Saint Peter in Paddington tops Delicious 100 NSW restaurant list

Just two years after it opened, Saint Peter in Paddington — known for its quirky seafood dishes with a twist — has earned the number one spot on the Delicious 100 top restaurant list. SEE THE FULL LIST AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE.

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Josh Niland didn’t plan to become one of Australia’s most influential chefs.

The shy boy from Maitland just wanted to teach people about fish. Not in the superficial sense of which fish taste better, but really enlighten diners about the wondrous complexities of the kinds of fish traditionally fed to felines or impaled on the end of hooks as bait.

Or the parts of the fish normally tossed in the bin — things like eyeballs and livers and even fish sperm. He sears the sperm and transforms it into a mortadella-like sausage at his humble little 34-seat restaurant, Saint Peter, in Paddington.

Saint Peter chef Josh Niland with his wife Julie. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Saint Peter’s crumbed garfish, yoghurt tartare and herb salad dish.

Niland’s enthusiasm is infectious. The 29-year-old is also wildly talented and, just two years since it opened for business, Saint Peter has earned the number one spot on the Delicious 100 top restaurant list.

It caps an impressive run of accolades for the father of two, who nabbed the crown at the expense of more decorated heavyweights like Quay (5), ­Sixpenny (11) and last year’s winner Fred’s which came in this year at number eight.

“It is beyond anything I planned when I started out. To be here now, winning things like this is amazing,” says Niland, who shares the honour with his wife and business partner Julie.

“I just wanted to open a really good fish restaurant and offer an array of produce that Sydney has forgotten.”

Not to overstate the influence of the nondescript eatery he calls his second home, but since the low-key arrival of Saint Peter to Sydney’s dining scene the restaurant has sparked nothing short of a fish revolution.

Gone are the salmon steaks of yore from menus across the city. In it’s place are the weird and the wonderful like slimy mackerel, swordfish, red mullet and bonito.

The mud crab and sweet and sour mackerel at Saint Peter.

Delicious 100 has revealed the best restaurants across the state.

But one of Niland’s proudest achievements is, he says. finally proving to Sydneysiders that enjoying good seafood doesn’t require an ocean view.

It’s Niland’s unassuming passion for produce which helped push the young phenom over the line, according to Delicious editor in chief editor Kerrie McCallum, who oversaw this year’s list.

She said: “He has cemented a place for himself among not only Sydney diners but also his peers as a ­creative force.”

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Originally published as Saint Peter in Paddington tops Delicious 100 NSW restaurant list