Bistro Penny — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

Continuing to cement Newcastle’s place in Australia’s top dining landscape, Bistro Penny packages everything you’d want from a contemporary French restaurant into the former home of Newcastle’s first hatted restaurant, Restaurant II. The Edwardian building hints at a more expansive history via hand-painted signs on its frontage and exposed steel rafters. This story is now in the capable hands of Joel Humphreys (ex-Rockpool, Bistro Moncur), who is busy writing the next chapter of Australian cuisine as both descending from, and expanding beyond, its French underpinnings.

As your nose will inform you, this is a story about cooking with fire, on grey ironbark that’s endemic to NSW. Nowhere is that more evident than in the hanger steak ($55) served a tender, medium rare with a blackened exterior, under a pepper sauce so good you’ll be dragging well-seasoned potato frites ($10) to scoop up more. With the menu whittled down to a single, all thriller no filler, page, it’s easy to trust the chef. Starting with bread and cultured butter, the set menu ($95/head) is also extraordinarily good value.

Raw coral trout allows you to appreciate the chewy texture of the delicate fish against seaweed, verjus jelly and a whisker of horseradish. Textbook chicken liver parfait with brandied prunes gives you an excuse to lean into your wine. Chardonnay is well-represented on the interesting list, and even down at its more modest end, the 2023 Shaw & Smith M3 Vineyard ($115) is an excellent and powerful wine. It rises to meet grilled scallops enveloped in an indulgent, perfumed French fog—béarnaise—where vinegar and chicken fat intertwine. North Queensland king prawns slip from their shells into a beurre blanc tinged with tomato and an elusive echo of cardamom. After being defeated by the main event, we were steered by the keen and friendly floor team, into frozen strawberry granita with coconut chantilly and black liquorice intrigue. I wish I...

If I could give 100 stars, I absolutely would! 😍 We left with full bellies and happy hearts, every single dish was phenomenal!

The Red Gate Farm duck was an absolute standout; succulent, juicy, and bursting with perfectly balanced flavors. It was rich yet refined, and hands down my favorite of the night! 🥹 The Manning Valley Sirloin Steak was cooked to a flawless medium, incredibly tender and flavorful. The Sprouting Broccoli was surprisingly addictive — fresh, vibrant, and seasoned just right.

The Red Lobster Linguine came in a close second for me — the sauce was lusciously creamy with deep, satisfying flavors that made each bite unforgettable. We couldn’t get enough! The Liver Parfait was velvety smooth and so moreish, we kept reaching for extra baguettes without hesitation 🥖🫶🏻 The scallops? Absolutely divine — seared to perfection and delicately sweet and creamy 🤤

Every plate was a flavor explosion 💣, but what made the experience even more exceptional was the outstanding customer service. The staff were incredibly warm and attentive — our drinks were refilled the moment they got low, and it felt like they could anticipate what we needed before we even asked (yes, the baguettes 😂).

It was a truly unforgettable night, made even more special for the birthday boy — who left with the biggest smile on his face 😍 (and a full belly 🫃🏻lol) Huge shoutout to Chef Joel and the entire team for giving us an experience that was nothing short of magical. 🫶🏻

100000000% would recommend to family, friends, and fellow food lovers. Can’t wait to be back! 🥰✨

Sorry for the bad quality photos haha this is when you know food is good, you want to keep your phone down immediately as soon as it’s served and savor...

Front of house failures - very disappointing. The kitchen here produces great dishes, and I've had the pleasure on a few occasions - the chef should be applauded. However, the service is the very weak link.

Didn't even attempt to honour two simple dietary requirements flagged in our most recent booking. Disgraceful reply from the manager when asked.

Because we were six people the restaurant denied our request for a-la carte, forced us to have the set menu, then served raw fish to a pregnant woman, pate to a pescatarian and cured meat to both. Seriously. We had reminded our server of these dietaries when we arrived.

Mistakes happen, but it was the defiant, and confrontational response from the front of house manager that really set the dumpster on fire. "You agreed to eat this food when you booked" was actually said to our table. Wow! How incredibly ignorant, incorrect and unhelpful. The same manager then undercharged us two covers ($95 pp) - I politely asked them to correct the invoice, and paid. I hope for the restaurant's sake that this doesn't happen often.

Glimmers of hope included the one free dessert, replacement dishes (2) and the non-charge of the forced 10% "tip" for groups of 6+. Given the air of failure, this was perhaps the only smart move the manager made all evening. The rest of the wait staff were friendly and helpful, albeit lacking polish and finesse - same as previously.

All up, a poor customer experience in a restaurant that serves...