, and not something I'd order, but it was absolutely delicious. I could have had a huge bowl of it happily. This is the advantage of the degustation, you are presented with things you might not have chosen, but oh what a culinary adventure.
I ate about half a dozen ingredients last night I would normally say rule out a menu item for me, and I would now choose them. I thought the value, $95 for 9 courses, was very good. There was a lot of labour in the food, and the ingredients were all very high quality. You'd certainly pay twice that for the same food in many other restaurants around Sydney.
The other benefit of the degustation of course is that your friends are eating the same thing, and you can discuss the food. In between bouts of laughter about other stuff! I highly recommend this restaurant, just don't book it out too much because my friends and I have resolved to return every 6 months to try out the new menus.
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TudorGal -
See my reviews 2, 26 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Fantastic food. The presentation was superb. Service was kind, knowledgable and extremelly efficient. Would recommend to anyone, especially couples and small groups of less than 6.
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freddy23 -
See my reviews 1, 25 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 5 |
Service 5 |
Value 9 |
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Look, the food is astoundingly different, and features unique, tantilising combinations. If you are going to visit this restaurant, do it as a quiet couple. Laughter is frowned upon. Do not go as a group if you are planning a special evening. It should probably be named "Sit Demurely". It is the only restaurant I have ever been to that our company has been "Growled at" by the waiter, and this has happened both times I have been there.
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bootski -
See my reviews 3, 18 October 2008
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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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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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