Pony Dining, Cnr Argyle St and Kendall Lane, The Rocks

Pony Dining, Cnr Argyle St and Kendall Lane, The Rocks
Friday 12 January, 2007

I first visited Pony Dining just prior to Christmas after reading lots of reviews about it being the current hot spot in Sydney. The food was impressive but the service was lacking.

Today we were celebrating a combined 40th and 30th birthday. We were informed that 40 is the new 30 and 30 is the new 20, so that meant we were 'actually' celebrating a 30th and 20th birthday.

Nine of us arrived at 12.15pm for lunch. We were greeted warmly and seated at the very end of the long communal table on the deck. This end of the deck also houses the small, intimate outdoor bar area with lounges. The bar itself extends back indoors.

As we were seated we noticed the treasure chest full of rugs at the side of the deck - as the temperature was in the high 30's this looked a little odd - but Pony Dining have set up the deck to accommodate all weather conditions with outdoor heaters too. How thoughtful.

The menu is a mix of small, tapas style plates and larger, more substantial meals. I couldn't go past the Crisp skin ocean trout with a baby beetroot, orange and goats cheese salad and shared a bowl of thick cut chips with one of the birthday buddies.

The presentation of each of the meals that arrived at our table was excellent - the trout arrived on a rectangle shaped plate and looked like summer - it was fresh, vibrant and very, very appealing. The trout was delicious - it fell apart in sections and the skin was crisp. The accompanying salad was very special - the flavours combined really well with the citrus, beetroot and creamy goats cheese. I loved it.

There were no disappointments with the meals - everything was really, really good. The service today was also good - our waiter was very competent and anticipated our needs well. We all agreed that we would return again and sit on the deck for hours making our way through the wine list. Bring it on!

Pony Dining - Cnr Argyle St and Kendall Lane, The Rocks - (02) 9252 7797

http://www.ponydining.com/