Pony Lounge & Dining

Great meal! We enjoyed the 2 course $ 38 lunch. Outstanding steak, soufflé and cocktails.
Would highly recommend.

We went for lunch at 2pm, they close at 3pm to get ready for dinner.
It was very difficult to get the attention of the wait staff, there were only 2 of them for the entire restaurant. We were seated at a long table outside, next to the back ally.
We had the 1Kg T-​bone. I asked for the steak to be medium-​rare at the bone. I was told that the chef said that this meant that the steak would be cooked medium. The waitress was not at all friendly or forthcoming with details (her arm was covered in tattoos), she clearly didn’t want to be there at all. It seemed that the chef was recommending not to cook it this way, so I went with straight medium-​rare. It was grass-​fed and incredibly chewy, nearly inedible, especially at the bone. Given all of the gristle, it should have been recommended to be cooked the way that I originally asked for it. They never came back and asked how the food was; of course they never did anything you’d expect normal wait staff to do.
We ordered a second bottle of sparking water. A single glass was poured by the male waiter and the bottle was placed up on a server’s table in a container to keep it cold. Within 3 minutes of that pouring, some of the kitchen staff came out and poked around the three other near-​empty bottles on the table and grabbed MY cold bottle for themselves to drink at an adjoining table with the food that they brought from the kitchen. When I asked the waiter for another glass of water, he noticed my stolen bottle and, rather than to open a new cold one, he went inside the restaurant and came out with a used warm half-​bottle of water that had already lost most of its bubbles. When I checked the bill, I was charged for the second bottle that the staff had absconded with. NOT GOOD!
I would recommend that you to stay away from these gang-​tatted hoodlums with absolutely no rules of etiquette on what to steal and aren’t even nice about it. On top of all this, the male waiter strongly suggested that I leave a tip, in a country that isn’t supposed to have tipping. Being American I always tip away — with the exception of this gang of thieves.

Came here last night (on a Monday) for dinner. The place looked nice and the food was delicious; however, they were slower than molasses. Everyone around us was waiting so long to get their food. I’d hate to see what it’s like on a Friday or Saturday.

My mom and I visited for dinner. We started with the beet salad. It was amazing. Do yourself a favor and get this to start. You won’t be sorry. Next we split a flat iron steak. The sauce on the steak was a bit on the spicy side. We finished with the lemon meringue, definitely not the traditional American merengue. It was the merengue cookie on top of a lemon pudding with marshmallows and jello. Go here the food and service are awesome!

Great unpretentious restaurant in the Rocks where many bad touristy restaurants abound.
Good salad and snapper. Loved the décor and the cool apron design of the waitresses.

Fab meal. Great wait staff. Stefano and Paolo took care of us. Be sure to get the grilled veggie sides… carrots with ricotta, broccoli with oyster sauce & black sesame seeds, radicchio with balsamic & manchego… dang!

My daughter and I were looking for somewhere to eat on Boxing Day. We stumbled across pony and decided to give it a go.
The staff were fantastic. I could not fault them at all.
We chose to sit outside which meant we sat at the long table. It’s different, as you are likely to be seated right next to another family. Luckily none of the families were loud, so it was fine. You pay something like $ 6 per head for unlimited sparkling water, which I really appreciated as I LOVE sparking water. The cocktail list was fun and exciting but the menu was limited and heavy. I just ordered 2 sides– carrots and broccoli and was really impressed with the flavors they cooked them in. My daughter had the crab angel hair pasta which she enjoyed. I would return but only if I was really hungry

Very slow service. I tried the Angus Sirloin, way below expectations. Don’t waste your money here if you want good food. It is OK if you are looking for a place to sit outdoors and grab a drink.

The food was great. Not value prices by any means. I would give four stars except the restaurant doesn’t have its own toilet. If you need a toilet you’ll have to visit the rocks public toilets. For this price I would expect better.

6 out of 10. Beautiful décor. Edamame was a little on the yellow side. Rib eye was cooked perfect but lacked flavour. Needed a ton of extra salt. Iceberg salad was very wet and plain. Service was very good. All in all ok but not great

Six hours into our first visit to Sydney and having a beer and brisket sandwich. Definitely two of my top ten words in the English language. My wife had the the market salad. I had a couple bites and it was good, I mean, as far as salad goes. Great view of the harbor, great helpful and friendly staff, everything I need. Why not 5 stars? Call me a seating elitist but the plastic chairs kept me from staying and spending a large portion of holiday $ on more tap beers. Overall great!

I recommend reservations. The «bar seating» is very uncomfortable. That said the staff and food were great. I really enjoyed the pork belly. It came in a bowl of broth, but skin stayed crispy, throughout the meal.

Extremely disappointed. I ordered the Szechuan Chicken, and was served what tasted like fried chicken. How they came up with an American Southern dish, from an Asian one, beats me. The waiter rushed us to order and insisted that my friend sit at another seat at our table. He was extremely rude and short with us. With the money that I paid, I expected a nicer view and superb service. Will not come back again!

Hurried in at a moments notice as the Kitchen was closing!!! Was made to feel quite inferior… the waiter very interesting, his attitude changed as soon as we paid the bill, because he could go home!

Now this is a great little place. Located in «the Rocks», Pony lounge served up, a terrific dinner on my first night in Sydney.
I went on line and got a same day reservation. Now while is may not be necessary every day, I was here during a holiday week and I was glad I did as the place filled up very quickly.
There are communal tables out side, but I was seated indoors at a nice two top by the windows. My server, Ricki, was over in a flash and I found her to be friendly, attentive and just the kind of server you would want no matter where you are. In fact, she was so great, I almost wished she could just pull up a chair and sit with me!
The menu isn’t huge but is broken into starters, main courses and shareable plates. The cocktail menu also has a number of specialty drinks which were twists on old favorites (try the «new fashioned» as this is not your fathers old fashioned, old fashioned!)
While I wanted the stuffed peppers appetizer, they did not have it on the night I was there so I settled for the chorizo sausage with chutney (a wonderful mix of sweet and spicy) and the shrimp and salmon. The salmon was cooked perfectly, pink inside and moist. It is prepared in a curry sauce which is an interesting contrast to the other flavors.
And for dessert– try the crumb cake or the truffles. Both were certainly «calorie worthy»!
The wine list was also quite nice and again the server did a terrific job of helping me to better understand Australian wines of which I am less familiar.
All in all, dinner ran about $ 100 for a couple of drinks, dinner and dessert which felt reasonable given the quantity and quality if the food I received.
But the best thing about Pony has to be the people who work there. From the hostess, to the person who brought the food to my terrific server, Ricki, I felt welcomed and pampered. And isn’t that just the way a nice dinner out should leave you feeling?

Pony rib eye cook to perfection. Yumm! Char grill calamari for starter and it taste amazing! Not a fan for buffalo mozzarella as it doesn’t taste good, kinda hard and tasteless… Good Australian wine. Love the ambience and decoration, pretty crowded for a Wednesday night. Standard price Australian restaurant price around Rocks, just a little bit higher on the price scale.

We had the calamari and cauliflower entrees, not bad but nothing special. I had the salmon and shrimp main which was AMAZING! My friend had the tortellini and that was AMAZING TOO!!! Other friend had the pork and was raving about it too.
Don’t listen to the waitress saying the mains are more to share, trust me they are reasonable, generous portions FOR ONE and didn’t seem to be particularly shareable. We all agreed we’d be left wanting if we tried to share any of the mains between two.
I hate sharing anyway. Sharing is for suckers. I’m very territorial about my food, lol. I can’t wait for this share plate fad to be over.
It’s a super sleek, dark, sexy restaurant. Staff are really nice, good service. Despite the Pony thing, its quite understated, they don’t have a gimmick, or any OTT outfitting… its all classic, subtle. The food and service speak for themselves, I guess! As they should.

After lack of sleep and a mind numbing morning I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, so I decided on Pony Lounge and Dining at The Rocks. I thought this might be a good idea after reviewing their off shoots, Pavel & Co. You may have read my review previously, if not, here it is.
It was another miserable Autumn day in Sydney as I made my way down to the rocks. While the weather may have been miserable the walk was quite nice and cool with less people walking around then usual. I quickly found the restaurant inside The Rocks Centre on the corner of Kendal Lane and Argyle. from the outside I could see the efficiently run kitchen preparing hopefully happy diners meals.
I walked into the trendy looking place with dark wood floor boards and counters, with cow hide and and rope artwork on the walls, which was all complemented by the lighting. I was quickly served and informed that they do not do take away, which made sense given they’re a restaurant. Feeling slightly embarrassed I requested a table and was quickly seated. Already knowing what I wanted, I ordered Pony’s Double Cheeseburger — Blackmore’s double patty, smoked onion pickles, ketchup, American mustard.
The restaurant was about ¾, not bad considering it was about 1:45pm, most diners would have been finishing off their lunches. The ambience of the place was quite cool — open kitchen at the front and well stocked square bar at the back. made me think I would have to come back for a real meal with friends or coworkers. While musing to myself the burger came out which is awesome timing and was served with a small bowl of fries.
The burger was large and had the look of a classic cheeseburger which always cool and lit up perfectly by the lighting in the restaurant playing on the golden brown of the potato bun. The bun was tasted nicely and was a nice change from the now all too common brioche bun. Biting into the burger the first thing I tasted was the classic combination of American mustard, ketchup with a hint of pickle and sweet smoked onions. This added instant drip factor along with the fat from the twin Blackmore patties. The patties had a great beefy flavour and were charred nicely on the outside and medium on the inside (a little pinker may have been better). Now I don’t want to be controversial and I know i’ll be judged poorly here, but it almost, kind of tasted like a Double Quarter Pounder from Maccas albeit a much fancier and superior version. It was definitely the sauces and pickle that are way too similar. This didn’t bother me though because I am not ashamed to admit I love Double Quarter Pounders.
All in all a great burger which can stand on it’s own and probably my third favourite burger behind Baker Bros. Beef Cheek «Cheeseburger» and Rockpool’s Wagyu Cheeseburger. I think the price point lets the burger down a little but it’s definitely worth a try. The service was friendly and quick, having me in and out in about 30mins with the burger being served within 10 minutes of my order being taken. Will definitely be back to try the regular menu.

Enfin un avis en français ! ;-)
J’avais repéré Pony sur un food blog, mais c’est au final au hasard que je suis tombée dessus, l’oeil attiré par l’ambiance tamisée et la grande table commune de la terrasse.
J’y ai diné 2 fois, et n’ai vraiment pas été déçue par la qualité de la viande servie ! Il faut dire que le boeuf australien est réputé, tout comme le wagyu dégusté la seconde fois. Cuisson parfaite et très bons légumes accompagnements.
Le vin australien est également fameux, et je né parle même pas du rhubarb crumble en dessert !
Côté prix ce n’est pas donné, mais ça vaut le coup (sauf peut-​être la «surcharge» qu’ils imposent pour un motif fallacieux le dimanche et les jours fériés…)

Quite classy, if a little crowded.
We were here for a quick bite before a show, and so rushed through, but were quite impressed. The thing that sticks in my memory most was the service: really top-​notch, attentive, professional, helpful, courteous, not overbearing.
The food was quite nice. Edamame and chorizo for shared starters. Because I’d had steak the night before I gave their very fine-​looking cuts a miss and had the pork chop instead. It was incredibly thick and very juicy. The cauliflower with it were spiced well and cooked just right.
It’s a bit of a pricey night out. And you’ll rub close shoulders with the people next to you and staff leaning in to do their job. But food quality for a special meal was very good, and the service was some of the best I’ve had in Sydney.

Loved, loved, loved everything about this restaurant. A wonderful modern restaurant tucked away in a charming street in The Rocks. The vibe is fresh and loungy. such an incredible buzz in the air. The coat hooks in the outdoor area is a big Plus. But the pluses don’t stop here.
Lets start with the food — the chilli almonds and olives are great to snack on while sipping on some incredible cocktails — a must try is the Show Pony, this cocktail is every bit the Show Pony — gorgeous flame from a rum filled passionfruit shell sitting in the drink. Mains are cooked to perfection and the taste is just divine. It was a shame we did not try the desserts.
The ambience is wonderful outside — long tables encourage conversation between groups of diners, social in all its glory. The waiters are attentive and extremely polite. They were there to fill up your water, to neatly place your napkin on your lap on arrival and fold it neatly in front of you if you happen to leave it on the table. For the smokers out there, there is a lounge area toward the back which is once again a social setting to allow conversation to flow.
Will definitely be back to try those desserts. Highly recommended.