Pyrama

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Pyrama has a loyal following from the local community who are always personally welcomed by Karen and the staff making it a sometimes intimidating place for newcomers to the area or for first-timers who might feel that they have just gate-crashed a private function. Such initial perceptions quickly dissolve, however, when the friendliness is extended to all and the excellent and flawless service emerges as the secret of such addictive familiarity.

Pyrama gives us what we want: simple and yet beautifully presented food using fresh ingredients underscored by clean tastes and fragrant additions that do not overwhelm the quality of the produce. Everyone wants to eat in a relaxed, friendly and unobtrusive environment where you feel welcomed and acknowledged. This is what Pyrama is good at.

We have sampled breakfast, lunch and dinner over the past six months and both the food and service has never failed to impress. Even on busy weekends, you won't wait long. Like the interior design of the restaurant, the food is all clean lines with an emphasis on good lighting. Going against current trends in the opposite direction, dishes here are uncomplicated and they get back to basics without descending into 90s gastropub pretension.

Jim Larcan is the brains behind this philosophy and there are options outside the normal 'a la carte' menu where you can sample his cuisine without forking out too much cash. There is an express lunch for $20 in the week (including a glass of wine) and the dinner menu at $40 per head for 2 courses or $52 per head for 3 courses is a relative bargain.

My confit duck maryland with parsnip puree and a hazelnut, orange and watercress salad was perfection. The parmesan-crusted junee lamb cutlets were beautifully presented if not a little dry but don't leave without sampling the white chocolate and passionfruit creme brulee. The wine list is affordable and appropriate.

Breakfast is something of a local hero largely due to those awesome organic free-range eggs and special treats like crispy potato hash and the heavenly french omelette not to mention the ricotta pancakes with fresh berries and maple syrup. Coffee is first-class as seen by the number of drop-ins who pop in to pick up their preferred take-away.

No attitude here, just high quality food and attentive service with a friendly and pleasant ambience which in some parts of Sydney now seems like a distant memory. You get the distinct impression that Jim and Karen are serious about pleasing their customers in the food and service stakes while giving you real value for money.

Oh, and just walk in with an air of familiarity and act like you're a member of the Pyrmont family. You will just keep coming back.

May 20, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

From a shortlist that wasn't short, birthday celebrations for my partner brought us here. It's had plenty of good reviews with good reason. Admittedly it was a Wednesday night so probably a bit slower with just ten covers or so at 8pm. I had booked a week earlier with the tag it was for a birthday and the two girls on made it a great night.

The food selection caters for most if not all, and the starters of calamari were tender little rings with rocket and plenty of them, so good they didn't need the aioli to dip in. Also lush was the zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, glad that they left a fair chunk of zucchini on the eat too.

For mains the duck confit was scoffed to the bone on some lovely mash, and the merguez sausages was a garlicky affair. The merguez was served with a strange mix of chimichurri and a salsa with roast potatoes. Each bit on their own was great albeit not marrying together.

The wine list was definitely affordable, the SA shiraz went down well. Just on that, I loved the attention the wait staff gave keeping our bottle off the table and bringing it over to top up just as you were down to your last sip. I can't speak highly enough for the service, infact one of them tried to offer us dessert and when we said we were stuffed, she grinned that it was a shame as she would've popped a birthday candle in one to serve.

So instead she left us with a couple of Ferraro Rocher's. I would agree with a previous review that the only thing against Pyrama is the aspect and sit from certain angles, but Harris street isn't the most scenic part of town and they do what they can.

Overall, two courses for $40 plus a bottle of $35 wine was a steal for the quality and service. It's BYO too but at these prices why wouldn't you just order from their selection.

I wish more restaurants gave you the 2 for $40 or 3 for $52 kinda option. Through the night it was obvious locals frequent this place often and are known by name. Fully great night.

Feb 09, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  9     

One word people. Professional! So often you read the reviews, turn up and you're disappointed. Not here. From the handling of the phone reservation to the greeting at the door, this is an establishment that knows what it is about. The calamari entree was perfect. 10 out of 10. The pate was home made, fresh, light and delicious. The Barramundi was truly spectacular and the Flathead fish and chips a cut above the rest.

Service was seamless, knowledgeable and extremely proficient. My only slight criticism is that the decor, layout and aspect could be better. Nevertheless a great experience and very highly recommended. Good value too.

Nov 19, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

A simple menu of fabulous dishes! Celebrated a birthday here. The food was amazing and the $52 3 course menu was a great value. Staff were very happy and friendly!

The stand out to me, was probably the calamari, dry aged beef and the chocolate fondant with icecream. Although not the best I've ever tried, their white chocolate creme brulee is quite addictive, however, it lacked in the flavour compartment as the white chocolate was not strong.

Despite this, I am definitely returning! For the food and for the great friendly service provided!

Nov 06, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

Pyrama is a neighbourhood favourite. The menu is simple but skilfully prepared. The selection isn't huge, but it means the ingredients are fresh and there is something for everyone. Warm, fresh bread is a great start. The pate was house made and delicious, and the squid tasty and not oily as some can be. An entree ordered as a larger size for a main caused no drama and was very successful. The only fault, and it's quite nit-picky, is that the chicken was a tad dry and a bit salty, but doesn't chicken usually need a bit of salt?

We didn't partake of the wine list this time because of the BYO policy for weeknights, but were impressed by the choices available by the glass when we went for brunch a couple of weeks before. The brunch beats even the nearby water-view places like Savichees hands down. The room is cosy and pretty on a cold night, and thankfully quieter than the plethora of glass and wood reno'd eateries. The warm, friendly and knowledgeable service is the icing on the cake. We'll certainly be back.

Aug 19, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

A fantastic meal with tremendous service.

Tempura zucchini flowers and the beef stew were the entrees, then the special trout and delicious fettuccine with stunning fresh prawns. There was a dessert, a tea, three glasses of wine and a glass of dessert wine, all for $130 which we considered great value.

While Jim Larcan's menu may not be incredibly innovative, it is certainly skilled and has a delight for everyone. It's good enough to be a regular haunt, and you'd be guaranteed of fresh and quick-disappearing food!

Staff were friendly and really happy to be of help, they really were, palpably, something that would be great to experience in more places. I'll be there again!

May 29, 2011 

6 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  6     

We came on an overcast rainy day, and, unfortunately, the food matched the weather. We must have caught the kitchen on a bad day, because although the simple menu was quite nice, the dishes were generally average. Not bad, but didn't blow us away. We had the scallops, and rabbit entree, duck and fish mains. Serving sizes a little small and we still felt hungry afterwards. However, got to say this little restaurant has potential. Service was excellent!

Feb 12, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

The two of us had a great meal here on Saturday night. We started with the squid and the scallop entrees, the scallops cooked to perfection the best I'v ever had. For mains we had the lamb and the gnocchi and prawns. Desserts the panna cotta and the best brulee. We were suprised at how much we enjoyed our meal and we will will be back.

Dec 19, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Dined here on Friday night and really enjoyed it. The service was friendly and all the food was wonderful, even the sourdough roll was excellent. Dishes ordered included calamari, stuffed zucchini flowers, gnocchi and prawns, and ricotta ravioli (which were huge and delicious) and steamed greens. We all ordered the white choc brulee, which had fresh passion fruit pulp on top, and it was really good. A bottle of Shiraz washed it all down (some of the wines can be bought by the glass). I'll definitely return.

Dec 12, 2010 

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Came here with a group of 4 for a dinner on a Thursday night. Arrived at 7.30pm with a booking and the restaurant was mostly empty so we picked a nice table outside. By 8.30pm the restaurant was full, so word must be spreading about it. Waitress was friendly and pleasant and knew the menu well.

Disappointed that there was a lot of substitution in the menu - even on main ingredients! I had wanted to order the pasta with pig cheek, however they didn't have pig cheek (?) and instead were using pancetta. In a friends desert (the cheese platter), they substituted the dates for picked pears (but this time, without telling us first and served it without any mention, until we asked). Very disappointing.

The patte was lovely, although was in "pre-made" dishes so didn't look very fresh. Same with the brulee's - all pre made and just pulled out of the fridge. I wasn't a fan of the passionfruit on top of the brulee but my friends enjoyed it immensely.

For the main I had the duck which was just divine (braised for 5 hours before being grilled for the crispy skin), although it didn't come with any sides which was disappointing. The turnip puree was lovely and sweet.

Friends had the steak and they raved about how tender it was. Another friend had the mussels and said it was also very good. The steak and mussels were served with what appeared to be frozen french fries, rather than home made fries which was again disappointing. Overall a pleasant enough experience, but won't be rushing back.

Nov 26, 2010