Sepia Restaurant

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  5     

Ok first the good parts. The ambience is great and the service just right. It's occasion dining. But this place is not without issues for me at least. The bloody wine list is 25 pages and it's not well organised. If you are a buff this might be fun but I found it difficult. The sommelier was great though. The food, it looks fantastic but it's way to tricky. Moose bits of jelly, dried seaweed etc. Interesting but not satisfying.

We had a party of 6 and we all had the degustation. It's nice but not great. It's all a little overworked and there is just too much going on the plate. Interesting we all felt the same when we left. The food was blameless but I'd much rather eat somewhere else than go to Sepia again.

May 25, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

I dined at Sepia last night and was seriously impressed! knowing other hatted restaurants around Sydney, it is clear to me why they are one of the elite 3 hatters.

Having the 'autumn Deg' my partner and I shared everything giving us a substantial taste as to what Sepia has to offer. Could not go past the Spanner Crab, Wagyu and Cod dishes, truly showing the chefs talents.

The wait staff I feel complimented the chefs hard work and talent whilst creating a calm and pleasant ambience. Overall a night to remember.

May 16, 2012 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Excellent service. Welcoming and attentive. Good suggestions and high level of knowledge from the sommelier was appreciated. Met our expectations for this top restaurant. The fit out is a beautiful understated space.

We had the a la carte menu. Generally the various seafood dishes had very subtle complex flavour which matched well with the crisp wine recommended. The lamb main was perfect, beautifully presented as were all dishes.

The venison main was overpowering and unbalanced. It did taste like the forest, but more along the lines of cold mud with the chocolate blood sausage combination. Would have been much better with some sweetness for our tastes.

The food in general lacked powerful flavours which is my preference, but my partner really loved the subtle complexity, so its a matter of personal choice. Go for the freshness of the seafood and beautiful presentation.

We will definitely be back to try the winebar.

May 02, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  7     

I had Saturday degustation lunch here yesterday. The food was excellent, my favourite was the forest floor, least favourite was the wagyu tenderloin as it was a little sinewy. If not for that I would have given a 10 for the food, definitely 3 hat standard.

The service was very good, but not as perfect a combination of relaxed, professional, slick etc as some restaurants I have been to (I still rate testy as the best in this domain)

The negatives were: We were at two wooden tables joined together and our plates were right where the join was which was a little annoying, we had to keep moving them to the side so they didn't wobble around. A nice white tablecloth might have solve this problem, I kind of expect a white table cloth in a place of 3 hat standard anyway?

There are no toilets! You have to go out the back corridor into the public toilets at the bottom of the office building! Not nice!

For me, I have come to expect 3 hats to be about more than just the food. The location is pretty bad but it could be better if you could be inside and forget where you are.

Mar 18, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

My partner took me to Sépia last night to celebrate my birthday and everything was amazing! We had the degustation menu, what a great thing to not knowing in advance what we will eat as it is on saturdays at Sépia.

We had the matching wines too. The sommelier is a very skilled and passionate person, for being in the catering industry myself and having a strong passion for wines too I could really appreciate all the knowledges he presented us about every single glass of wine we had by travelling around the world with different tastes, grapes and characteristics!

Concerning the food, it has been a really surprising, amazing and delightful experience! Great combinations of colours, products, tastes, temperatures, textures, feelings and discoveries too. From the "black scallops" to the "Black Forest" at this stage we can't talk about food anymore, we are talking about art!

The service is great, friendly, lovely waiters making sure we are enjoying without being harassing and disturbing as it can be in some fine dining restaurant. Very appreciated the contact with the waitress (or chef de rang I would say, tall wearing glasses) and the sommelier.

Definitely recommended as a delightful experience for fine dining food and wine amateurs!

Mar 18, 2012 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Bit of a delayed review, but felt it is important to note recommendation on restaurants such as Sepia. My girlfriend and I dined at Sepia last July and opted for the degustation menu.

On arrival we were made very welcome and seated promptly. Once seated we were given enough time to select from the menu and greated by the Sommelier.

Everything about the food at Sepia was immaculate. From the presentation of each dish, to the immense flavours. The signature summer Chocolate forrest, sure lives up to its hype!

The only downside was that by the time we had finished dessert, I realised we had been at the restaurant for 3 hours. Not so much an issue as we had a great time, but some may get impatient when extremely hungry.

Mar 12, 2012 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  10      Value  5     

My gf and I went for the degustation menu. The courses were mostly perfect except for the eel which was over powering and salty the same went for the angus beef (pretty ordinary) and very salty. The wine was quite nice but the music was extremely annoying they had the worst jazz music playing. For the price that I paid I was not impressed!

Feb 26, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  9     

We had the degustation menu and each dish was not only visually pleasing but a great taste sensation. Gave a chance to try items that we may have not chosen from the a la carte menu. The venison was such a surprise the subtle cocoa base with rhubarb cream a perfect match.

For me the standout has to be the forrest dessert. Small minus was the noise level, again it was hard to hear waiters, and even each other.

Feb 23, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

This is without question the most satisfying dining experience I have experienced. We opted for the degustation menu with matching wines, and settled in for a three and a half hour of surprise, education and delight.

With each plate the friendly staff took the time to explain the origin of each wine and the make up of each different course. Table service was attentive and efficient, making us feel very much at ease in what is a warm and stylish atmosphere. There was an issue with the lights whilst we were there (electrical fault) but the staff's attentiveness did not allow this to detract from our enjoyment.

Each course was a gem to the eye, and each brought a multilayered range of flavour and textures, which were perfectly matched by the selection of wines.
What a treat! Looking forward to returning.

Feb 19, 2012 

1 Not Recommended

Service  1     

I made a reservation online for Saturday 4th of February late last year. In January, I wanted to move it to Saturday 11th February however I noticed that Sepia was booked out via the online reservations system. I called Sepia to make an enquiry however no one answered so I left a voice mail message explaining my intentions & that if it was not possible, I'd be happy to leave it as is.

I received a call the next day that I missed so I returned their call and left another voicemail message.

On Friday 3rd February I received a confirmation email for my dinner the next day.

We were still trying to find parking at 7:30, the time of our reservation, so I called to advise that we would be late. The manager could not find our reservation and eventually found us booked for the following Saturday with a note saying that she had spoken to me to move it. I had never spoken to anyone from Sepia & she insisted that her trusty note was correct. She accused me of lying because her note was the most reliable source.

Why would I lie about a dinner reservation at such a busy restaurant? It was my partner's birthday and I planned this two months in advance because I am well aware of the demand for seats on a Saturday night at Sepia.

All I insisted was that there must've been some sort of a mix up. Immediately the finger was pointed at me. I expect a higher standard of people skills.

Feb 10, 2012