Porcine — Restaurant in Sydney

2024: (5 stars) Delicately encrusting South Coast trevally fillets with potato scales ($48) then serving them in a Champagne veloute with wilted watercress and a retro squiggle of watercress puree is pretty twee. Ain’t nobody got time for that level of Paul Bocuse-inspired perfection in their day-to-day. But, as chef Nik Hill said when he landed the dish on my table, “classics never go out of fashion”. We just stop having the time to turn pork jowl, neck, shoulder and bacon into a farce, create a smoked ham and sherry aspic, grill and pickle peppers, and wrap the lot in pastry for a stunning pâté Basque en croûte ($32). Luckily for us, Hill is there at Porcine to remind us of the dishes our fast-paced world has robbed from us.

The magic starts with puffy gougère ($6/each) draped in translucent pepper belly that startle with bursts of liquid Comté. Oozing cheese is also the centrepiece of the ‘coulant de chèvre’ ($34): basically a chocolate lava cake remade in savoury with goats’ cheese and a crisp cheese scone-like exterior. Its richness is cut by onion confit and frisée; wine helps too. While the by-the-glass selection felt a bit limited, especially considering their location over a bottle shop, the 2020 Terre de l’Elu ‘La Confiance’ Chenin Blanc ($19/glass) was a good, medium bodied companion drink. We ended the meal much as it began, marvelling over a beautifully presented salad: summer vegetables ‘Provençal’ ($25). It had me resolving to make the time to present my next salad this abundantly, laid out like a garden across a plate.

2022: (4.5 stars) The salty sea lick of my vodka martini ($18) was the perfect way to unwind into dinner in this sunset-facing first floor bistro over a bottle-o. Freshly shucked oysters ($4.50/each) were a given, particularly against a tangy smoked eel vinaigrette. We moved onto a similarly maritime Georges Deschamps 2019 Chablis ($105) for the meat courses, that kicked off with a rustic pork creton with lentils ($16). This dish obligates you to buy bread’n’butter ($3/person) to smear it upon but you won’t mind so much when you see they’re both made in-house by mod. British chef, Nik Hill. He’s also fond of a quality chippy, so be a devil and get some frites ($10) as well.

Ox tongue and foie gras pâté-en-croûte ($28) was the indulgent show-stopper, as we worked our way through a tart garden of spring vegetables ($20) and a more soothing mound of raw fish with roe on toast ($22). Tender arms of baby octopus with espelette sausage ($29) rounded out our selections at Porcine, for a pricy meal of stuff we’d rarely tackle in our kitchen at home. The passage of the bill was lubricated by a complimentary vermouth delivered by an engaged and friendly floor team. I can see why this...

Porcine is an excellent restaurant. The warm oyster charentaise is always delicious, as are the slightly-cooler-than-room temperature oysters with eel vinaigrette (can we retire the oysters on ice yet?), and if there’s ever duck on the menu, you can be sure it’s well-cooked. Uncompromisingly rich, saucy, buttery, savoury and delicious food, with game meats (hare, venison, deer, pheasant, duck) often given prime position. The menu is a masterclass in clarity of purpose, something missing from many high-end Sydney restaurants. Don’t skip the salad either - you’ll need it! The Jerusalem artichoke dessert is excellent, and while it’s sweet, it’s sweet/savoury in a similar fashion to carrot cake. The Iles Flottantes is an airy masterclass in meringue.

The service is friendly and efficient (normally in Paddington you get one or the other, if you get it at all) and it’s great having $25 BYO in a suburb that has a dearth of high quality BYO offerings. The wine list leans natural from great producers, and you can purchase wine from the store downstairs for a more extensive offering.

I’ve eaten here 4 times, and my best experience has been when dining with 4 friends as this is an experience that needs a hungry crew to make the most of the opportunities on the menu. All the better if you bring a few magnums of wine too, as this is not a place for small plates and sips of wine; it’s a place that celebrates and exemplifies the rituals and joys of eating and drinking,...

Simply exceptional Mother’s Day meal. So nice not to have a set menu.

My brother, who worked at one of Sydney’s top restaurants, loved it and ordered more autumn vegetables! He’s a carbohydrate and meat kinda guy. He was also raving about the chips - which we were reliably informed was cooked “in the sweat of apprentices 😁” - what a line!

And my mother, who says she doesn’t eat much, said she ate enough for lunch and dinner the next day. But… had room for ice cream.

Thanks, Matt, for taking my aversion to dessert seriously and not insisting I have a spare plate & spoon. It’s my pet peeve - if I don’t want dessert… no means no. In any event, not necessary as two devoured the Ile Flottante by themselves.

The veal was perfectly cooked and delicious - and I don’t like veal. The pork dishes, we ordered several, were all consumed along with several starters (mussels, pate en croûte, autumn vegetables etc).

Again, thanks to Matt for opening a gamay to let us try something different while balanced the veal and pork mains.

Scheming of an excuse to try the snail and garlic pie and hoping wild boar will return this winter.

We drive across the Bridge for Porcine when behaving. We take a ride when wine is involved. Regulars, yes. Biased, positively. Cool vibe, wonderful food and seamless service by friendly people who know their guests (aka customers). Finally, thanks to the team for making my mum happy and Harry for making...