The Gidley — Restaurant in Sydney

A disclaimer: this place is definitely worth more than 4 stars but unfortunately based on our personal dining experience, not quite a 5 star. A 4.5 if you will! Also please note, we visited while I am pregnant in which the staff knew about this dietary req

We finally made our way to The Gidley after talking about it for sometime. We had a 5:30 reservation for 2 and was greeted by a gentlemen who offered to take my scarf and directed us to our bar seat (nice!). We were only under 10 mins early but they sat us exactly at our reservation time, which was unusually rare in restaurants (it's usually if we are early and it's available we'll sit earlier, and vice versa if it's not quite ready yet). We ordered two drinks (1 non alcoholic) and they brought it into our dining table (we have moved inside at this stage). As The Gidley is famous for, no phones allowed.

The menus are to share. So we had the following: 0) Complimentary bagel with condiments: Freshly baked, came with 5 different condiments, nice touch. Husband is a big fan of bread lol **

1. Prawn cocktail as entree: We loved it (admittedly me more than my husband as he doesn't share the same enthusiasm when it comes to prawn heads) *
2. The Gidley burger to share: We opted no add on (egg/bacon), so we had them the classic style, with pickles. It was juicy, however, about half or a little more of the patties were pink inside, which was surprising as the patties were quite thin and our waiter (who was lovely) has informed us that it was cooked through for me, it wasn't. So we had to dissect bits and pieces carefully before we had them. Such an easy thing to avoid, we thought! We had voiced this to one of the staff (not the same waiter) and he was way less accomodating than the waiter. Unfortunate *
3. My husband had the English Cut. super tender, thinly sliced meat. Cooked medium. No complain *
4. I had the Spinalis, arguably the most succulent cut in the world. We were informed that only 4 restaurants in Sydney serve this cut, apparently. It didn't live up to my expectation for the title and $75 price tag for two main reasons: * a) It was not seasoned other than olive oil, which I assume is probably by choice so I had to salt it deliberately on the table. b) It was sent out, you guessed it, pink and nicely medium. It was sent back to the kitchen, and second time around, half of it was still pink also. Wouldn't a simple dietary requirement of 'cooked well' be easy enough to follow through by the kitchen?
5. Mac and Cheese as a side: nice crunch on the top, a touch too garlicky to taste. Would love a sinful creamier inside, as it was quite dry and compact **
6. Chocolate crémeux for dessert, excellent. The chocolate is rich and the ice cream balanced it nicely. There were different textures present, a silky smooth paired with a crunchy bite. Worth an order! *

The drinks: 7) Bel Air mocktail: tasty and refreshing ** 8) Sandia: subtle flavours * 9) The Almanac: Easily husband's favourite drink for the night. He had both serves lol * 10) The Gidley fortified: more sour than sweet, caught my husband by guard for a dessert wine. Nice paired with the dessert **

The service: Overall, really attentive staff. They were on top with topping up our waters which was great, as well as clearing our tables after each course. The only downside having 2 different staff who clearly didnt communicate to each other, kept coming back to our table and asked exactly the same question. Considering the venue is small, it was disruptive and we had to keep repeating ourselves with "already ordered" , "we are still deciding, thanks" about 4 times.

The atmosphere: Nice little joint, pretty much exactly the same as what you see on the Gram though I thought a lot more intimate and cosy in real life. Music a touch too loud. Bathroom was nice and clean with extra amenities.

Overall it was decent dining experience. Worth a try but probably won't be rushing back second time with...

The Gidley A drop dead gorgeous steak house on the corner of Elizabeth and King st. It was extremely well decorated with old fashioned furniture/artworks to fit the theme of a classy old school american steak diner and coupled with the option of a private poker room it seemed like the perfect birthday celebration for my friend. While I could go on and on about how beautifully set up everything was, giving an amazing atmosphere to dine in, the food truly had to be the highlight of the night. While most Sydney steakhouses spoil you with a plethora of steak options, The Gidley offers an extremely modest selection of steaks from the Rib-eye bone in or boneless, a classic english roast cut and even the prized spinalis cut of the rib-eye (which I didn’t even know was possible to sell) and to everyone's benefit made ordering much easier as the waiter recommended to share a bit of everything which was a spot on as you’ll be wanting to go back and forth comparing outstanding steaks with each other. The sides that we ordered to pair with the steaks are extremely rich in flavor and of a high standard but something more noteworthy would be their “Gidley” burger. I can’t say too but if you are a burger fan please do yourself a favor and order it. Desserts were also great as it’s their twist of a classic American dessert done well. While I wish I could say everything was excellent that night, the truth is it wasn't for me personally…

Having experienced fine dining restaurants a handful of times, I understand the pretentious “rules” that follow whether it’d be wearing smart attire, avoiding causing disturbances and enjoying the food their way however under these circumstances I would expect excellence and near perfection for hospitality and service. The Gidley’s makes great recommendations for food, drinks and being in the private room, extremely attentive but that’s unfortunately where it ends. The restaurant prides themselves on the rule “refrain from using mobile phones in the dining room” and I’m not too sure to what degree they enforce this but the waiter felt the need to make this comment to the entire table while I was caught taking some memorable photos. He would continue to mention that guests would have their phones confiscated in a jovial manner which I unappreciated. While I respect and understand the idea of avoiding phones at dinner tables to encourage more conversation with friends and loved ones, I simply felt that being almost mocked for holding my phone (while trying to take photos and recommending The Gidley to family) was rude service and too far. Furthermore, I again felt like I was dealt the shortest straw because one of the worst possible things was to transpire after our meal. During the clean up, the waiter impressively stacks 20 or so dishes, knives and forks, steak bits/bones and juices and crumbs… only it wasn't impressive and completely lost balance in front of my face. I must’ve had really great foresight that day because I chose to wear black and saying that my whole attire was soiled and bruised may be an understatement. I realize that mistakes can happen ruining the established vibes of a party was not something I was looking to do. Despite the waiter being extremely apologetic I still felt that this was completely unacceptable and while they gave us more drinks, I still felt uncompensated for my completely ruined outfit and experience.

If you value food and a great steak, this place might be for you. If you value the wholesome experience of a true dining restaurant this place might not be. For me personally, as someone who frequents many Sydney restaurants with my family, I will not be coming back. There are other...

Amazing experience!

The location and ambience sent the vibes of mystery. The experience was calm, relaxing, and enjoyable.

We arrived early at our dinner, we were warmly greeted by the staff, and they assisted in putting away our stuff for us.

While we were waiting, they offered us water and drinks at the bar.

Then we were taken to our table, where our phones were taken away. This is one "weird thing" that I actually enjoyed, as they want us to enjoy the food, ambience, and conversations with the people that we dined with, also they want the food and everything they offer to be a nice mystery for their future guests (explained the waiter). It was a very nice experience to enjoy my food and quality time with my husband without checking on our phones or taking photos.

How the Gidley team served us was great and timely - from explaining the menu to delivering the food to cleaning the table. The whole experience showed how well the staff were trained to pay attention to details and treat each diner with respect.

Here is the feedback on the food:

The bagels were fresh and soft, came straight out of the oven, it came with some pickles and 3 sauces. We couldn't decide which one is our favourite as they all tasted so nice.

The Gidley burger - we agreed with what the waiter claimed. It was the best burger we've eaten. The buns are soft. Te meat patties were made of premium cuts of the meat. They were both juicy and crispy. The humbled looking burger offered multiple textures and flavours. It was nice.

The Spinalis steak was cooked nicely, juicy, and tender. There was a lemon on the side. But both of us found that adding the lemon was not necessary as the steak alone was nice enough.

Potato gratin - my husband liked it because it was so rich in flavour, I, on the other hand, found it a bit too salty for my liking. Overall, it was a good dish.

Thick cut bacon was delicious.

The pecan pie was lovely. However, a little bit extra of that buttermilk ice cream would have balanced out the sweetness of the pie better.

Something interesting that I noticed and appreciated (it shows their level of excellence) are: they wiped the table with lemon grass scented cloth after each dish, it prepares my mind and my senses ready for the next dish;

how they transported the washed utensils carefully from the kitchen to storage space, ensure nothing makes any sound;

how they worked together as a team smoothly to take away dishes and clean, set up serving plates and serve the food;

the staff knew about and paid attention to the special occasion, and give a little surprise for it.

I would say the whole experience was astounding and better than some of the dining restaurants we've been to. We will come...