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User Reviews on Pony Lounge & Dining
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 139 comments
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| Overall |
  
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Below Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 2 |
Service 1 |
Value 2 |
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What a terrible experience we had. Rude staff, slow service, a miserable lady who looked like she was in charge, we had to ask for everything, water, wine, steak knife, then water and wine again. Then ask for the bill twice, then it was wrong, no one seemed to know what they were doing. Such a shame, and was not cheap. Will never go back.
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BeauD -
See my reviews 2 , 04 March 2010
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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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My partner and I dined at Pony on the Monday night after Valentine's Day this year. It was a perfect Sydney evening and when we arrived, we were offered a table inside or outside. We opted for a seat outside. However, this was at a communal table only centimetres from the next couple. With this being our Valentine's meal, we didn't feel things were private enough, so we requested a table inside instead. This was no problem at all for the staff.
We were then seated inside (and while all the tables, inside or out, are close together, we were much happier). The ambience at Pony is a lot of fun, with the dining room being narrow and long with all the tables running down the centre with the bar at one end and the kitchen at the other. We were about two or three tables from the kitchen, which meant we could see the action.
To start we had olives and woodfired bread which was very tasty. We then shared a platter of chorizo, smoked chillis, whitebeans, chutney and manchego (cheese). The combination of flavours was excellent and we really enjoyed it.
For our mains, my partner had the beef with bearnaise, "big chips" and some greens (cress or baby spinach). He really enjoyed the meal and the steak was cooked perfectly. I had grilled salmon with a salad of fetta, Spanish onion, orange and baby beetroots. It was absolutely stunning (and I have since cooked the meal at home twice since our visit). The fish was cooked a lovely medium-rare and the flavours in the salad were really tasty.
For dessert, he had an apple pastry with vanilla ice cream and I had a white chocolate creme brulee with blood plum and served with biscotti. The desserts weren't as amazing as I had expected after the other dishes we had previously. They were yummy but not outstanding. The texture of the creme brulee wasn't as creamy as I would have liked and the biscotti seemed either store-bought or stale.
The service at Pony was friendly, attentive and unobtrusive. The waitress that served us was knowledgeable on both food and wine (we ordered by the glass, a fairly decent range).
The meals probably cost what you would expect for Sydney, but still expensive for meals that were simple and not in any way innovative. We are really looking forward to visiting Pony again for another wonderful meal.
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onyx310 -
See my reviews 6, 01 March 2010
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 7 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 5 |
Value 6 |
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Food is Ok but the service is slow and at times a bit rude.
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erinmac21 -
See my reviews 3, 28 February 2010
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 5 |
Value 6 |
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Decided to try Pony after having a great experience at Steel Bar & Grill. The restaurant is quite small and cosy, great decor and suits the Rocks area. We ordered a glass of French Champagne at $21 a glass and the waiter suggested we try an alternative Rose Champagne due to their Rose promotion. "Its the same price" is what both of us heard. We agreed and yes the Rose Champagne was lovely.
Scallops for entree and main of Salmon with beetroot, orange and feta salad was beautiful. We ordered quite a few glasses of the suggested Rose champagne and finished off with a cocktail. Our food waiter was efficient and very friendly and professional. We were having a great time, until the bill came out. We noticed that the suggested Champagne was $32 a glass and not the $21 we were expecting. We queried this with the food waiter who said he would check because he agreed there was quite a considerable difference.
A few minutes later the drinks waitress came over in a huff and very defensive explaining that yes there was a difference in price and she never would have said they were the same price as she knows they aren't the same price. At this point I was quite surprised with her manner and got a little fired up myself. I couldn't believe she was speaking to me like that. I explained to her that both of us heard her say that the Rose was the same price. She again denied saying that and told us that since we still had the drinks menu we could have checked the price ourselves before agreeing to order it.
I explained that at the point of ordering drinks we had shut the menus and didn't think we needed to check when we heard that it was "the same price". The waitress then said "What do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to speak with the manager?" At this she walked off in the same huff she appeared in. After some minutes discussing with the manager, the waitress came back with a mood change trying to be all nice as pie but you could see it was a strain. She was charging us the lower price and said she had hoped we would return again and shook our hands.
We explained we had come as we had such a great experience at Steel Bar at which she mentioned she works there too. I offered her some advice that the next time she suggest an alternative that costs 50% more than what the customer had selected that she needs to indicate the price difference to the customer. The narky side came out again and she insulted me with "I'll take that on board, but 90% of our clientele that order french champagne don't care about the price, it's not about how much it costs, it's about which Champagne they choose to drink".
I have never experienced such arrogance at any other fine dining restaurant. I thought she was completely unprofessional and grossly presumptuous in her thinking that just because we ordered French champagne means we have all the money in the world! It was a shame really, because up until that point we were having a great time and in the space of a few short minutes our night turned into a great disppointment.
As I walked out of the restaurant I said to the manager that her waitress was very rude and the reply I got was "Sorry". Even the manager couldn't care less and certainly didn't care for me to elaborate. I would suggest Pony for the food, but just hope you don't get the same waitress and above all be careful when they suggest alternatives as they may well be a lot pricier than what you had in mind. Upselling like I've never seen before!
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N77 -
See my reviews 1, 22 February 2010
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 7 |
Value 7 |
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The good:
1. Our meals tasted excellent. We had the harissa lamb cutlets and the crisp pork shoulder. The meat in both dishes were cooked perfectly and delicious. For dessert, we had the petit fours (coconut macaroon, chocolate truffle, pistachio nougat). Each was to die for. I drool whenever I think about them.
2. Decor is stylish and pretty. Warm, cosy atmosphere.
3. The waiters are attentive and friendly.
The bad:
1. The portions are too small. We were still slightly hungry after wards. But, I cannot think of any other fine dining places which actually give big servings.
2. The food takes ages to come out, which is especially bad if you are hungry.
3. Tad pricey.
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s.l.k -
See my reviews 4, 19 February 2010
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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We ate here twice within three nights and both times our food was excellent! The second evening we sat at the communal bench which was not a trial, but reduces the ambiance points by one. With enough foresight it would be best to book a table inside. The food was perfect and the wait staff both knowledgeable and friendly. I will eat here every time I make it up to Sydney!
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Piven -
See my reviews 1, 15 February 2010
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Awesome Awesome awesome! are best words to describe this place. Staff are friendly. Welcoming. Great atmosphere. Food is divine, the gnocchi was breathtaking and practically melt in ur mouth. The sirloin cooked to perfection, our dessert a macadamia caramel tart there are no words to describe how divine that was. Absolutely awesome. Will definitely be back and tell our friends. Thank you to Damian and the team ur service was outstanding.
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Mystery Dinner -
See my reviews 2, 27 January 2010
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 7 |
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What a little gem! We stumbled across this cute little place whilst out and about. The host who greeted us was very warm and welcoming and immediately informed us that we could have a table but there may be a short delay; just long enough for a couple of cocktails.
We were led down the deck to a little lounge area where we were greeted by a very friendly young lady who quickly got us settled and we ordered out cocktails. They were great and so we were happy to have a couple while we waited for a table.
We were seated along the communal table outside which, although a little cramped, it added to the atmosphere and you soon forgot about the people beside you.
We ordered some small plates; rock oysters, sashimi, sausages and prawns. Very fresh and tasty and enough for an entree. We then had the pork and barramundi, both were cooked perfectly and well balanced.
A cheese plate and apple flan for dessert with a couple of glasses of a suggested dessert wine wine down a treat although the apple flan was a tad undercooked on the bottom.
The service was very warm and welcoming and although clearly busy, the young man who served us was open, friendly and professional.
We will definitely be back!
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don't believe the hype -
See my reviews 2, 25 January 2010
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 7 |
Value 3 |
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We went here in a party of 8 people. The waiting staff were very friendly and attentive, and sitting outside provided a great atmosphere. I ordered the pork shoulder for my main and it was fantastic (although lacking any real accompaniment).
Now to the bad points:
1. The price! The price reflected fine dining however we were crammed in on bench seats like some fast food establishment (constantly clashing elbows with the diners on either side). Every time a waiter or waitress passed I seemed to get a nudge on the back, this became very annoying.
2. Portion sizes! For afters I had the cheese for one. The cheese was a miniscule piece of blue cheese, with three wafer crackers and a slither of quince. The starter was sashimi which tasted great but was seriously lacking quantity for the price.
In summary the food was great (although not fine dining), and the price was not good value for money. We spent almost $100 per person and I didn’t feel we got value for money.
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thedons -
See my reviews 1, 08 January 2010
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 1 |
Service 5 |
Value 1 |
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Went there as part of a group of 10, which meant there was also a surcharge of 10% of the total bill. We were booked for 6 pm and had to be out by 8 pm. Food was average (not worth the $65 + 10%). We even found a worm in the side serving of vegetables.
Service was efficient and polite, food all arrived at the same time. But I think they were also motivated because they needed us out of there by 8 pm. We sat at a table outside with a bench, uncomfortable and noisy, again, is this so we don't get too comfortable so that we didn't linger there too long. Someone else has commented about the bench not fitting everyone comfortably, I totally agree! Will not ever go back again. Very disappointing.
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crazymaisy -
See my reviews 2, 11 December 2009
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