Jensens Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

An upper class dining experience, tucked away in Kareela. All the food was flavourful and well presented, but we found some of the combinations didn't quite work with sweetness being the dominant taste. Service was quick and attentive without being pushy even though we were a late drop in sitting at 9pm. Decor is modern with white washed exposed ceilings with a light breezy atmosphere, helped by the open outdoor dining area.

We enjoyed the oysters, properly shucked with no shell bits left over, the gin infused cucumber was our favourite flavour, the other two, pomegranate, and prawn being a bit sweet and masking the oyster where I would rather bring it to the fore. A natural option, with a little lemon would have been preferred.

For entree we choose scallops and the crispy squid. The scallops were huge, but not melt in your mouth, served in the shell in a luke warm lumpy mash. I was expecting a delicate puree (like the cauliflower skordalia in the main). The crispy squid was cooked perfectly with a chili crumb and spicy mayo, but again bashed with sweetness with pineapple chunks. The chili and pineapple went great, as did the chili sauce and squid, but the whole lot together didn't seem to work. Nevertheless it was delicious, but I couldn't help think of what the dish could have been.

Mains followed closely afterwards and though we were eyeing of the pork belly and roast duck, our choices were Angus eye fillet with pink mash, diane butter and jus, as well as a crispy skin Barra with the aforementioned cauliflower skordalia. Served with a side of beetroot, pear and Persian feta salad. The steak was a great cut, perfectly cooked. The Barra indeed with crispy skin. The accompanying beds of mash/puree worked well into each respective meal. Only quibbles were the steak came served on grilled onion rings, which were mostly delicious but some were charred black and also included a few too many rings of tough onion skin which weren't pleasant to chew and spit out. The salad though was tasty and refreshing, though still dominantly sweet.

We finished off with the chocolate fondant with peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter dust. This was a winner, a rich, sweet delight - where the sweetness was welcome! The peanut butter dust was interesting, like a zingy prailene of sorts, ground into a powder, it was a pleasant surprise and combined beautifully with the soft, warm runny centre of the fondant.

All up, the food was well cooked with no lack of flavour and delightful staff who made the night a breeze. Honestly none of our quibbles were worth raising with the staff, and they did make a point of asking as well to make sure everything was ok.

I'm sure we will return...

The place is quite impressive, neat and well organised. However the waitresses walk around like Zombies and do not have a smile when approaching or while (to be fair) politely taking the orders. I am quite aware that it is quite difficult to keep a smile when busy and under pressure. As hard as it is to concentrate on the job an occasional smile would not hurt nevertheless while walking between tables. A little extra touch or attention goes a long way.

The food (I had) was too salty and it had no value for money. The portion was too small and not even enough for a child. I felt cheated as too expensive for what is being thrown at on your plate. If that kind of habit or tactic keeps going on, soon, all restaurants will adopt an imitation of gastronomic food with too many flowery fancy names on the menu from insignificant ingredients as garlic sauce, jus, etc …. etc... that do not add content to the plate. If you would want to fill your plate you would have to order sides on top of the main. In that case I better stay home and have a BBQ to my heart's content. It appears that stinginess is at play there for maximum profit. Most restaurants are trying hopelessly to catch up or imitate the sampling of gastronomic delights as in a French restaurant.

Nothing is free in this world as there are bills, purchase of stocks, repairs and maintenance, wages and other huge expenses behind every businesses. I know for a fact that attitudes of chefs and waitresses can make or break a business overnight and most often managers and owners take a back seat in the daily train-train of the business to improve from complaints or dis-satisfactions.

BUT if I go to a restaurant to eat I want to be satisfied that the welcome I receive is very pleasant with a SMILE. The food has to be very tasty and that it satisfies my hunger so that I do not have to have the urge of wanting to order another plate even if I ordered an entrée. The portion of the actual main is way too small. Three main important factors that will make a restaurant business successful are impeccable service with a smile, food satisfaction and a relaxing pleasant atmosphere for all. In that case nothing else would really matter to me and I would not even take a second look at the bill followed by a tip.

The reason I gave a two star is that I was not at all satisfied with service, food quality, content and a disturbing noisy atmosphere caused by a group of Veuve-joyeuse laughing loudly who of course were there to have a good time like everybody else …....

Beautiful flavors, fresh food and great, attentive service are behind this 5 stars. Atmosphere was a bit strange (we sat in a row of tables for 2… all dim light globes except a couple bright odd ones that take you from mood to ‘wake up!’). Something was missing - didn’t feel cosy / blank wall - but I imagine it might feel better during the day?

Service was fabulous: Warm welcome (though we had to wait a bit at the front for someone to come over), grabbed us water and drinks straight away, and the team checked in on us for each course, without being overbearing. Friendly staff, professional and on the ball, offering a seamless and warm experience.

Food was great too with flavors and textures well balanced. Shout out for the crispy snapper with flaky flesh (fab), that came with a wholesome, flavour-packed curry. It ended up being WAY too spicy for me but the team made it perfect by offering some extra coconut cream (and that in itself was great quality!).

The oysters with granita were refreshing and the mash with the steak was perfectly creamy. The desserts were killer too! The banana pudding was soft with a thick, sweet caramel sauce and hazelnut praline on the side for added texture - great summer or winter. We also shared a ‘sundae’ with the creamiest coconut soft serve and sweet, and a refreshing mango sauce and mango pieces. Hidden under the soft serve was a coconut lime cake and it was perfect. Some sponges crystallize under icecream but this one was beautifully moist and didn’t over power the rest of the dessert. It’s obvious the team there are skilled and respect the food. The lychee nojito (non alcoholic mojito) was fabulous too, so much so I just kept ordering them! Not over-powering, just the perfect blend of fresh and sweet.

The only thing that let the night down was the farewell at the end by the maitre d, who didn’t look up to say goodbye as we left (said goodbye but seemed busy doing paperwork/ end of night wrap up).

Otherwise a great experience overall with very reasonable...