The Sconery — Restaurant in Sydney

Sic transit Gloria Mundi.

10 years ago: exciting menu made with flair and enthusiasm. Reasonably fresh ingredients mixed with ‘business demands compromises’ fillers that could reasonably be forgiven in light of a great location, convenience and a friendly style. 5 points. Past points.

Present day: a distinct lack of substance, humdrum drudgery, inferior ingredients, too much of an overt ‘the owner needs your cash and can’t be bothered to invest it in the one resource he can’t buy, his customers’. Shrinkflation at best, masquerading as ‘business demands’, but with a generous seasoning of ‘wanton greed’. No points. Why pay for the dubious privilege?

Had his past self not set the bar so very high one could give the owner an out on accounts of misguided nostalgia of the customer. But it is just business, not personal. The jokes are stale, the attitude tiresome, the food increasingly middling, the atmosphere strained. Mid life does not have to be a crisis; imposing it on staff and customers is a poor entertainment choice. Also: nominally the establishment is about good food, not about watching a slow motion train wreck. For the price of a so so meal you can currently buy a minor part in a Tragicomic spectacle - but why?

As is there are plenty of other options for food out there, with less pretence and more content.

It’s all a bit sad really. Maybe the owner will rediscover a new mojo, relinquish the slippery slope, regain his former verve. Reinvigorate old classics, dazzle with the new, get back to the joy of it all. That would be so very nice. It is a great location - but not for one-off impulse lunch traffic. Wasting social capital is such a poor strategy for a spot customers need to seek out. The potential is there - urgently in need of a renaissance.

Thank you for good times decidedly in years past, the current state of disappointment is not one to...

Arrived around 11am on Tuesday, 17 Oct. A sign on the door says to come in and close the door behind because it’s chilly, but the door wouldn’t open and the handle was broken and detached from the door. Multiple other customers inside the store tried to open the door for me with no luck, but no one from the staff came to help. This went on for a couple minutes and eventually I stood back assuming someone was going to fix the handle or come to let me in.

I eventually knocked on the door. The customers I could see shrugged at me and looked confused, but still no one on staff came to the door or signaled to me that they were closed. I could see them walking past the door to serve customers through the glass at the bottom.

I left and sat at the park nearby. When one of the customers came out I asked what was happening and she said, “Apparently they close from 11-11:30.”

Businesses close unexpectedly all the time, but I stood there like an idiot while the other customers tried to help with the door, and no one on staff had the decency to simply let us know you were closed. Clearly they knew I was outside trying to get in, the sign on the door said to come in, and the advertised hours on their website say nothing about closing from 11-11:30.

I live in the building adjacent and have been getting coffee multiple times a week before now. Obviously, I won’t be going again and I will be sharing my story about the rude staff.

EDIT: I've been receiving numerous notifications from Google over the past few weeks because the owner keeps coming back to edit his response, calling me names and mocking me for attempting to patronize...

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Jason and Elsie for hosting my daughter's 8th Birthday Party on the weekend. The Cupcake Bake and Decorate workshop was a success! I'm so glad I had manage to find The Sconery via Google search when I was looking for a cupcake class that would cater for 8 year olds and allow them to bake the cake from scratch and make their own frosting and fondant to decorate. (Other classes in Sydney seem to only provide the ready made cupcake) I was thoroughly impressed by the set up and how engaging and entertaining Jason is too! All the kids who attended (including some reluctant older brothers who attended to fill in the spots...) ended up enjoying it themselves and found a new skill in cake decorating! The cupcakes designs were beautiful and each child got to take 6 cupcakes home after! Meanwhile, the adults got to enjoy some delicious scones with home made jam by Elise and plenty of fresh cream! (Eaten the proper way ratio of cream to jam 👍🏻) Overall, a very satisfying experience and highly recommend more people of all ages try out their baking workshops - which caters from kids to adults. Thanks again Jason and Elise, so happy to have met you and hope to drop by to sample more scones and...