The Stables

The Stables looks stunning from the street, the interior is elegantly decorated and spacious. The converted warehouse feels comfortable. The French waiter was super friendly with big smiles but looks like he is the only person working tonight. He is doing everything including waitering and bartending. The chairs were very comfortable and we got our drinks quickly. Fabulous. The Stables could be a very nice comfortable place to catch up with friends with a few drinks but we were really disappointed with the quality of their food: 1. White bait - Overfried and unappetising to look at. The batter tasted slightly bitter. It really should not have left the kitchen if its not pale light golden colour. 2. Spanish Sardines - I expected some kind of well cooked fresh sardines but we got sardines in tin. Tonight it was served with pita bread and tasted quite bland. 3. Salt and Pepper Calamari - I expected a generous plate of Calamari Fritters but it’s a few large crumbed Calamari rings. Not terrible but the flavours are just very ordinary. 4. Cured Burramundi - probably the best dish to night and it’s a generous portion. But the flavour is not quite good enough to really wow us. 5. Chargrilled King Prawns - Three huge prawns which looked amazing but the prawn meat was not firm and tasted slightly mushy. Overall it’s just ok. 6. Seafood Paella - A really disappointing dish, you can call it seafood with rice but it does not taste like paella. It’s totally lack of the true paella flavours and again tasted quite ordinary. A tapas bar which can’t do paella well is extra disappointing. You can see from the picture there’s only three mussels in shells and three small prawns. The rest is calamari mixed with rice. 7. Daily Bread - Nice bread with dukkah and olive oil. Again not that impressive.

Absolutely amazing food and wine. We had a great experience! The menu had a number of fantastic options that we just had to order lots to share just so we could try as many dishes as possible! Very reasonably priced food and wine. Every recommendation made by our waiter was perfect. His best recommendation was the chocolate fondant, even though we were already stuffed! Thank you to the whole team, we will certainly be back soon.

What a Paddo gem... beautifully designed, we had Sunday lunch for 2 this past weekend. Our host was lovely, and we followed his recommendation of the arancini balls and scallops to start - amazing. From there we had perfectly cooked flank steak with a side of potatoes. Adding some champagne, it was a great meal - definitely keen to try at night with the lights on and a bit more buzz - will be stunning.

A lot to love here - tastefully decorated, great service, nice atmosphere. The mains were delicious (and I highly recommend Brussel sprouts on the side!) with a varied wine list. Very nearly 5 stars except for 2 things. Had oysters for starters - supposedly Sydney rock oysters but both the size and taste suggested otherwise. A couple on the table next to me also agreed - perhaps this wasn’t a good batch? And the bread was a few slices of toast rather than the fresh bread expected. But these are minor complaints - I will definitely be back 😊

Had never been here before and was excited to try it out for their all ya can eat gnocchi night. What an absolute con and joke! 4 gnocchi served at a time and about a 40min wait in between dishes. Literally better off ordering and paying for a normal serving. Charged for bread that never came. Poor service. Gnocchi was ok. A real shame as the place seems good when scanning the menu but would never go back or recommend when they employ cheap tactics like the gnocchi night and “con” the consumer.

We had prepaid and booked Charlie Parkers around the corner months in advance to arrive Saturday night to be told there was a double booking. We were a group of 14 ladies. They rudely dismissed us away with just a refund. Anyway we found The Stabbles Restaurant around the corner on Victoria street. Very lucky indeed!!! Beautifully designed ambient setting, great for a group to be able to chat. Charlie parkers was dark, crowded noisy stuffy hot. Anyway a fantastic wine selection. We ordered a selection of tapas food, must admit it worked out pretty cheap being a group. We were completely blown away by the food, the gnocchi, arancini balls, chargrilled angus, confit octopus, all were to die for!! I was dreaming about the food last night. Was the best tapas I have ever had. We asked the chef to come out and we thanked him. I'm definitely going back, deliciousssss

I had the chorizo croquettes and they were frozen inside. Then we had the sardines and they were completely tasteless. You pay 20 AUD for a small starter and it's more about the trendy place than the quality of the food. At the end, they discounted the croquettes and a beer from the check, which was a good detail, but the place still offers a very poor experience.