The Winery — Restaurant in Sydney

(3.5 stars) We'll end the year with some convivial good cheer at The Winery. Armed with a gaggle of gal pals, I descended upon this Surry Hills stalwart for their popular Bottomless Bellinis Lunch ($79/head). Climbing the stairs, you’re immediately assaulted with noise. The room is packed to the rafters, and nearly every diner is a woman with gleaming long hair, clad in either a frock or a playsuit (wardrobe choice will prove important later on).

Most are seated at long tables, but there are a few more intimate girlfriend catch-ups scattered here and there. We’re happily ensconsed in the room’s sole curved booth, complete with a Perrier-Jouët Champagne button, enticing us to 'Press for Champagne'. We try it, obviously, but sadly it doesn’t make our waiter appear.

When Eduardo does arrive, he’s handsome and friendly. He eventually accedes to our early request to get another round of drinks underway. Like most of the women in this room, we’re here to get in some quality drinking time, so it feels a little like being treated like a recalcitrant toddler to hear you can’t be double or triple parked with the trio of available Bellini. We broach a deal and dutifully scull our first glass to ensure we're empty by the time Eduardo appears with our second, working our way through raspberry, peach and lychee. While I start off preferring the more acidic lychee, I drink the most peach Bellinis, only shifting to raspberry later in the day when I need a break from the acidity.

Despite the initial adherence to responsible service of alcohol, it takes three or four rounds of Bellinis before any food gets underway. When it does arrive, our food comes in two distinct waves - hot and cold. In the first wave we get plentiful bowls of Alto mixed olives and a moderately sized cheese board for six people that's perhaps a bit heavily weighted towards blue. There’s a small plate of good quality salumi - one slice each of three different cold cuts - and not quite enough crackers, grissini and bread to consume them with.

The second wave is hot food, starting with charred pita bread with chickpea dip. Each diner gets a mini Winery burger, that’s tasty even if it doesn’t look all that flash. By the time I pop my allocated spinach and four-cheese arancini with aioli and a touch of lemon into my mouth, I’m starting to get the point. This is food designed specifically to soak up alcohol – heavy on the carbs. There’s a big bowl of sweet potato fries and some deep-fried cauliflower with sour cream and hint of harissa – nothing I’d hurry back again to eat, but that’s clearly not the point.

The wisdom of wearing a playsuit comes into question on my first visit to the bathroom, when one young lass can be heard to exclaim: “Did you see my vagina?” Getting completely stripped in a tiny cubicle proved too daunting for her to also remember to close and lock the door. “I hope you liked what you saw,” she says as she flounces out the door and the whole bathroom erupts into uproarious laughter.

Dessert is more alcohol, with frothy Champagne poured into glasses of sorbet at the table. Drinking this Champagne spider against a good quality salt-topped chocolate apiece, I finally achieve that elusive state of being triple parked. I also find some empathy for our handsome waiter, Eduardo, who says: “At 3pm it all starts again,” with a slightly beaten smile as he clears away the rose petal remnants of our dessert. Also used as Bellini toppers, I can tell you, a lot of roses died to make this meal.

It does look like a trying day for floor staff as I watch the room get more and more raucous. When I return to the bathroom for a final visit, a winking lass is trying to get Jenny to let her in. “I’m vomiting,” Jenny replies. “It’s OK, I’ll hold your hair back,” her friend quickly replies. And maybe these moments are what friendship between women is all about, in between posing for snaps with the lion’s head Prosecco...

On Wednesday evening, I had the chance to try the “all-you-can-eat steak and fries” menu at The Winery, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and overall experience. This isn’t just any basic steak—they serve a generous, perfectly grilled, and flavorful cut of meat. At $65 per person, I found the price to be more than reasonable and accessible, especially for an all-you-can-eat offering.

The experience starts with a generously served plate of 300 grams of steak and crispy fries. From there, the servers regularly come around with freshly grilled meat and hot fries for those who want more. Naturally, during peak service times, there might be a little wait, but the lively and enjoyable atmosphere helps make the time pass pleasantly.

The outdoor space is beautifully designed, creating a charming ambiance, and the background music was tasteful and well-suited to the setting. As for the sauces, we were offered two options: a rich and flavorful pepper sauce and another one that I couldn’t quite pinpoint but still enjoyed. Being a fan of the classics, I asked for mayonnaise, and they happily brought me a small pot of it, which paired perfectly with the hot, crunchy fries and the steak.

The service deserves special mention: the team was friendly, attentive, and efficient, which really enhanced the entire evening. After enjoying five hearty servings, I left feeling completely satisfied, both in terms of quality and value for money.

One piece of advice: make sure to book in advance! The restaurant tends to get packed, which is a testament to its popularity, but reservations are essential to ensure you can enjoy this unique experience.

In summary, The Winery perfectly combines a delightful setting, excellent service, and outstanding flavors for a truly enjoyable evening. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great time, whether with friends, as a couple,...

Update: Had a pleasant response from a separate venue manager than the one mentioned in my review. Sanna wanted to take accountability for what happened and has made good of the situation

Awful service from almost everyone we encountered, especially the manager. We had a booking for a table of 2 on level 1 and when we walked in waiting to be seated the guy didn't even want to show us where we had booked, just kind of pointed us in the direction.

We then go upstairs to then just aimlessly wait around with no one to help us again, and when I did get the attention of one of the waitresses she didn't have a clue about our booking and couldn't find it so we were just waiting to be seated, yet again. To her credit she did actually try unlike the guy downstairs, and went to find the manager who then just pointed at this tiny little table from a distance for us to be seated at. No courtesy or service, no apologies for keeping us waiting about 15 minutes from when we walked in to actually being seated, he just told the waitress at a distance to seat us at a measly table where you'd barely be able to fit a plate for one.

And also no disclaimer that there was going to be a bachelorette party right next to us. I asked if at least for some sort of compromise we could sit at the booth to which the manager just kind of scoffed and said no, we have a booking for 6 there. Obviously understandable with table allocations already being set, however the manner in which the manager made us feel completely unvalued and almost annoyed at our presence was just disgusting service, we couldn't wait to get out of there and find somewhere else to have dinner. Terrible hospitality, don't know what the managers name was but maybe you should find an industry you...