RESTAURANT REVIEW
SEPIA Restaurant and Wine Bar
Sydney - July 2011
RELOCATED TO MELBOURNE LATE 2018
Sydney - July 2011
RELOCATED TO MELBOURNE LATE 2018
Tucked under a group of three office towers on the western edge of the Sydney CBD, this restaurant is fitted out to the corporate world it is primarily catering for. The decor wants to emulate a chic New-York interior, but due to the odd shape of the space, it lacks the grandeur of such an establishment. However, it is still very confortable and looks the part, and obviously, one comes here for the food!
Please note that SEPIA will relocate to Melbourne at the end of 2017, as their current lease in Sydney runs out
The chef and part-owner, Martin Benn, was previously executive chef at Tetsuya, arguably one of the best restaurants in Australia. He brings to Sepia a lot of skills in fusion food honed there, as well as a solid technique. from his time in London with French Chef Michel Lorrain and the incontournable Marco Pierre White.
The degustation menu is the star here, and it consists of nine courses, plus an optional cheese offering before dessert. We passed!
Presentation of each dish is superb, flavours are awesome and startling for most of them - more on this later. Here is the menu:
Please note that SEPIA will relocate to Melbourne at the end of 2017, as their current lease in Sydney runs out
The chef and part-owner, Martin Benn, was previously executive chef at Tetsuya, arguably one of the best restaurants in Australia. He brings to Sepia a lot of skills in fusion food honed there, as well as a solid technique. from his time in London with French Chef Michel Lorrain and the incontournable Marco Pierre White.
The degustation menu is the star here, and it consists of nine courses, plus an optional cheese offering before dessert. We passed!
Presentation of each dish is superb, flavours are awesome and startling for most of them - more on this later. Here is the menu:
Amuse bouche
"Scallop sushi"
Nori rolled scallop, pickled ginger, puffed sushi rice,avocado cream
Tartare of yellow fin tuna, warm shitake mushroom custard, sprouting caviar lentils
amaranth, toasted ponzu
Queensland spanner crab and buckwheat risotto, mustard butter, shellfish essence
Spiced roasted scampi tails, roasted Hiramasa kingfish, scampi cream, baby fennel, lemon and saffran
shiso and shellfish jus
Roasted pasture fed Angus beef tenderloin marinated in Hatcho miso, braised short rib, smoked daikon radish
yuzu jellies, oxtail consommé
Cocoa and sansho seared Mandagery venison, baby beetroots, rhubarb, chocolate,
beetroot and boudin noir crumb
Pre-dessert
"Winter chocolate forest"
Soft chocolate, chestnut, truffled honey cream, blacberry sorbet, blackerry candy
green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs, crystalised fennek fronds, yoghurt snow
"Scallop sushi"
Nori rolled scallop, pickled ginger, puffed sushi rice,avocado cream
Tartare of yellow fin tuna, warm shitake mushroom custard, sprouting caviar lentils
amaranth, toasted ponzu
Queensland spanner crab and buckwheat risotto, mustard butter, shellfish essence
Spiced roasted scampi tails, roasted Hiramasa kingfish, scampi cream, baby fennel, lemon and saffran
shiso and shellfish jus
Roasted pasture fed Angus beef tenderloin marinated in Hatcho miso, braised short rib, smoked daikon radish
yuzu jellies, oxtail consommé
Cocoa and sansho seared Mandagery venison, baby beetroots, rhubarb, chocolate,
beetroot and boudin noir crumb
Pre-dessert
"Winter chocolate forest"
Soft chocolate, chestnut, truffled honey cream, blacberry sorbet, blackerry candy
green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs, crystalised fennek fronds, yoghurt snow
Being our son's 21st birthday, we decided to start the night with a bottle of Laurent-Perrier and some oysters to share!
These oysters were probably the best I ever had in Australia, certainly in Sydney, and were reminiscent of my favourite "fines de claire" back in France, not a small treat. Thumbs up here!
Can I also mention that the service was impeccable, the sommelier very knowledgeable and happy to confirm my somehow eclectic choices of accompanying wines.
And although our glasses were refiled with sparkling Italian mineral water constantly, it didn't reflect in the bill, as it was capped at four bottles, a practice that should be copied elsewhere! Well done...
These oysters were probably the best I ever had in Australia, certainly in Sydney, and were reminiscent of my favourite "fines de claire" back in France, not a small treat. Thumbs up here!
Can I also mention that the service was impeccable, the sommelier very knowledgeable and happy to confirm my somehow eclectic choices of accompanying wines.
And although our glasses were refiled with sparkling Italian mineral water constantly, it didn't reflect in the bill, as it was capped at four bottles, a practice that should be copied elsewhere! Well done...
"Scallop sushi" - Nori rolled scallop, pickled ginger, puffed sushi rice, avocado cream
So simple in appearance, and so deceivingly and subtly delicious!
An explosion of flavours would be the best description, but also the twists & turns that these produce in your mind are quite incredible!
An explosion of flavours would be the best description, but also the twists & turns that these produce in your mind are quite incredible!
Tartare of yellow fin tuna, warm shitake mushroom custard, sprouting caviar lentils
amaranth, toasted ponzu
A fine example of Japanese influence into Modern Australian cuisine, and surely a tribute to master chef Tetsuya. Simply amazing!
For those of you not familiar with ponzu, like myself, it is a sort of vinegar made of soy sauce and any type of citrus, but often yuzu, which the team in the kitchen at Sepia are using in other dishes.
For those of you not familiar with ponzu, like myself, it is a sort of vinegar made of soy sauce and any type of citrus, but often yuzu, which the team in the kitchen at Sepia are using in other dishes.
Queensland spanner crab and buckwheat risotto, mustard butter, shellfish essence
The photo doesn't do justice to the amazing presentation and different textures of this dish. definitively one of the highlight of the evening in terms of surprising combination of ingredients and flavours.
Spiced roasted scampi tails, roasted Hiramasa kingfish, scampi cream, baby fennel, lemon and saffran, shiso and shellfish jus
Complete change of scenery here with a dark plate as the perfect backdrop for the white seafood: simplicity, clean taste, beautiful and subtle colours appeal to all the senses.
Our beverages so far
At this stage of our meal, we had enjoyed a very intriguing array of seafood, tastes, textures, colours, crockery, and seriously inventive good food. We had also enjoyed the delights of our accompanying Laurent Perrier Champagne and Bourgogne Aligote, both perfect matches to the food we ate so far.
Interestingly enough, although the portions look small, they are actually quite perfect to allow enough "matter" to taste every single element of the dishes, without filling you so much that your palate or your stomach would be blinded or overwhelmed by the previous experience. It is now time to move to our meat dishes and the beautiful Chateau Villa Bel Air to enhance them!
It was also the perfect time to present our gifts to our Birthday Boy, but that will remain private... Let's just say that he was both pleasantly surprised and thrilled!
Interestingly enough, although the portions look small, they are actually quite perfect to allow enough "matter" to taste every single element of the dishes, without filling you so much that your palate or your stomach would be blinded or overwhelmed by the previous experience. It is now time to move to our meat dishes and the beautiful Chateau Villa Bel Air to enhance them!
It was also the perfect time to present our gifts to our Birthday Boy, but that will remain private... Let's just say that he was both pleasantly surprised and thrilled!
Roasted pasture fed Angus beef tenderloin marinated in Hatcho miso, braised short rib, smoked daikon radish, yuzu jellies, oxtail consomme
Perfectly cooked meat, great Asian treatment, and what a show! When you think you are ready to dig in what is already quite an amazing dish, the waitress pours some beautifully rich "gravy" in your plate, adding to the intrigue.
A sip of Bordeaux to prepare the palate, and then it is like a grenade of flavours exploding in your mouth, and then lingering in, as if deconstructed slowly by your personal chromatographer!
A sip of Bordeaux to prepare the palate, and then it is like a grenade of flavours exploding in your mouth, and then lingering in, as if deconstructed slowly by your personal chromatographer!
Cocoa and sansho seared Mandagery venison, baby beetroots, rhubarb, chocolate, beetroot and boudin noir crumb
Let's be frank here, this was in my view a total let down. The first five dishes were a nice escalation of flavours, complexity, surprise, but perfectly orchestrated. This sixth dish was just not belonging to this "suite". Chocolate with meat is not my favourite combination of flavours for a start, and it is more a Mexican invention (I lived there for a few years, so that's how I know from first hand experience...) than a Japanese influenced invention.
Actually, it seems that this is a recent addition to this dish, as confirmed by searching other reviews or older versions of the menu on the Net... So, please either skip this course altogether or re invent it to be more in tune with the rest of the degustation menu.
Actually, it seems that this is a recent addition to this dish, as confirmed by searching other reviews or older versions of the menu on the Net... So, please either skip this course altogether or re invent it to be more in tune with the rest of the degustation menu.
Pre-dessert
We are back on track here with a palate cleansing interruption in the guise of a non-alcoholic "trou normand" a granita with a lime sauce. Perfect!
"Winter chocolate forest"
Soft chocolate, chestnut, truffled honey cream, blacberry sorbet, blackerry candy
green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs, crystalised fennek fronds, yoghurt snow
A very elaborate presentation, that, i am sure, requires a lot of work back in the kitchen, and the added candle and birthday decoration was great, understated, so very appropriate indeed for our shy birthday boy! But, as a chocolate lover, i was quite disappointed to have to forage for a quite small "palet" of chocolate under a forest of not so interesting other things, including the unavoidable "berry" sorbet, that most restaurants insist on serving with chocolate. i am sorry to tell that it doesn't do it for me, but this is very personal, and again on a positive note, i marvel at the work involved. i had to order another glass of bordeaux to help wash it down, so that was a bonus!
In conclusion
Definitely worth the hat! Did we have a good time? Certainly. Was it good value? yes,we stayed well under our $1000 for four without trying. The first five courses were sublime, certainly like a very well planned firework of flavours, texture and colour, but the last two were disappointing. The service was exceptional, very corporate, but still warm, efficient, friendly and knowledgeable
The sommelier, Rodney Setter won the SMH Good Food Guide sommelier of the year 2013 - Australian Gourmet Traveller Magazine sommelier of the year 2011 finalist and was awarded best new wine list by The tony Hitchin Award as well as the Australia's wine list of the year awards 2010, no wonder as he knew his list inside out and should be commended!
Would we return again? not sure, definitely not for the birthday girl next year(as she will be turning 21 then)...Probably would try Guillaume at Bennelong, or Rockpool. We might even go back to Berowra Waters as the weather would be great in September...
Update September 2014: We did indeed go to Guillaume at Bennelong for our daughter's 21st, and Grégoire returned to Sepia for a friend's 21st birthday. He liked it, but made the comment that the food was more about texture than flavour...I leave you to be the final judge.
Update June 2017: Please note that SEPIA will relocate to Melbourne at the end of 2017, as their current lease in Sydney runs out
The sommelier, Rodney Setter won the SMH Good Food Guide sommelier of the year 2013 - Australian Gourmet Traveller Magazine sommelier of the year 2011 finalist and was awarded best new wine list by The tony Hitchin Award as well as the Australia's wine list of the year awards 2010, no wonder as he knew his list inside out and should be commended!
Would we return again? not sure, definitely not for the birthday girl next year(as she will be turning 21 then)...Probably would try Guillaume at Bennelong, or Rockpool. We might even go back to Berowra Waters as the weather would be great in September...
Update September 2014: We did indeed go to Guillaume at Bennelong for our daughter's 21st, and Grégoire returned to Sepia for a friend's 21st birthday. He liked it, but made the comment that the food was more about texture than flavour...I leave you to be the final judge.
Update June 2017: Please note that SEPIA will relocate to Melbourne at the end of 2017, as their current lease in Sydney runs out
