Ursula's Paddington — Restaurant in Sydney

I’ve visited Ursula’s a few times now, and while I’ve had some excellent dishes, the experience has been a bit hit or miss overall.

Starters & Small Plates Many of the smaller dishes showed great promise, though some lacked refinement. • Scallop Rockefeller (coriander, lime, Gruyère): The concept was exciting, but the execution fell short. Rather than being infused with flavour, the scallop felt overwhelmed by the herb crust, which was overbaked and charred. A more balanced, nuanced preparation could really elevate this dish. • Salmon Roe Sandwich: Absolutely beautiful—delicate and flavorful, a definite highlight. • Roast King Prawns (curry, butter, ginger, lemon): This dish was a standout. The ingredients were perfectly balanced, each element shining without overpowering the others. • Roast Quail (Vadouvan sauce, Granny Smith, watercress): Bold and aromatic, though the flavour could be softened just slightly for better balance. • Stracciatella with Plum, Eggplant XO, Roast Onion, Radicchio: An intriguing and well-composed dish. The bitterness of the radicchio paired beautifully with the creamy Stracciatella—reminiscent of a dish you’d find in Puglia, Italy.

Mains • 180g Grasslands Beef Fillet (parsley, horseradish, lime): Sadly, this main didn’t meet expectations. The beef lacked depth of flavour and tenderness—it wasn’t the “melt-in-your-mouth” experience I’d hoped for. I’ve had better results with simpler steaks at home. This might be a quality issue with the meat itself, but either way, the dish has potential and could benefit from a rework. • Gem Lettuce Salad (Parmesan, pine nuts, raisins): Light and refreshing, but a very familiar combination that didn’t stand out or offer anything particularly unique.

Desserts • Golden Syrup Dumplings (rum, raisin, malt cream): Absolutely divine. I order this every time I visit. My only wish is for a larger portion because they’re just that good—comforting and indulgent in the best way. • Figs with Sheep’s Yoghurt Pannacotta, Honeycomb, Aged Apple Vinegar, Ginger Sabayon: Unfortunately, this dish didn’t work for me. The ginger sabayon was overpowering, masking the other elements completely. While the honeycomb added a lovely crunch, the overall balance was off.

Final Thoughts The service was warm and attentive, and there’s a lot to admire about Ursula’s creativity and ambition. I would still recommend it to friends—but with a caveat. There’s undeniable talent in the kitchen, but some dishes could use more finesse and cohesion to match the high expectations the venue sets.

Looking forward to seeing how the menu evolves—there’s great...

My reservation was at 8:15 pm for three people, and I arrived at 8:10 pm. The person at the front desk informed me that our table wasn’t ready and would take another 10 minutes to set up. Unfortunately, he also mentioned there was no bar available. I was left with the choice of waiting at the counter or outside. Opting not to block others in the narrow entrance, I decided to wait outside.

After about 6-7 minutes, feeling the chill, I returned inside. To my surprise, a group of three was being seated ahead of me, even though their reservation was for 8:30 pm. When I inquired, the same person who had spoken to me earlier explained that the group originally booked for five but ended up being only three. However, it was clear the table had been set for three people from the beginning. Despite arriving early, I had to wait around 20 minutes to be seated.

Once seated, our experience continued to disappoint. The waitress seemed more interested in chatting with another table than attending to ours. Our orders were taken haphazardly, and service was painfully slow. Even a simple request for an extra glass of Coca-Cola took nearly 20 minutes to fulfill.

Moreover, the waitress abruptly removed our appetizer plates without asking, while one of my guests was still eating. This lack of attentiveness and respect for our dining experience was disheartening.

Throughout the meal, our water glasses remained empty, and I had to repeatedly ask for refills. It wasn’t until I approached the counter to pay the bill that the waitress suddenly became more attentive, engaging in small talk and seemingly expecting a tip.

Despite the restaurant’s reputation for quality food, the overall experience was marred by poor service. It left me feeling embarrassed in front of my guests and questioning the validity of the restaurant’s two hats in the TSMH Good Food Guide.

Even though the food was overly salty, I wouldn’t have minded paying the price if the service had been satisfactory. However, the lackluster service left a sour taste in my mouth. The whole experience was deeply unsatisfying, and it made me doubt whether the restaurant’s esteemed reputation was...

We made a booking at the start of the week for Friday dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday and were lucky to secure a booking, especially considering how many good things we’d heard about this place.

The food was great. Often a bit heavy handed on the salt but the flavours were all there. Innovative, well thought out dishes. Big commendation to the chefs.

We had the oysters with mignonette and scallops for starters which we devoured. Followed by the bay bug pasta and bone marrow for entree before having the steak, mushroom soufflé and bass groper for mains. For sides we had beans and fries. Of all dishes, I would highly recommend the pasta and bass groper, though all were close contenders.

The dishes were served in a seamless, timely manner too. The kitchen and wait staff have to be a well oiled machine to coordinate the starters, entrees, mains etc. so well. I was impressed.

Unfortunately despite all these great things, 2 wait staff made our dinner quite uncomfortable and is making me question taking my sister to this restaurant for her birthday. As i mentioned before, this dinner was for a friend’s birthday so naturally, i wished to pay as a gift for my friend. The birthday girl, however, went up to pay and we had a good spirited jostle over who would pay. We were not at all disruptive or rude. We were given the bill by a waitress yet this other waitress with black hair and a French(?) accent stepped in to complete payment. She had been with us for about 40 seconds before she had the gall to give attitude and side eye us. Even when I still had a hospitality job as a teenager, customers would do this all the time and I never reacted like this. Perhaps this isn’t normal in her culture, but she is in a multicultural country and it would benefit her in the long run to learn to be tolerant of other cultures. I also didn’t appreciate the rush to clear our tables by the waiter when we obviously still had food on our plates. I’d understand if we were close to exceeding our 2 hour seating but we were well within those 2 hours. Please don’t ruin the hard work of the chefs with...