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    Automata

    3.9 (14 reviews)
    Ultra High-EndAustralian
    Closed 6:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

    Automata Photos

    AUTOMATA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Trendy
    Good for groups

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    The destination
    Mick A.

    The hype had been big for us and so were our expectations, and as it turned out this was an extraordinary experience. It had a real wow factor dare I say it was a (wow) to the power of 2! So what did we enjoy? cherries, fermented juice & capers steamed hapuka, cured roe emulsions & seaweed smoked lamb heart, barley koji & daikon wagu intercostal, dill pickle & turnip peach, sunflower seed & sherry vinegar caramel Every dish had a distinctive flavour and a most delightful taste.....my words frankly cannot do justice to the outcomes of the chef's great creations. The menu is fixed and was $88 for each....add the optional pairing and it is another $55. On this occasion we shared a fine French Riesling between the four of us. Tucked into the reasonably newly developed precinct in Chippendale everything about this restaurant has a style and feeling of uniqueness. The fit out is minimalist, a lovely dominant blend of steel, wood and concrete, the dining layout provides generous space and the service is at the highest end of professionalism. The best lunch experience I have ever had the pleasure of.....an utterly extraordinary experience of the highest quality.

    Menu
    Howard C.

    Automata by Clayton Well's, formerly of Momofuku Seibo has just opened. It's a beautiful space by the Old Clare Hotel in the revitalised Chippendale, aka Hippendale. The menu will change depending on local ingredients available, but as it is it's a 5 course menu for $88, and $55 more if you want wine/sake pairings. The whole place oozes cool with an accompanying soundtrack to boot. They serve you housemade bread with this divine butter...seriously it's divine, ask for seconds. The current menu is up on the website, but I'll go through them one by one. -Entree red witlof, violet mustard storm clam, rosemary dashi, cream **The witlof was nicely done, but I enjoyed the storm clam more. The dashi and cream went very well. -Mains asparagus, sesame leaf, umeboshi & dulse **weakest dish of the night, had a very interesting taste but in the end was kind of apathetic about it. steamed hapuka, cured roe emulsion & seaweed **fantastic dish, the hapuka was awesome and the emulsion gave a great balance slow roasted quail, burnt eggplant, cape & blackberry **was a very good dish, but I liked the hapuka more, the eggplant was pretty good inside skirt, walnut, shiitake, tamari & brown butter **the star of the show, I would come back just to have this skirt and brown butter again -Dessert pumpkin seed sorbet, bitters meringue & mandarin **I don't know how they made this dessert but it was awesome. All in all a great experience, can't wait to see what's on tap when the menu changes. Really enjoyed every dish while one or two were just OK to decent for me.

    Lauren S.

    Trying to sum up this place in a single word is pretty hard... But I'm going to give it a crack and label Automata as intriguing . First of all the service here is exceptional, I'm not just talking about one good staff member I'm talking about the entire waitstaff, they have a very high attention to detail that makes your experience special and to top this off the kitchen was very accommodating of food allergies and intolerances. The menu left me feeling conflicted. It was complex and at times uncomfortable. Duck hearts, beef tongue, and lamb neck were all part of the offering. But at the end of the night I didn't sit back and feel nourished or really have a dish I would talk about to friends. For me it was more about the conversation triggered by the dishes on the night and not their deliciousness that I'll take with me and remember. The cost of the degustation was very reasonable at $88, especially when you're able to experience the level of skill required to execute these dishes.

    Tash R.

    I'm not sure if our expectations were too high but unfortunately Automata didn't live up to the hype. Some dishes (or parts of the dishes) were amazing (the prawn dish!) but others were just sub par. Here are the pros: - great restaurant vibe with an open kitchen to see our dishes being plated - Very creative dishes which were beautifully plated - 3 out of 5 dishes were tasty - prawn dish was amazing - smoked duck cooked perfectly but none of us (5ppl) seemed to like any of the accompaniments - dessert of macadamia nut ice cream with strawberries could have been one of the highlights - the staff were friendly Here are the cons: - thought the dory was ok - the asparagus dish was really quite ordinary - a 5 course tasting menu took 3 hours - our waitress wasn't really attentive and we would constantly have to get her attention to ask for a drink and did not come over once to check on what we thought of the food I would give this restaurant a 3.5/5

    Yazhu Y.

    Not sure if our expectations are too high. But we are quite disappointed at the food. The presentation of food is average, the taste is quite average. Our favourite dish is actually the first starter, a seaweed cracker.

    Victor L.

    I'm sorry but anything less than a 5-star review doesn't even do Automata justice. I would bother describing the menu but if you are picky about your food or conservative in your feeding habits, it probably wouldn't convince you. Chef Clayton Wells mixes a traditional approach to fine dining with the countries and cuisine that have made him, one sense at a time. Australia is there in front of you, with a relaxed atmosphere, a casual setting of the dining room and an out-of-nowhere decoration based on purely mechanical industrial items. Asia and Japan in particular meet your taste with a beautiful modern European cuisine, which benefits from his past experience. Five courses that change regularly walk you into a world of simple yet subtly and masterfully combined ingredients. You can smell France on many an occasion as it is one of the wine lists contributing country. Europe is during your experience one arm length away with a warm, moist yet crunchy bread, the kind you enjoy softly tearing and buttering to transition from one course to the next. Automata is a raw experience of senses, the art of taming complex ideas and fine dining into their simplest and most enjoyable forms for all to share.

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    Nomad - Scallops

    Nomad

    4.0(92 reviews)
    1.0 kmSurry Hills
    $$$

    Came to Nomad for a work dinner in May 2024 (catching up on old reviews) and it was one of the best…read moremeals I've ever had!! We started with a mini martini and goat cheese tart combo that they promoted as a bite while you decide on the menu for the night... very creative idea! We ordered a bunch of plates to share and everything was delicious but the most surprising was the kangaroo dish? As we were visiting Australia we had to order this off the menu but were not expecting it to be a raw dish like tartare. However, we were so pleasantly surprised with the taste! We shared 3 of the desserts and all of them were heavenly! Such a delicious dinner, great service, and some great people watching as well! This was a dinner I will remember for a very long time!!

    This was the most incredibly restaurant we enjoyed during our trip to Sydney. While the food was on…read morethe pricey side, we wanted to splurge on a fancy meal. This was the most highly rated restaurant in Surry Hills, and it exceeded all expectations. I cannot say enough great things about the duck slow cooked in plum sauce. It was perfectly seasoned with a bright, sweet plum glaze-- the meat was so tender that it fell off the bone. This was hands down the most delicious duck dish I have ever eaten. We enjoyed a handful of their appetizers (oyster shooters, mini pancakes with crème fresh, etc), all of which were incredible. Very grateful to our waiter for being so helpful with menu suggestions and accommodating one of the guests with a more complicated food palette. The ambience inside was intimate with low warm lightly. The music was classy and not too loud. Such a beautiful and memorable space.

    Photos
    Nomad - Ambiance

    Ambiance

    Nomad
    Nomad

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    Strawberry Hills Hotel - Honey BBQ Glazed Pork Ribs

    Strawberry Hills Hotel

    3.5(26 reviews)
    0.6 kmSurry Hills
    $$

    Fun bar in Sydney head up the stairs to the semi open rooftop bar. Good food and drinks.read more

    In spite of the name, this is actually not a hotel. Hotel has a double meaning in Australia as I…read morehave learned. It can be a place of lodging, but also many pubs use it as well as it relates to past liquor laws. Using the term "hotel" as a way to skirt liquor licensing regulations. Strawberry Hills is a nice Aussie pub just down the street from Central Railway Station. It looks a little divey on the outside, but the 2nd floor interior is quite nice and stylish and even has free Wi-Fi. This is a good spot to get a drink and quality pub food at a reasonable price in Sydney. If you are dining upstairs, you order your food and drinks at the counter. If you are dining in, the staff then brings the food to your table when it is ready. While they do have a wine menu, there isn't one for the large assortment of beers and cider on tap. If you are not sure what to order, I would list the types of beer and cider that you like to find one that suits you. As for the food, there is a regular menu consisting of pub food and a late night menu of different pizzas. The pricing here is quite reasonable as most mains (name for entree in Australia) are under $20. Had a Sunday night dinner here and opted for the slow cooked lamb shoulder ($18) with a pint of Bulmers cider ($7). I chose lamb because it is harder to find this meat on menus in the US, whereas in Australia it seems to be a standard offering. The lamb was terrific as the meat was fall off the bone tender. There was a bit of fat and gristle on the lamb, but I was okay with this since this helped to accentuate the meat's flavor. The accompanying roasted vegetables and red wine jus were also delicious and complimented the lamb. As for the cider, it was my first time trying Bulmers and I really liked it. It has a very crisp and refreshing taste that paired well with my meal. Enjoyed my meal at Strawberry Hills. The food and drinks here are good and value for your money. I like the ambiance of this pub too as it is modern, yet is casual enough to be a local drinking hole that you frequent regularly.

    Photos
    Strawberry Hills Hotel - Sweet Potato Fries

    Sweet Potato Fries

    Strawberry Hills Hotel - Cheesy Garlic Loaf

    Cheesy Garlic Loaf

    Strawberry Hills Hotel - Chicken Schnitzel

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    Chicken Schnitzel

    Waterloo Dining - Dessert

    Waterloo Dining

    4.0(1 review)
    0.9 kmSurry Hills
    $$

    Waterloo Dining is the mini in house restaurant that the William Angliss Institute Sydney provides…read morefor the cookery students to showcase their talents. This morning they offered a sample of what they could provide for breakfast. The institute is very slick and modern and your guided in through the campus before you make your way to the mini restaurant that's to the side of the hall with about 10 tables. They treat it serious and are complete with a Maítre d. They provided us with a menu of what was on offer highlights included Breakfast Pizza, croissants or warm oats. I was so tempted by the Croissant with marshmallow and Nutella but opted for the breakfast pizza. The waitress took my order of breakfast pizza and a hot chocolate. The waitress said anything else so I was hoping I could order additional items but she then said that will do for now ( knife to the heart). The breakfast pizza was incredibly presented. The Pizza contained Boston beans, a cottled egg with parmesan. The pizza had a lot of flavour and not something I see on a lot of menus so was pleased to try something a little different. The service was professional for the most part but felt like they lingered around the table after I had eaten so wasn't sure if that was to tell me to go or what. Unfortunately I never got the opportunity to order the additional croissant. It was never offered to me in the end so a point has to go for giving me hope. The food was great here and these guys have a bright future of fine service and cooking to offer in Sydney for sure.

    Photos
    Waterloo Dining - SCALLOP Salad

    SCALLOP Salad

    Waterloo Dining - Salmon

    Salmon

    Waterloo Dining - The Institute

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    The Institute

    Automata - australian - Updated May 2026

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