Sepia

Sepia is the pinnacle of Sydney fine dining scene. It has received numerous awards such as Three Chefs Hats by Good Food Guide, Sydney Restaurant of the year 2015 by Gault & Millau Australia, Best Fine Dining Restaurant 2015 by Time Out Food Awards and many more. Martin Benne the owner and Head Chef of Sepia began his career in London learning French gastronomy under Michel Lorrain later on he also worked under the famous Marco Pierre White. Finally relocating to Australia in 1996, he learn the fundamentals of Japanese cuisine from Chef Tetsuya Wakuda. Sepia was opened in 2009 and progressing quickly become one of the outstanding fine dining restaurant in Australia.
it was a 4 hour dining experience and we left with a completely full tummy. Sepia takes my tastebuds ona rollercoaster of deliciousness and It’s certainly a degustation experience I would love to repeat in the future.

Wow, wow, wow… World-​class food. Heavy Japanese influence, incredible technical intricacy, and heavenly flavor profiles. I take back what I said about the San Pellegrino list and Michelin. Looks like Quay was truly the aberration in Sydney, because Jonah’s, Nomad, and now Sepia all knocked it out of the park. Sepia just took it to another level. We had the 9-​course degustation. The spanner crab course was unbelievable. Such a perfect mix of flavors, textures and temperatures. As technically perfect as anything I’ve experienced. The wagyu, the scallops, the uni, the pre-​dessert, the summer chocolate forest, the stones… everything! On par with some of the best meals I’ve had. Sepia rightly belongs on any list with Per Se, Le Bernardin, Bouley, Alinea, and all the wonderful Barcelona restaurants I’ve been to. My party needed to be rolled out of the restaurant. Groaning and rubbing our tummies in happiness. Nom nom nom! Foodie approved! Will post beautiful pictures later.

This was delicious. I had the tasting menu here and the stand out dish was the sashimi prosciutto donut thing. As a starter though we had oysters — these were the creamiest, best oysters I’ve had in Sydney. You won’t regret finishing on the cheese plate!

Since I couldn’t get the reservation at Quay, I decided to go to Sepia, strongly recommended by hotel concierge. 9 course degustation. Overall nothing bad but nothing stands out. Charcoal grilled black lip abalone was great, Spanner crab, sake vinegar jelly was interesting, duck breast was perfectly cooked but wagyu beef had too much fat. Blackberries with buttermilk sherbet kin ome was refreshing. Great service and timing was reasonable.

I had the unusual pleasure of dining at Sepia and Momofuku on back to back nights. Two of Sydney’s most outstanding restaurants with similar culinary styles — a blend of Australia, Asia, and top European cuisines. Each of them had degustation menus with about 10 courses. Each dish was small, but beautifully conceived and executed. So surprising, so different, so delicious! And blind — in that the menus were not shared ahead of time and there was no choices. Each dish was presented impeccably and described to us by the wait staff. Perfect service at each. For example, at Sepia, I stood up and was immediately guided to the men’s room, handed off from server to server to ensure I didn’t get lost (it was a bit outside the restaurant). Wow!
While each restaurant has extensive wine lists, we went for the wine pairings at both places. A bit lazy on my part I suppose, but I trusted the sommelier to find just the right wines (or other alchohols) to match the dishes.
One big difference between the restaurants: Momofuku is an open kitchen while Sepia is a traditional environment. We sat at the bar and watched it all happening in front of us. The team work of the chefs was masterful — so much to be learned by anyone who works in a team environment. I’m sure Sepia is similar — but it’s all behind the closed doors of the kitchen.
Overall, I liked the food at Sepia slightly better. But the wine pairings at Sepia didn’t work very well. On the other hand, it was masterfully done at Momofuku, even though not all the wines were wines. We had beer, sake, even a couple of spirit concoctions. But they all worked beautifully. Interestingly, I use Vinino as a guide to wine selection and I scanned every wine we were served. In almost every case, the wines in the pairings were less than $ 20/​bottle retail (call it $ 40 in a restaurant). Given the high cost of the pairings I couldn’t help but feel a bit gyped– but at least at Momofuku the wines worked. Not so at Sepia.

Wow, wow, wow, was totally blown away on my birthday with this choice of dining. Entered into dining room which was a very cool dimly lit New York style dining. Was first greeted warmly at the door and then offers the oyster with a divine citrus vinaigrette.
We opted for the four course option and every course I felt I was taken on an amazing journey of flavour, texture, smell, and cutting edge cuisine that I have just never seen before or heard of. Wait staff were impeccable with attentiveness and and were well knowledgeable on all question I had on all the food and concerned with sepia. I could tell a lot of effort and care has been taken to take this restaurant to what has to be one of the best meals I have ever had!

We were recommended to this restaurant by a friend who have been here on vacation like us. We had our hotel, Four Seasons book the reservation which was very helpful. If you’re here on vacation, I suggest have your hotel concierge book this restaurant in advance. We’re from Los Angeles and we have some amazing restaurants. We have high expectations when it comes to fine dining experience. Sepia staff were very attentive and great service. We went for the 10 course which we loved every dish. My two favorite was the salmon & the wagyu dish. I’m normally not a huge fan of the duck but their duck dish was very well prepared to where I did not taste the usual strong taste in duck. If you want to experience an amazing fine dining, Sepia is the place to try out!

Sepia seems to be the quiet achiever of Sydney’s fine-​dining scene. After making it in the World’s Top 100 Restaurants list, with the Quay as it’s only Sydney contender, I had to give this place a go.
Firstly, I would recommend doing the 9-​course degustation over the 5. Yes, I am an all or nothing type of person, but there were dishes in the 9 that truly impressed me, I do not think I would have had the same experience with the shortened version.
Out of all the interesting dishes we had, the Bonito Fried potato (perhaps the most basic dish) was my favorite. The bonito’s soft quality combined with the potato crisp, along with a hint of the caviar and quail egg, made the perfect blend of texture and flavor. Next on my list were the two red-​meat dishes, the duck and wagyu were cooked to perfection and definitely gave the meal the body that it needed.
Every other dish incorporated an interesting fusion of European and Japanese flavors, all presented beautifully whether with edible florals or perfectly cured caviar. However, when it comes to food (and this all comes down to preference), I am a lot more simple than I’d like to admit. You can tell Chef Martin Benn and George Costi are adventurous and experimental food enthusiasts, and although I can appreciate their talent, a few dishes left me genuinely confused.
One worth mentioning is the Comte — Shaped in a gorgeous pear, this dish had comte cheese shavings, jellies, walnuts, and celery — It was bitter, sweet, salty, and cheesy at the same time. I think it just proved «too interesting» for me. To be fair, the waiter mentioned that there were strictly two sides when it came to this dish, the ones who love it or hate it, no one in between … Yeah, I hated it.
Dessert was also on the «interesting» side (for want of a better word), the Milks dessert had a very disruptive ‘sticky’ quality, while the Winter Forest did not taste as good as it looked (note: it looked amazing though).
Overall, it was a wonderful evening and I would still go back again. I want to emphasise that enjoyment is not based on whether you like or dislike what you eat here, none of the dishes I disliked took away from the experience. You don’t walk into these places expecting perfectly paired flavors and familiar concepts, you’re paying for a different kind of meal.
So, well done Sepia, you deserve your cozy spot in World’s Top 100.

Amazing food, immaculate service. I now understand why this restaurant is one of the best in Australia.

Really enjoyed it. Don’t get confused with Sepia in Chicago.
Ambiance: we sat in bar area since we didn’t make very advanced reservations, but it was formal, but fun.
Food and Wine (⁹⁄₁₀): we had the tasting menu with wine parings. Sea urchin, waygu and black cod are worthy of mention. Desserts interesting too.
Service (¹⁰⁄₁₀): we couldn’t leave a speck of bread on the table if we tried. Waitress and som/​Ben were very nice and knowledgeable.

This place is over priced to me. The chairs and tables look & feel cheap. The service was OK but not remotely excellent. You can order plate by plate and don’t need to follow their menu (prix fixe or say 7 courses at a time).
Salmon was thinly sliced and then served as a roll. Taste was not special but does require some technique. Chocolate and ice cream was ok. The one that really surprised me (in a bad way) was the crawfish or whatever bug they call it. It had a very strong ammonia odor and almost inedible, something you’d never expect in a restaurant like this.

The degustation ($ 190pp) on Friday and Saturday nights are different than their usual weeknight degustation, and they change each week. The food totally lived up to its reputation and our expectation. The dishes were all elegantly plated and swiftly served. There’s no wonder the Sydney Good Food Guide has awarded Sepia with the prestigious Three Chef Hats honour many years in a row.

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.

Very original tasting menu, though a bit over the top in terms of quantity! Enjoyed meeting the chef.

I think this place was the best restaurant ive been to in sydney. I think they are much much much better than quay or flying fish or anywhere else.
The degustation menu takes a long time… but each course was delicuous. I loved everything!

Good food, excellent service, but the deconstructed black forest cake was a bridge too far for desert.

We were recommended Sepia from a foodie friend who’s been waiting for the opportunity to get to Sydney and check it out. We booked months ahead and couldn’t wait to see what the hype was all about.
The dining room is lovely and has a great atmosphere. Saturday night is degustation only which is always our preference.
Each dish was devine with exciting flavors and looks to kill. We found that some of the dishes were slightly too big given the rich flavors. Many however were unable to be faulted.
We opted for the matching wines. The sommeliers were excellent in their knowledge as were the wines in their flavors however we thought that a couple of the matchings weren’t 100%. Definitely recommend a visit.

Sepia really is the perfect fine dining package in Sydney. Whilst many have grand harbour views, or vaulted ceilings, Sepia is like a smart kid in cool no one really takes notice of, until you speak with him and start talking about Star Wars.
Prepare to be dazzled when you hop aboard the degustation train which showcases kitchen’s uncanny creativity, yet nods to Japanese tradition with surprising clarity. Every dish is so visually stunning and so balanced in flavour and texture that you feel a tinge of regret at your last mouthful. First world problems, I know.
Our adventure sampled from the likes of japanese egg custard and spanner crab, to rolled wagyu and a chocolate forest floor. Yep you heard right, the chefs made it edible. I’ve never been wow’d by a cooked fish dish, glad Sepia made it possible — I’m now a believer. In fact, seafood really does shines here: you little fishies have died for a fine cause I must say.
Of course this is a special occasion place but the Saturday menu changes frequently, you could eat here every week and not get bored (take me!). Service was consistently impeccable and they all have a sense of pride in the dishes they’re serving — I like that you feel proud about spherical moulds of butter, I would too.
I’ve tried all the other 3 hatters, and this one really does have the best food. That’s the thing I about this place, it keeps challenging itself to become more and more awesome, without the need for a celebrity chef, million dollar views and resting on its laurels. Gotta appreciate that sometimes.

Ah and we had such high hopes. Restaurant of the year, bookings as rare as rocking horse droppings and a beautiful location.
This spot has been on The List for ages, and when I saw it was in Gourmet Traveler as one of the top 3, and the only one I hadn’t tried, away we went. As it turns out weeknights are not too difficult, so a Wednesday night saw us rock up all-​aquiver in anticipation.
The décor is beautiful, although a trifle dark, and the staff moderately attentive.
The menu — well, I hadn’t expected the very strong Japanese influence, but I’m ok with that. It reads like a story book, and since it is a school night we decide not to go degustation but a la carte.
No entrée for her, for me yellow fin sashimi, followed by pork belly for me and venison (rare) for her.
Our amuse Bouche was stunning, tiny morsels of slightly seared sashimi, with a beautiful house made bread roll and whipped butter.
My tuna was interesting, a range of textures an flavors, with a poached quail egg a highlight, but to be honest not especially stunning for thirty six bucks. I have bought and served higher quality tuna at home, IMHO.
The mains, well, the mains.
Mine came buried in a bed of foam, sprinkled in puffed rice and assorted crunchy bits. The venison, beautifully presented medallions with an artful arrangement of root vegetables on end, looked lovely, with a chocolate sauce of some kind. Regrettably the venison was barely warm, the vegetables cold, and my pork belly room temperature at best.
Although the pork was interesting, the foam proving to be white miso hiding tiny daikon radishes and other micro veges, I have to say it was underwhelming and bland. Best part was the romanesco side, a broccoli/​cauliflower cross I have never had before. And it was barely warm.
The venison was beautifully prepared if just warm, but the chocolate and currant sauce with noir crumbs or whatever was a hodgepodge of flavors, too sweet by far, and the vegetables were actually cold enough that we asked if it was supposed to be sered cold as a salad.
The staff were in a tizz over this and in due course an apology was made, and subsequently we somehow ended up with about 4 or 5 deserts. We had a pre– desert desert of some kind of appley thing that we both found a bit sharp, then some frozen strawberries shaped things filled with lovely creamy ice cream, then some of their famed Rocks, looking like river stones but filled with lovely flavors, and finally the actual desert of Spring Chocolate Forest, which was also delightful. Followed by petit fours, and an espresso.
While we we appreciative of the effort to right the wrong, really just would rather it had been right. Although I have a sweet tooth burying us in free deserts didn’t really do it for me, I’m afraid.
In summary, I would not voluntarily return as I expect more of Restaurant of The Year, and it has served to reconfirm my opinion that many of our so-​called high end restaurants are just a chef’s narcissistic folly followed by a dutiful tribe of doting acolytes who really are overly impressed with their own abilities to decide what is Fine Dining and what is not.
Heads up for them, it is us, the clientele, who decide, and impressive while the menu may be delicious and tasty it was not.

I was really surprised by this restaurant because its understated, doesn’t boast a harbour view or anything flamboyant like that, but the food is unbelievable. Its currently the SMH Good Food Guide Awards 2012 Restaurant of the Year and earned its first 3 hats rating. Well deserved, as my last experience there was fault-​less.
I came here for my friend’s birthday and I had the charcoal roasted pasture fed Angus beef tenderloin marinated in Hatcho miso with a shiitake mushroom custard, nameko, barley miso. The beef melted in my mouth and the miso flavours complemented it perfectly. For dessert you can’t go past the «Spring Chocolate Forest», but I might try the other desserts next time as they looked amazing too!
The restaurant set-​up is very elegant, adding to a quiet atmosphere but not stifling. One of my favourite fine dining restaurants and a must-​try.