Cafe Paci

Went for a degustation dinner with an out of town visitors. I’ve heard about café paci for a while but haven’t had a chance to go. A foodie friend said she wasn’t that impressed so I lowered my expectation beforehand. Having said that the pictures that I’ve seen on Instagram prior to going was intriguing.
For cocktails we ordered lilo: plum wine mixed with earl grey and caramel martini: can’t remember the mix but this was my favourite cocktail in the whole of Sydney now.
Check my pictures for description of each food. The interesting bits were the pickled melon. Not my favourite but I like the experiment.
The potato rye bread glazed with molasses was superb. I really want a recipe for this. SOOO good. The steamed crab with carrots were yummy. I loved the silver beet covered with nori flakes. It’s an umami explosion! I also wanted an extra serving of the photato. Wow yum! For dessert, the liquorice pre dessert was my fave. That said, I enjoyed the parsley and how amazing that chef pasi can make a savoury herb into a dessert? Amazing!

¹⁷⁄₂₀!!!
T’was the year of our Lord 2015, and a beautiful night indeed above the cobblestone pathways of Darlinghurst.
The ever-​watchful Southern Cross seemed to show the way to Café Paci, where a Finnish chef has lost and found himself in a furious, imaginative tornado of flavour, texture and skill.
Prepare yourself because you know nothing Jon Snow.
Expectations are pushed around by bold combinations of flavours, and it pays off well: parsley and pear as well as pork and popcorn for desert, blue swimmer crab, truffle tart, oyster white sauce, lamb tartare … the Chef chose to walk a tightrope on your tastebuds, sometimes hesitating but never slipping.
But the menu most impressive quality is the juggling of textures, from a razor-​thin crisp and little sables to melting tartare, fairy floss and sorbet, is acrobatic, it is mastery worthy of a Cirque du Soleil performance.
It is so far my most enjoyable food experience in Sydney, even compared to Quay, Catalina or Rockpool.
What would make it a ¹⁹⁄₂₀: the same bold ideas but with more focus as the variety of the menu can wear your tastebuds down if you are unprepared.
I warmly recommend it. Just to be on the safe, get a spoon of duck fat on that day, just to keep the doctor away.

Very good ‘foodie’ experience from start to finish, every dish was a visual and gourmet surprise! The staff were all genuinely very proud of the plates that they were serving you and took pride in explaining each item. The menu is a set menu, no choices to be made which is a good sign of confidence in the quality of their food and their chef’s ability and creativity. All of the food was fantastic, it was not the cheapest place but it was amazing food and a fantastic experience. When advised on booking the table earlier in the day, they all totally went out of their way to cater for my gluten free diet requirements in an understanding and helpful manner, which meant I could enjoy my evening assured that the food I was enjoying would have no comebacks later on!
Would definitely recommend that you go and experience this gastronomic ‘pop up’ delight before it pops off!

I came here with my boyfriend as a little celebratory dinner and I was not disappointed. It is a very affordable fine dining degustation experience, in comparison to some other establishment’s in the city. There is an extensive wine list, though not as affordable as the food itself. I loved the exterior of the building and inside is the classical Scandinavian neutral colour palate; though the mood lighting is bit too dim.
The food itself was amazing, changing with the seasons. While I did asked for one vegetarian option, but we both received the regular degustation. I was more curious about their vegetarian option and got excited about eating once the meals came out. I enjoyed everything, though for me the standouts were the snacks, blue swimmer crab, photato, yoghurt sorbet and blood plum course. I would have preferred the veal without the prawn, as it overpowered the other flavours of the dish. I would have also preferred the corn and butter and chocolate pork crackling to start the sweet courses.
I would recommend local and those visiting Sydney to come here for a splurge. They also have a Friday lunch special which looks just as appetising.

Café Paci is my first pop up restaurant experience and it will definitely not be my last. This place is off the charts innovative, starting with the name of the place: Café Paci is a truncation of Café Pacifico which previously occupied the premises. I love love love innovative food, but also have low tolerance when the chef is «trying to hard» to be different and doesn’t get the dish right. (See my review of Nunu in Palm Cove Queensland as an example.)
Menu is preset and the only option is whether you want cheese at the end (let me assure you — you do). Every dish is like nothing you’ve had before. The chef is from Finland, and there’s some influence here (like the bread), but otherwise the flavors seemed to be from all over. The menu reads short, but it’s a lot of dishes and you leave fully sated. Stand out dishes for me were the «snacks», lamb tartare and Photato. The cheese was also creatively done, especially the grated Italian hard cheese over the sautéed onions. Extensive wine list, with some real interesting choices not often found in Australian restaurants. I recommend the Gigonda and the Catrala chardonnay. Service was top notch and the sommelier was knowledgeable and fun to talk wines with. A superb experience all around.

Definitely recommend you guys to come and enjoy their excellent meal!!! This is the best restaurant I have had so far. Very impressed! The texture was great and always brought you surprise!

This place was recommended by a coworker. Great choice, good service, the décor is very modern, cheese plate is superb (chocolate wafer with bleu cheese is the best). I would def return.

Get in while you can cos this pop up restaurant won’t be here for long! Rumoured to be headed up by the ex-​Head chef from Marque, Café Paci serves interesting dishes with great flavours. As a nod to the chef’s versatility and skills, the set menu brings dishes that fuses culinary components and flavours from across the globe!
My favourite dish was the Photato, which was a western twist to the traditional Vietnamese phở. Instead of noodles, thinly sliced potato was served with a generous and tasty slice of wagyu with crispy garlic and grilled lemon wedge.
In the chef’s take on pesto pasta, sliced cabbage was served with parsley purée, anchovy crisps and Parmesan cheese.
Finally, to round up the whole meal, chef serves up a corn and butter with pork and fennel. For those with a sweet tooth, fret not, your meal still ends with a sweet palate!
Definitely worth a try!

Good news Paci is staying open for another six months. It is so worth a visit for both the shorter lunch tasting menu and the longer dinner one. This place gets five stars for the bread alone, it’s amazing.

One of the most inventive restaurant in Sydney at the moment. The most memorable dish was only on the vegetarian degustation menu which is a Shichimi Tougarashi (7 spice mix in Japanese restaurant) inspired dish that was made of eggplant and bell peppers (capsicum). Desserts are innovative as well (parsley ice cream)…

GO!!! Total food adventure, you don’t want to miss out!
All the flavours are immaculate — it’s definitely foodie heaven. It’s also a great way to experience Marque’s former Head Chef Pasi Petanan’s amazing food in an unassuming environment (plus an $ 85 degustation is probably the best value you’ll get in Sydney). One of the best meals I’ve had in Sydney, highly recommended!

This pop-​up restaurant is so fantastically good, you’d be crazy not to visit.
They have a set degustation menu with items listed (this month) like Photato, BLB, lamb leg tartare with smoked capsicum and togarashi. You can try to guess at what’s coming out, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised each time.
And the taste combinations are just so perfect. If anyone told me before now that my favourite dessert would be described as «yoghurt, carrot, liquorice» I would have never believed you. I mean, I hate aniseed! But this one… It just has to be tasted to be believed.
So make a booking, settle in with a drink, take your time to experience all the courses and enjoy!

Seriously awesome. If you love your food you will be rewarded.
Put it this way… Imagine you go to heaven and you’re greeted with two desert choices on arrival and one is a big gluttonous chocolate mud cake with ice cream, the other an unassuming meringue-​looking desert labeled ‘carrot, yogurt, liquorice’. Choose the latter, you will be granted access to the penthouse suite!

Food is great.
Service good but slow and disorganised. It took over 2 hours to get to the first of deserts in the degustation. Water and wine glasses went empty for long periods.
Love the all grey fit out.