Fresh User Reviews in Woolloomooloo

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  8     

My husband took me to Otto's for a surprise birthday dinner, and it was such an impressive dining experience. The food is exceptional and well deserving of their One Chef's Hat (although personally I think it matches the criteria of Two Chef's hats). The service was professional and charming from our arrival right through to the end of the meal.

I highly recommend the souffle with truffle for entree. It was exquisite, with the right feathery and silky texture you would expect from a perfectly baked souffle. My main of smoked duck breast, raisin puree and roasted hazelnuts was absolutely gorgeous, the meat was beautifully tender, moist and melted in the mouth. Absolutely one of the best duck dishes I've eaten. A side order of truffle infused potato mash was so delicious and creamy my husband and I were fighting over the last spoonful.

The dessert menu is innovative and creative. I ordered the Amaretto liqueur brûlée with cocoa meringue, amaretti biscuits, cherries and sour cherry sorbet. Such a complex and quirky dessert item sounds impossible to execute but it was simply delightful. It's cheeky presentation looked like a little campfire on the plate.

I highly recommend Otto's if you are after a memorable dinner. Ask for seating upstairs if you are seeking a quiet, romantic dinner. My only complaint is to do with the furniture, the tables are too small which warrants the need for extra caution not to knock something onto the floor, and the chairs were uncomfortable. Othwerwise, Otto's gets a huge tick of approval.

May 30, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

My girl and I wandered into this restaurant for breakfast and were very happy with our meal. I ordered the open omelette, which was rich and full of flavor without being too greasy. She ordered the folded omelette, which she loved as well. The coffee had flavor without being heavy. A great meal at a reasonable price.

May 28, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Treacle pudding. Pannacotta with Passionfruit. Fruit Crumble with icecream. After this closing trifecta of dessert perfection I can't really remember anything else about the restaurant at the Tilbury. Swooning.

Ok, I do remember the peculiar service, do they hire from the back packers up in Kings Cross? But the food was fab, and that's what we were there for. The Tilbury is a fun pub with a very laid back, cruisey (cruising?) vibe, perfect for a Sunday afternoon session on the sofas or the deck. Save the restaurant for special occasions, it has a stitched up formality that sits slighty off with the sunny view to the potted olive trees and it is quite expensive. But those desserts.

May 18, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I was brought to Kingsleys by my partner for my birthday last Tuesday night. The location of Wooloomooloo wharf was beautiful as always. We were shown to our table, and this was one of the only things I didn't like, we were advised to order our food very quickly as a function had arrived just minutes before us and were close to ordering and subsequently we could be waiting a long time for our food if we ordered after them.

I asked how long exactly and was told she couldn't imagine but it would be quite a while. I then panicked slightly as wanted more than 2 minutes to look at my menu.

Anyway, shortly after that another waitress came to our table and was very pleasant. She reassured me that I did not in fact have to worry about ordering quickly, that functions work differently and it would not affect the waiting time.

Apart from that hiccup, the night was lovely. We got a beautiful bottle of Tempranillo (highly recommended), I got the eye fillet and my partner got the rib-eye. Both were beautifully cooked. Sides we got, Raddichio, witlof, orange and balsamic (very nice but the orange could have been slightly sweeter), steakhouse chips (nice and fresh) and a Quail salad that was on the Specials list.

Overall a fantastic evening was had and the staff who served us all night were very polite and friendly.

May 14, 2012

2 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  1     

Terrible! Went here for a birthday with an $80 set menu. Entree was a share plate consisting of (and sharing between 4 people may I add) 2 tiny arancini balls, one sliver of smoked trout, 4-5 mini tentacles of skid and a little prosciutto. We had to ask for bread which the other tables had. I sent my main back as did others on the table and dessert tasted like washing up liquid with serving sizes much like the entree.

The staff were rude and unattentive and would dump a plate down without even bothering to explain what we were eating. Will never go back and will never recommend to my friends.

May 06, 2012

5.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  1      Value  2     

Unfortunately, thanks to our waitress, our dining experience was terrible. My suggestion to Otto's is to invest in quality service staff. There is no point having quality food, without quality service. I won't be coming back. There are too many great restaurants in Sydney to choose from.

May 04, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

This place is amazing. Went here with my boyfriend last night and thoroughly enjoyed our night.

I really can't fault the food, we had chilli squid aND chicken coleslaw as an entree. Then the organic stir fried beef which is probably one of the best tasting things I've ever eaten and my partner loved the penang wagu beef curry too. We each tried 2 cocktails, my favourite was the pomegranate margerita. Mmm.

Service was great, we had an awesome waitress that popped over to check on everything every now and again. The food also was brought out promptly. The ambience for the most part was good and while the food is on the pricey side it is definitely worth every cent.

Cannot wait to go back.

May 04, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

My husband and I purchased an Ouffer voucher for a 3 course dinner plus two glasses of wine at Aki's. We were really excited to see a Chef's Hatted restaurant on a "daily deals" site like ouffer.com for such an appealing offer price. I’m not generally a huge fan of Indian food because my stomach doesn’t agree with spicy, but my husband loves Indian food. He also has celiac disease and most Indian food is naturally gluten free.

The most enjoyable part of our dining experience was the ambience. The restaurant is situated right on Woolloomooloo Wharf. Although the interior is adorned with beautiful Indian style décor, sitting outside under the heat lamps and overlooking the wharf made for a very romantic atmosphere.

The menu for the Ouffer voucher was pre-fixed with an entrée platter, a selection of curries, rice, naan bread, and a shared dessert. My husband and I are vegetarians and the Ouffer voucher stipulated that vegetarian options would be available upon request.

The vegetarian entrée was a sample platter with several small portions. The dish was a tease because there was only one of each individual item and everything was so good and left me wanting more! The following is what was served for the entrees, Beetroot Vada, a fried beetroot and lentil patty with fennel, ginger, and curry leaves served with onion and tomato chutney. This resembled the taste of falafel.

Baingan Jaipuri Chips, a few sticks of crispy eggplant dusted with spiced chickpea flour and served with cumin flavoured yoghurt dip. They actually resembled tempura coated frites. Tandoori Paneer, 2 paneer cubes flavoured with ajwain, fresh green chillies, and hung yoghurt. This was my absolute favorite part of the dish because it was not spicy at all, the texture was rich, and the flavour was excellent.

I regret not asking our server to make the curries for our main dish mild because to say that they were Very spicy is an understatement. By the end of the meal, our mouths were on fire. My husband ordered 3 glasses of Reisling in order to extinguish the flames that were burning in his mouth. It was a very nice reisling, not too sweet but light and fruity.

The vegetarian curries that they served us were Saag Paneer, paneer cubes with pureed spinach, fresh tomatoes, garlic and fenugreek. This dish would have been stupendous had it been less crazy spicy. The initial flavours were phenomenal but were masked by the strength of the heat. Subzi Meloni, a vegetable stir fry dish of green npeas, cauliflower, mixed peppers, carrot, beans, sweated onions, spiced with cumin ginger, chilli and tumeric. This curry was the most mild of them all, although it was the least interesting as well. The third curry was a dhal, which also more spicy than I was used to.

The overall food was so spicy that it dulled my taste buds and everything started to taste the same. Thankfully I had a very delicious garlic naan bread and rice to dull the spiciness of the curries.

The desserts were served together on a beautifully decorated, although fairly sparse, plate. There were two small flutes Jackfruit pasayam with kulfi, jackfruit and rice cooked with milk, vanilla beans, pistachio and cardamom pods. This tasted like a rice pudding that went sour. The two small bars of Indian ice-cream laced with cardamom and pistachio were delicately topped one upon the other. This was a very interesting yet delicious tasting ice cream, unique and unlike any typical flavour.

I would definitely recommend Aki’s to anyone who likes good authentic (and spicy) Indian cuisine.

May 03, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

Was here earlier in the month and thought this place was top notch. The barman turns out some seriously good cocktails. Service attentive without the obvious upsell. Will be back soon!

Apr 30, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

We had a really good meal here. It's a really nice setting on the wharf and the place has a nice atmosphere, quite stylish and elegant without being pretentious. The best aspect of the evening was the service. The staff were very attentive without being pushy and were also very friendly. We were also offered complimentary little tasting morsels at various points in the evening which was nice.

The food was really tasty and we enjoyed every course. This is up there now as one of my top 2 or 3 Indian places in Sydney. However I've been hunting for Indian food that's as good as what you get in London and I still haven't found anything that meets up to it. While I found Aki's curry really tasty and more-ish, it wasn't as full flavoured as something you'd get in the UK.

I think it's enough value for money considering the service and location. It's pricing is pretty average for a nice meal out but it's definitely more expensive than your average Indian restaurant.

Apr 29, 2012

9.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

I have dined here twice in 3 weeks and have to say I'm hooked. I can't fault the food, service or experience. I have taken my partner both times and have come away wanting more. I went on Friday night with a 9:30pm booking. We arrived at 8:30 and thought we should ask the guy at the entry if they could accommodate us early? He asked us to wait at the bar and will see what he can do. We both got to the bar and the there wasn't much room to sit as others were waiting.

The barman acknowledged this with out me saying anything and asked 2 couples to move over. Nice work! Then we had 2 awesome cocktails. Within 10 minutes we had a table just inside but perfect. Had an awesome pork belly and beef wagyu shin. We were stuffed when asked about dessert. I then asked for the bill only to have a dessert consisting of watermelon, kiwi (and something else I forgot) come out. It was absolutely divine.

Waitress said "she won't take no dessert for an answer so its on the house!). I can't explain in words our delight at the overall experience. Please go there!

Apr 25, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

I have mixed feeling on this one. We enjoyed a lovely meal at dinner on a Thursday night recently. The staff were very polite and explained anything asked of them, in a helpful and friendly manner.

The food was very tasty, very fresh and cooked very well! We all shared our plates and the specials were the fav (Pork and Prawn Dumplings) and the other stand out dish was the duck pancakes! The prices, however, left a bit to be desired *They seemed a fair bit over priced (*$44 for 8 'small' duck pancakes? really?). Between the 8 of us the bill was very pricey, but for a premium venue at a top Sydney location, you really cannot complain. Not sure if I would go there again (based solely on $$).

However, if money is not an issue, then I would recommend dining here no problem. At the end of the day: The view, the staff, the food and the wine were great!

Apr 20, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

I went to Kingsleys on Saturday night in a group of 10. Everyone on the table commented on what a fantastic place and what great food. The Alaskan crab legs were thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The steaks were delicious as were all the different sides. We had an excellent Margaret River Chardonnay for $48 and a very good Heathcote Shiraz for around the same amount (a couple of bottles of each).

The staff were very helpful, turning on a heater when only one person was feeling the cold. The meals were out in good time. Cannot think of a single thing to whinge about. Overall a fantastic experience, we'll be back again.

Apr 19, 2012

4.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  3      Value  2     

I went to Aki's for dinner last Friday night with 6 others after reading a review in the Herald. I was very disappointed with the overall experience.

Firstly, the waiters were very unattentive and had to be asked several times to take our order, gave us the wrong drinks and then told us they were the ones we had ordered when clearly they were not.

We ordered several different dishes between all of us, some of which was pretty good but a lot of it below average compared to other Indian restaurants in Sydney. We found the food to be very much overpriced, we were shocked to see we were charged $28 for a bowl of steamed rice when only three people ate rice.
The only positive thing I can say about this restaurant was that the setting was lovely.

Hopefully the waiters improve their service as it certainly ruined our experience!

Apr 17, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

I ate here a few weeks ago on a Friday afternoon with some work colleagues and we did not leave dissappointed or at all hungry. The weather was perfect so our pre confirmed outside table was the perfect spot. I was impressed when the waiter brought us ladies mats to sit our bags on instead of the ground. Our waiter was lovely, friendly, bubbly and enthusiastic about the restaurant and its cuisine.

For main I had the Filetto Di Manzo, which was cooked perfectly. Everyone was very happy with their delicious mains. But the dessert Omg I would go back just for that! The Semifreddo Al Caramello E Popcorn is to die for! Food is very well priced for the quality, presentation and overall service. I will definitely recommend this restaurant to others and hope to return again soon.

Apr 10, 2012

7.6 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Had lunch here recently. I had the chicken schnitzel burger and chips which was tasty, filling and good value for $17. Two others had a grilled seafood plate each which was so so and one had fish which was good. We used a voucher from their website to get 2 free serves of tequilla battered flathead fillets which was yummy. I would easily come back!

Apr 10, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Finally got around to trying Aki's after multiple recommendations, and we were not disappointed. Up front I must admit I am not an Indian lover but wanted to try here to see if I could be swayed and it is definitely the nicest Indian I have had. The curries are milder than most but steadily build flavour as you get through each dish.

Mixed entree to start was tasty but small, which was made up for by the abundance of food for main, goat curry, seafood curry, and a spinach and cottage cheese dish which was much nicer than it sounds! The accompanying naans were delicate and crispy, and complimented the subtle curries perfectly. Dessert was nice but not the reason anybody would come here.

Service was attentive and friendly, and the location is beautiful. A table outside at dusk, with the fruit bats flying overhead from the domain is recommended.

Apr 10, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Spent Easter Sunday lunch here and the food was worth the money. I had the Pork Tenderloin and my dining partner had the special of the day which was the King fish. Both were cooked perfectly and were generous portions. For dessert I requested a selection of sorbets and my dining partner had the tiramisu that was so light and fluffy we could have eaten several of them. The wine we selected was delicious, if not a little pricey.

All in all it was a very enjoyable dining experience, the customer service was lacking for a 5 star restaurant and I expected more. However, would definitely go back there again.

Apr 10, 2012

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Last night we went here for a special dinner! What a waste of time we were sat next to a table of yobbos who screamed and shouted all through our meal! All the food was bland and cold we left most and couldn't wait to get out of there! One of the worst experiences I have ever had! How Otto got a chef's hat when they can't even serve warm food is beyond me. Never Never again!

Apr 08, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

A bit of a surprise, not much on the outside but good feel on the inside. The menu is not very challenging, but the food was delightfully fresh. Service fine, price good.

Apr 05, 2012