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Oscillate Wildly

Overall Rating

8.5

 bullet Read 187 reviews 
 bullet Review this restaurant 

 

 

275 Australia St
Newtown NSW 2042

Phone (02) 9517 4700

 

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Oscillate Wildly Details

275 Australia St
Newtown NSW 2042
Phone (02) 9517 4700

view map Map

Limited Offer: 3 Months free!

Cuisine

Modern Australian

Chef

Karl Firla

Opening Hours

Dinner
Tue to Sat 6pm - 10pm

Serves

Dinner

Prices

Degustation
$95

Prices last updated:  04/2008

BYO

BYO Wine
Corkage per person $3.00

Seats  30


Notes

Bookings essential

 




Overall Rating              8.5  
 
Food                8.6  
Ambience                8.0  
Service                8.8  
Value                8.7  

 

Highly Recommended based on 193 votes
(The Overall Rating is calculated using a Weighted Average)
       
 

 

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Awards

Awards 2009   SMH Good Food Guide 2009 - One Chef's Hat
  2008   SMH Good Food Guide 2008 - One Chef's Hat

 



Related Editorial Content


 

User Reviews on Oscillate Wildly


 
Displaying 1 - 10 of 187 comments
 
Page: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10   Next
 

 

 

Overall             Highly Recommended
Food 10 Ambience 8 Service 10 Value 9

 

I had my first experience at OW last Saturday night and had an excellent evening. After first being on the waiting list for a week I was hoping the menu would live up to scratch, which it absolutely did.

The dishes were all packed full of flavors and my favourites would have been the gnocchi with squid ink and the venison.

The wine list was quite extensive and the waitress helped pick wines to complement the meals.

The final bill was reasonably priced for the food and wine we had. We will definitely return.
 
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rogaramjet  -   See my reviews 8reviews, 27 June 2009
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Overall             Recommended
Food 6 Ambience 8 Service 10 Value 7

 

The service is excellent and I liked the small intimate restaurant! Was a bit annoyed to be so close to the door but there was little thru traffic it wasn't a problem.

The food was very hit and miss. Some courses like the soup with truffle oil and the verison was fabulous! the brioche with very runny egg and the scallops were not. Other courses were all ok but not amazing. I'm glad I went as had been dying to go for ages but doubt whether or not we would be back unless the menu changes!
 
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Sadiek  -   See my reviews 48reviews, 24 June 2009
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Overall             Highly Recommended
Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 10

 

Absolutely spot on. Loved the lack of pretentiousness coupled with the varied and quality menu.
 
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megarama  -   See my reviews 3reviews, 19 June 2009
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Overall             Recommended
Food 8 Ambience 6 Service 8 Value 7

 

This was our first visit to OW since the degustation menu came in to effect. All the food was well prepared and presented. For my taste I would have liked a bit more of a flow in the menu. We seemed to jump from one extreme flavour to another. The dishes that remain in my memory are the gnocchi with coffee flavouring (strange but very enjoyable) and the squid ink pasta. Both of these were exquisite.

On the downside the chicken though beautifully moist lacked a bit of flavour, especially when every other course is so powerful. And the venison dish was, perhaps, the richest dish I have ever had. I could barely get through it and I would have liked something to counter the dominant chocolate flavouring. The venison got a bit lost.

Ambience was ok. We were sitting close to the door so its difficult to expect too much. Service was professional and every dish was well explained. Sometimes it was a touch impersonal which is unusual for OW. One other small gripe is that especially during the early courses we had to wait a long time between dishes. I wondered if this was a ploy to get you to finish your BYO and get you on to their wine!

Value was acceptable. It would be difficult to find food of this quality at a lower price. Overall I would say it was a satisfying experience but I was not blown away. I actually preferred OW in its old format.
 
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Gt_Hill  -   See my reviews 37reviews, 10 June 2009
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Overall             Highly Recommended
Food 10 Ambience 10 Service 9 Value 9

 

I totally loved the whole experience. It wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be, especially with wine and corkage. Good choice of wines available.

Appetiser - a very petite starter. I enjoyed the crunchiness of the caramel brittle and pomegranate jellies. Don't know how to feel about the rest but the presentation was fairly impressive. Tuna sashimi - was ok too. I expected the wasabi to come out a little more especially through the foam. The cucumber was essential in cleansing the palate - nice.

I thoroughly enjoyed the potato gnocchi and squid ink pasta. The ground coffee and pepitas took this dish to another level. Really delicate flavours which challenged my tastebuds - simply divine. Whitefish - I think this dish got lost in all the other fancier dishes. More homey than innovative but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Chicken - though I loved the texture and flavour of the puffed grains, I found the chicken a little plain. Venison was my choice for mains too. The flavours were really well balanced, the chocolate and beetroot jus was sweet and earthy which complimented the gamey, tender venison.

The watermelon and coconut was a delight. The sliver of kaffir lime fragrantly tickled my senses. The celery sorbet was most interesting. It was very subtle yet well balanced with the sweet pear and chantilly chocolate. Lollipop and pomegranate jelly, the exploding rock pops were a treat, an excellent way to balance the tartness of the jelly. The short black did well to dilute what would have been an otherwise overly sweet lollipop.

I felt the lighting was just right and the staff quite friendly but professional. Little or no noise was coming out of the kitchen which added to the intimate atmosphere. My only niggle is going through the kitchen to get to the toilet.

Overall I give it 9 out of 10.
 
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Mogs  -   See my reviews 1review, 05 June 2009
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Overall             Average
Food 5 Ambience 6 Service 6 Value 5

 

Disappointing. My third time at OW, although it was my first without Puskas in the kitchen. The food was plain at best. The use of foam in four out of 8 courses was too much. Surely there are other ways to present and serve food in an innovative manner. Had another booking there next month, which I cancelled.

Sorry OW, you're just not worth the $95 now. Will try again in a year or so, hopefully there's hope for you yet. But for now I prefer to spend my money on a meal I enjoy, unfortunately, by the fourth course (more foam...) I secretly wished to leave. Sad to see the mighty fall.
 
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Noema  -   See my reviews 1review, 02 June 2009
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Overall             Average
Food 6 Ambience 5 Service 8 Value 2

 

The food was interesting but nothing more. Definitely not worth the high price. Also, an additional dish was offered to us in a sneaky way. Only after we'd agreed to it we were told it would cost extra. The people on the next table were only told after they've had it and they did not seem too happy about it either...
 
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okritikos  -   See my reviews 1review, 23 May 2009
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  0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
 
 

 

Overall             Recommended
Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 9 Value 7

 

OW is more innovative and challenging than some other degustation menus. I largely agree with gutsmagoo's comments below, I loved the gnocchi with coffee, though a couple of my fellow diners didn't like the combo. The chicken was a winner with everyone, and the chestnut dish, and the venison were also my favourites. The things I didn't like was the strong wasabi flavour with the tuna, and the celery sorbet, but they were received well by others. I think that's the great thing about OW, they are a bit more experimental so you either love what they're doing, or sometimes a dish just doesn't work for you.

Service was excellent, and atmosphere good. Going through the kitchen to an outdoor loo is disappointing, but they can't really help this, unless they made the dining space even smaller. I would like to see them introduce optional matching wines for each course.
 
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AliH  -   See my reviews 7reviews, 18 May 2009
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Overall             Highly Recommended
Food 9 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 8

 

My date and I had a wonderful degustation that lasted a good three and a half hours. The time flew by as I was with great company, but to add to the evening was the service, we didn't feel once that we were waiting for courses to come, waiting staff were attentive, cheery and knowledgeable about the food. It was a little expensive but feel it was well worth it. Thanks for a memorable evening!
 
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duncmaclaren  -   See my reviews 1review, 07 May 2009
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  1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
 
 

 

Overall             Average
Food 6 Ambience 6 Service 7 Value 5

 

Wife had been here with a friend and was eager for me to try it with her. We were 20 minutes late traffic was heavy in Newtown, but were surprised to be greeted by young lurch the waiter who after seating us remarked that if we were any later we should have expected a rude message on our phone which we had left behind.

Trying not to let this ruin the night we said nothing and tried to ignore young lurch the waiter who needs to learn that his treatment of patrons needs to improve. The waitress on the other hand was very professional and friendly.

The food while trying to be nouveau failed in its sometimes too unusual mix of flavours especially the use of chocolate. The portions were sufficient to leave feeling comfortable. For a night out and having to wait for a month to get in you can do better. There is no need for rudeness before you even eat.

Cuing in the rain to use the one toilet is also problematic. Suggest you go before you go for dinner. I would try elsewhere.
 
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dustycat  -   See my reviews 3reviews, 18 April 2009
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 187 comments
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