[category]
[title]
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
If you’re wondering where everyone is in Newcastle on a Saturday night, they’re at Bistro Penny. The little restaurant at 8-10 Bolton Street opened in late 2024 by New Zealand-born chef Joel Humphreys, who worked at St. John in London, Sydney’s Rockpool and Bistro Moncur, before leading the kitchen at local favourite Scotties for four years. Here at Bistro Penny, it’s all about French flavours anchored by an open-flame kitchen. One of the chefs walks over to a stack of logs by the door, picks one up and feeds it to the fire. That familiar, comforting smell of smoke and char hits you as soon as you step inside.
The vibe
The charming building was once a bank, and more recently, the award-winning now-closed Restaurant II. Out front, small tables and white tablecloths channel a Parisian bistro. Inside, the fit-out is impressive, thanks to Sydney designer Bianca Isgro, the talent behind the schmick looks of The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre and The Dry Dock Hotel.
Original exposed brick, timber beams and flooring remain throughout (fun fact: the beams are made from the same steel used for the Sydney Harbour Bridge!). A wrap-around terrazzo bar sits at the front, alongside oak tables, brown leather banquettes, and walls that look like they're brushed with whipped butter. Leon Bridges plays over the restaurant’s hum, and there’s not a spare seat in sight. Service is warm but under the pump; a few times we’re left for a beat too long, and the table could do with a wipe-down between courses.
The food
The menu is tight, considered and changes often, made up of clever snacks, fresh seafood, quality meat, whole fish and a couple of desserts. Plump, perfectly cooked scallops ($11 each) grilled for what tastes like seconds arrive blanketed in a buttery, lemony, chicken-fat-spiked béarnaise (hot tip: order bread to mop up the remaining sauce).
A chunky steak tartare ($32) arrives with a marigold-coloured egg yolk in the centre, plus crunchy, hard-to-stop-eating mini hashbrowns to carry the rich meat and tangy flavour enhancers. Fun.
A tomato salad ($22) is explosive with acid, sweetness and salt thanks to hits of gochujang, lovage, pickled onions and capers – it tastes like a ripe tomato and a Bloody Mary walked into a bar and got together. Order that.
For mains, we’re toying with the scotch fillet with sauce au poivre ($70) and the whole blue mackerel with sauce gribiche ($55), but land on the roasted half duck à l’orange ($75). The fat is rendered well, the meat’s juicy, and fresh segments of orange bring brightness alongside a lush orange caramel.
The butter lettuce salad’s ($14) dressing is lacklustre and a touch watery, however – it needs more sweetness and zing. The crème brûlée with mango sorbet ($16) and toffee taken right to the edge is a winner. I’d come back for that.
The drinks
When I’m visiting, there are just a handful of cocktails on offer, which I’m a fan of (do less but nail them!), like their take on a Piña Colada ($24, rhum made from sugar cane juice, as well as smoked pineapple and coconut), and the Passionfruit Punch ($23, mezcal, passionfruit and lime). Though the classics are available on request. NSW breweries get a shout-out with both Hawkes and Mountain Culture brews available, with a bunch of non-alc options. A short but smart by-the-glass list features mostly French and Aussie drops, while a bottle of Swinging Bridge pinot noir ($80) makes for a very good time (and even better with the steak tartare).
Time Out tip
While you’re in the area, make sure to check out our other faves: Humbug, Flotilla, Papalote and Arno Deli – winner of Time Out Sydney’s Best Destination Award 2026. If that and Newy’s awesome beaches aren’t enough to book a road trip, I don’t know what will.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.