Sunday, March 18, 2012

Sixpenny, Stanmore -- or -- The Meal from Old Regret

Never got the chance to try Oscillate Wildly with the original team. Before my time. So when I heard about Dan Puskas and James Parry starting a new venture I was excited. What's that tattoo people get? No regrets.

Sixpenny pays tribute to the Australian restaurants of old.
Thought I'd take a leaf out of the same book.
 

 
 
 
 
Sixpenny is tucked away behind a nondescript facade, with no menu in the window and just the name above the door. They're going to change that, but it's a good metaphor for what they do: subtlety. Good ingredients. Using locals.

Okay, that's stretching the metaphor. But the wines, ingredients and even front of house staff are local and excellent. The food is excellent, with some subtle combinations and some straight out tasty dishes. There are some interesting wines, too, and many add to the food experience.

This is fine dining, but a relaxed version. The music is up-tempo and eclectic (actually, it seemed to be a playlist that matched the energy of the night, getting quieter near the end), the staff have a sense of humour, and the room and tables are spacious.

It was a long night (nearly 5 hours in total), though we arrived 20-minutes late which may have thrown the schedule out a bit, and we got some little extras which were not on the menu. (Note: I skipped a few items for the review. Have to leave you with some surprises.)

Not 100% sure of the origins of the meat, but I'd be surprised if it is not ethically-sourced.
[UPDATE: Sixpenny source their meats from @Richard_Gunner of Feast! Fine Foods ("It is our belief that only well cared for ethically grown stock produce top quality product.") and @gaianpoultry ("Pasture raised, chemical free chickens, Pekin and Muscovy ducks,Indian Runner duck eggs, rabbits and heritage free range pork."). So a definite ethical tick from F.S.I.]

The cost? Well, Molly, how can you put a price on addressing past regrets. But since you asked I'll submit a claim for $200 per head, plus tip, for the 8-course + matched wines.

Sixpenny
Website | Twitter


Sixpenny on Urbanspoon 

Little link to this post: http://tinyurl.com/FSISixpenny

11 comments:

  1. You're a poet and you didn't even know it...or maybe you did Mr McKellar. Great post...looks like an amazing dinner.

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  2. Looks fab. 5 hours for dinner, hey. When I go I may have to discreetly do a few toe curls as to not get DVT.

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  3. Wow - looks like a special meal! Great stuff Detective ;)

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  4. My favourites (being Det Chow's lucky guest that night): the wine and food combinations (the Sommelier did such a fantastic job), the black bread with virgin butter, the snapper-pepitas-leek dish, the honey-mead sorbet and I confess to thinking fondly about the jersey milk ice cream the next morning, too. Of course, everything was fantastic... but those were my stand-out favourites. Happy to go again, anytime.

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  5. Cor blimey, five hours? That'd put me off any meal.

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  6. Looks incredible! A bit steep for a local, I hope they are able to stick it out doing degustation-only. Sounds like it's good enough to bring the punters from far and wide though. Thanks for sharing - and great pics too!

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  7. Really enjoyed reading - thanks for putting in such a great lot of effort, photography, details of each course. I just like to go and eat and enjoy the moment but for those of us far far away having such a detailed and entertaining description makes me feel like I was there. Thank you.

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  8. We went here on Saturday based on this review and it was amazing.

    The goat curry was incredible.

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  9. This place looks pretty awesome. Plus I love the comic book layout

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  10. I never got to go to the old Oscillate either - booked too far in advance at all times. This looks brilliant, though.

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