Is Saint Peter doing the best breakfast in Sydney right now?

• Saint Peter’s unique breakfast menu is the talk of Sydney’s food industry right now.
• Josh and Julie Niland have opened The Grand National Hotel in an old Paddington pub.
• The three-course breakfast centres around Manjimup marron scrambled eggs.
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It’s been exactly one month since Josh and Julie Niland revealed The Grand National Hotel, their ambitious revamp of a neighbourly Paddington pub dating back to 1890.

With the couple’s experimental seafood restaurant now marked as one of the world’s best, the triple-hatted Saint Peter has been translated as a stylish hotel restaurant, elevating the fine dining experience with Niland’s deftly technical, no-waste approach to ethically-caught seafood.

And above: 14 tasteful guest rooms, worked up by Studio Aquilo to the Nilands exacting standards with luxurious touches framed by soulful heritage features. Think marble fireplaces for character, velvet headboards for warmth and Australian artworks by Ken Done that stun when set against the flicker of fish-fat candles right before bedtime.

The Saint Peter set menu is unforgettable. Ten elegant courses touting everything from Southern calamari strung into thick noodle-like strands, flavoured with earthy yellowfin tuna ‘nduja, to charcoal King George whiting line-caught in Corner Inlet by stalwart second-generation fisherman Bruce Collis. The whiting, texturally perfect and dense with the fish’s natural flavour, is served alongside an equally memorable platter of summer vegetables reiterating the incredible value of seasonality.

Although it’s the newly introduced Saint Peter breakfast that has been the talk of the industry right now, coursed into three distinctive sets starting with rich black fig and coconut bircher muesli and a beautiful seasonal fruit plate.

The first course is a purposeful pop of theatre, not only celebrating NSW fruit picked at its peak, but anchored by some morning theatre—a cup of fresh mango slices sit at the centre of the platter, exploding with a puff of smoke as a pile of massive goji berries with marigold petals are spooned on top.

It’s rare to sit down to breakfast with neither an intercontinental buffet or a la carte menu in sight. Josh knows what you’d choose anyway: a decadent, beautifully plated masterpiece of Manjimup marron scrambled eggs with hollandaise made from the head. That sunny sauce is sharp and rich, moving away from the weighty blend of egg yolks and lemon juice towards something gentle and full-flavoured. Taking the head and using your knife to spread the hollandaise evenly over the marron’s plump body adds a nice little bit of interactivity to the meal.

As for the eggs? Divine.

Saint Peter’s breakfast menu ends with a hazelnut and currant financier held together with creme patisserie that oozes from the centre. Think of it as the best Anzac cookie you’ll ever have, bringing a similar flavour profile that’s got just the right amount of nuttiness that pairs seamlessly with a cup of coffee.

The level of care that has gone into this experience is second to none, heralding an obvious elevation to a seafood-only dining experience that’s already changed the way people think about marine produce. I haven’t had breakfast like this since The Press Hotel in Portland, Maine. And if you’ve ever tasted the lobster over there, you’ll know you’re in for a treat.

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The Grand National Hotel

Address: 161 Underwood St, Paddington NSW 2021
Contact: (02) 9363 4997

saintpeter.com.au

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