One Penny Red, Summer Hill

I admire designs that display heritage elegance meets contemporary space. Also, when classics are revived with a modern twist. There's something classic about Summer Hill that also embraces all things new. I can see why the owners of the new One Penny Red decided to open up in Summer Hill. It has a village life charm and it is quite accessible.

One Penny Red is located inside the old Summer Hill Post Office (circa 1900) near the Town Square. The Post Office's interior has been recently renovated and transformed into a stunning restaurant. The modern fixtures and decor compliments the heritage beauty of the building. There are two levels: The casual dining room that is located on the first level and upstairs is a modern chic bar area that includes a balcony. The man behind the bar and restaurant menu is the restaurant's head chef, RJ Lines (ex Longrain, Neutral Bay Bar and Dining, and Glebe Point Diner). The cuisine is Modern Australian with a seasonal approach. All their dishes are made for sharing.

For many weeks, I have been eyeing One Penny Red's opening. As soon as it opened last Thursday, 12th of June, I made plans to visit. We tried small plate dishes on their bar menu during our visit:

Complimentary salted fried chickpeas

A refreshing passionfruit and blood orange mocktail

Salt cod fritters with smoked mayo

The salt cod fritters with smoked mayo ($14) were a delight and nicely seasoned. I loved the contrast of crisped outer shell and mushy innards (kind of like a croquette). The salt cod fillet pieces in the center were perfectly cooked. The smoked mayo totally reminded me of chipotle mayo but with very mild heat.

Lamb-panadas

The lamb-panadas ($5 each) are empanadas filled with braised pulled lamb meat and accompanied with condiment of pebre salsa. The amazing empanada pastry was flaky, light and buttery! It was filled with green olives and super tender and tasty braised lamb. The pebre salsa is almost like chimichurri without the garlic punch. Once you spread it on the empanadas, it makes the delicious pastries very addictive.

One Penny cheeseburger with potato crisps

A burgerman like myself can never say no to a cheeseburger (just coz it's cheeseburger)! One Penny Red cheeseburger ($18) was the item I was looking forward to the most! It did not disappoint at all! The very flavoursome beef patty (made from 200g minced grass fed beef) was cooked medium well and retained a lot of it's juice. It also had a nutty and creamy melted gruyere cheese, tomato jam and pickles that was all contained within soft buttery brioche bun. I think there was a special housemade sauce in it too (I think I need to have it again just to make sure *wink*). It also came with some delicious potato crisps.

Banana and salted caramel souffle with chocolate fudge

We always make room for dessert! So we ordered the banana and salted caramel beignets soufflé with chocolate fudge sauce ($14). I was expecting this to be in a copper pan because of the soufflé part in the name. Rather, it came out as mini beignets sprinkled with icing sugar. After taking a bite, I completely forgot about the whole copper pan thing. I was immersed in these deep-fried morsels that were crisped on the outside with a marshmallow-like fluffy consistency on the inside. The beignets had a lush banana salted caramel filling. Dipping them on the chocolate fudge sauce is followed by blissful moments after each bite.

To me, the appreciation of food classics and giving them a contemporary twist is what One Penny Red is about. I will definitely return to try their dinner menu dishes like their slow cooked lamb shoulder with chickpea puree, pomegranate and sorrel salad ($28) or their kingfish and pork belly skewers with salsa verde ($14).

One Penny Red

2 Moonbie Rd

Summer Hills NSW

Phone: 02 9797 8118

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/OnePennyRed

Instagram: http://instagram.com/onepennyred2130

Operating hours:

Mon to Thurs 4:00pm-12:00am

Friday 12:00pm-12:00am

Sat 10:00am-12:00am

Sun 10:00am-10:00pm