Opening in 2009, Sepia is no newcomer to the fine dining world and its growing list of awards, including Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year for 2012, 2014 and 2015, position it as one of the pinnacles of fine dining in Sydney. Oddly, there appears to be a distinct shortage of reviews and publicity, almost giving the feel of the quiet contender.
Located unassumingly at the base of an office tower in a quiet block on Sussex Street, Sepia’s front doors open onto the centrepiece bar with dining areas either side. The dimmed lighting, contrasting two-tone dark wooden interior design and mosaic floor introduce the feel of an elegant wine bar. It is not immediately apparent that behind the walls is a well awarded kitchen.
Known for being booked out a few weeks in advance, I was lucky enough to get a walk-in table on Valentine’s Day night. Sepia offers degustation menu only on Friday and Saturday night and the choice of a four course or a different degustation menu on Tuesday to Thursday nights and Friday and Saturday lunch. Valentine’s Day night also had a degustation only menu which was not displayed prior to eating, leaving the dining experience to be a surprise. There is also the option of matched wines, however I opted for a wine per every 3 or so dishes.
The first dish was a trio of salmon – belly, loin and roe – and some oysters. The trio was certainly an interesting touch, highlighting some of the less travelled parts of salmon. Served in a creamy sauce of sudachi and silken tofu, the roe provided a light and refreshing start to the dinner.
Following what appears to be a trend amongst degustation menus in Sydney, the next few courses were also seafood based. Next up was yellowfin tuna sashimi topped with caviar and white linaria. In a welcomed creative twist, the sashimi was served in the form of a long roll and filled with a creamy citrus and soy sauce. Acknowledgements to whoever thought of this concept.
Taking a break from the seafood was a dish of pine mushroom, fried potato, egg yolk, horseradish leaf and roasted chicken powder. A nice creamy and flavoursome dish but, to be honest, I didn’t really understand it.
The return to seafood was marked with a dish of grilled kingfish with yukari and beetroot coating on top of toasted buckwheat cream, sobacha, cucumber and dill. A tasty flavour combination of the tender but firm kingfish and buckwheat cream with the contrasting flavours of the cucumber and dill.
This was followed by the final seafood dish of king crab, perched on top of dashimaki tamago – a Japanese rolled omelette – and dressed with sweet corn, sushi rice, kabosu, blood plum and hijiki – Japanese land seaweed. Probably my favourite dish of the evening, the well thought flavour combination of the crab, egg and blood plum was stunning.
The savoury dishes were concluded with charcoal grilled Rangers Valley wagyu with chestnut mushrooms, miso mustard, samphire, wasabi and what I’m describing as a salted caramel shard. A nice rich flavour combination with the miso mustard provided a subtle nudge.
Next was a cheese course before dessert. This was certainly no ordinary cheese course. Perched on a bed of shaved comté cheese was a pear, or so it looked. The pear was in fact a frozen shell that housed a liquid surprise of sweet goats yoghurt. A well thought, creative dish.
The first of three desserts was Japanese shaved ice with daidai (bitter orange) curd and lemon aspen with an alpine strawberry and champagne syrup. An interesting, fruity flavour combination with the large chunk of shaved ice spectacularly collapsing when the syrup was poured over it at the table.
This was followed by what was presumably a Valentine’s Day special of cherry lips shaped out of caramel custard and chocolate mousse.
The final dessert dish of the evening was the popular deconstructed black forest cake. This was an eclectic mix of chocolate twigs, berries, fennel fronds and cherry sorbet presented on the plate to give the impression of what one could find on a forest floor.
After a rest and enjoyment of a gorgeous madeira, some petit fours were brought out. These were a collection of Japanese stones – thin walled chocolate shaped into stones and filled with syrups of summer berry, salted white chocolate and passionfruit. A great conclusion to an outstanding dining experience.
Service throughout the dinner was impeccable with the wait staff knowledgeable of every component of each dish. The sommelier was spot on with his tailored matches, and rightfully so, Rodney Setter was awarded Sommelier of the Year in 2013.
Sepia delivered on an outstanding dining experience in an intimate and welcoming venue and proved its deserving array of awards. It is a surprise there are not more reviews and it is hoped this one encourages more visits.