Bishop Sessa

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What more can I say. Went to book a table online and saw the above offer. Pretty sensational and will be taking this one up.

Sadly, Bishop Sessa wasn’t able to cater for a range of dietary requirements. We initially had booked for a degustation but were informed they couldn’t provide a vegetarian menu for us so we had to change our booking to a regular sitting. There’s only one vegetarian option on the menu, which hasn’t changed over the last couple of times I’ve been here (gnocchi for the main). The beef was supposed to be well done and came out rare in parts. We also had some attitude from some of the staff which rounded out a disappointing meal. All up it cost us $ 300 for three people for entrees, dinner and desert with a bottle of wine.
Positives — the food is presented like something off Masterchef and looks very special, plus they provide a surprise amuse-​bouche.
Bit of a mixed bag of an experience I’m afraid. Disappointed they weren’t able to adjust their menu or cook the food as requested. For a degustation, Oscillate Wildly in Newtown is a much better option.

The good: The 6-​course degustation menu with wine pairing was phenomenal for $ 129 per person! Filling but not overwhelming. Of particular note:
1. Miso-​glazed pork cheek was the perfect combination of melt-​in-​your-​mouth pork fat (much like a pork belly) with a nice thin layer of meat on the bottom. Wow.
2. Scallop ceviche wasn’t really ceviche, but fresh scallops and a mind-​blowing sorbet somehow packed a ton of flavour into a tiny appetizer.
3. The Yarra Valley Chardonnay managed to find that elusive middle ground between an ultra-​crisp Chardonnay with almost no body, and a French oak barrel full of butter, masquerading as wine.
4. The service was professional, attentive, and warm. Somewhere around closing time, after our group had surpassed that danger zone that was our 7:4 ratio of wine bottles to people (plus cocktails!), we insisted on another bottle, and they pretty much kept the place open to accommodate us. As opposed to throwing us out, which is probably what they should have done hours earlier.
The bad: My group was lucky enough to have a table downstairs, but as the bathroom was upstairs, I had a glimpse of the upstairs dining room, which was quite shabby looking. Sort of like a large hotel bar from the 1970s that was never updated. Just request a table downstairs.
The bottom line: Order the tasting menu with wine pairing, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

I had my 60^th birthday dinner here in a group of eight. It was my third visit. Being a Monday we had the 3 courses for $ 49 deal, and being a group we were restricted to 4 options for each course instead of the full menu. Not that that was a problem. The restaurant provided two amuse-​bouches as well, one at the start and one before dessert. The whole experience was stunning; my guests were gob-​smacked, especially considering the low price charged. This is very skilful and imaginative cooking with fabulous produce. Service was attentive but not intrusive. This really is a special place and I highly recommend it for a special occasion, though at these prices you’d be tempted to eat here every week.

This place is about $ 200 too expensive. Add the dribble of matching wines to your degustation to increase the price some more!
Ate 7 courses, nothing really to write home about. In fact I could have eaten them all again. Laughed at the price when the bill turned up. Why would you bother going here.

Went to the spectrum festival on 22^nd March and recognised the name and was curious to see how good it would be. I really wanted to try a sample of what your restaurant is all about .
I had big expectations of what I was expecting and boy was I disappointed :(. I ordered a pork salad. Basically all I got was a piece of pork with a big of green thrown on top of it with a dash of sauce. Initially I looked at it and questioned it but knowing the place I still hoped the taste was going to be spectacular .
The pork was undercooked and mostly very fatty. I barely picked at it. This was a bad dining experience because I’m used to the
restaurants at the food festivals giving a good showing of what there restaurants represent.

What an epic find! Service and atmosphere is fantastic but the real shine is the food! Very VERY strong attention to detail… Texture and flavor. Pure top chef quality folks. And… The best part? It’s NOT priced insanely high… The quality FAR outweighs the price. This is an over hundred dollar a meal place for 50 – 75 a night out. Wow!
Now… Whoever that is who left a one star review, after saying that the food, cocktails, AND service were awesome, but was too cheap to tip, needs to have his Unilocal license revoked. That attitude, and not tipping… It’s called being a dick. Sorry mate… You need to own that one!

excellent food and service loved the cocktails lost all
credibility when forced to tip at the end of a great meal make sure u check when paying as they sneak the tip on
here’s a tip we are not american u get a great wage in Australia we do not tip

The food was mediocre. The special Wagyu beef I ordered was anything but special. The service was good but we couldn’t help but notice that the place kind of needed to get over itself. I wouldn’t tell you to not go to Bishop Sessa but I think I would tell you that’s it’s all hype. I went to Bloodwood the night before and the food was better and it was a hell of a lot more fun. Keith below wants an example of a five star, how about Cutler & Co in Melbourne.

I just arrived in town and I am a fan already. I had just one word for the scallop ceviche but I had to keep repeating it – awesome. Not only does it present as a work of art but it is sublime art to taste. On par with the same delicate nature and also packed with delicious complexity is the carrot dessert (trust me). I should say, trust the chef. By no means a slacker, the duck delivered on several levels as well. The wine was also very good. My companion was equally delighted and totally agreed after getting a sample of my scallop ceviche. This place is to be revered and enjoyed for it’s casual comfort and stunning food.

Big thx to all you Unilocalers rating this place 5 star! Anyone who doesn’t think this is a 5star for the price and quality you better recommend something damn special. Ambience, staff friendliness, food quality and $$ … All there… Amazing joint… Definitely going back

This is a fabulous, down to earth establishment. Paul Cooper (of some fancy places in Melbourne) & Erez Gordon (of Bistro Bruno) are very interested in sustainable meat & fish, & in using all of the animal efficiently.
There is all sorts of fare available — from quail to local calamari, wagyu beef, duck, pork, brisket & sustainably caught seafood. The Charcuterie entrée is great to share. There’s something on it that was so ridiculously delicious, that we all went ga-​ga over it, and I remember calling it the «Nutella of Liver». So good!
This place does gave vego options (house made gnocci, etc) but you can see their emphasis is on meat.
Nothing is too over flavoured in sauce & the serving sizes are generous.
It’s a big space — an upstairs & a downstairs. I was there on a Thursday & it was quiet enough that my parents could still hear the conversation. The staff are gracious and professional.
Best of all — you can make reservations online, so you don’t have the stress of having to show up early or late in the hope for a table.

You know how Sydney’s on this dirty great mission to be more like Melbourne, what with the small bar revolution, laneway culture, yadda yadda? Well here are two dudes making that shit happen right at the Crown St coalface. Paul Cooper lives & breathes a nose-​to-​tail philosophy that results in a slew of inventive deliciousness, and Erez… well, it’s just impossible not to like the guy. He’s a rogueish raconteur with a gilded tongue and knack for a story. These chaps have moved their young families up from Melbourne and bring their south-​of-​the-​border culinary sensibilities with them, and it’s all class. Disclosure: I came here on a famil, and tried the following:
Roast Melanda Park pork, Hawkesbury River squid, pearl barley, sweet potato, peas & apple sauce ($ 33). The colours alone were epic, a synesthesic rainbow.
Herb crusted Milly Hill lamb rump, onion tarte fine, fetta, eggplant & red pepper sauce ($ 31). I’m a lamb bandit from way back and this was a peach, served with a fine skirt of succulent fat that melted like butter. And a surprise winner — the fetta/​eggplant creations, little packages of gold.
If you’re a red fan, don’t go past the Tibooburra Solitude Pinot Noir 2008 from the Yarra. It’s $ 16.5 a glass, but, guh! The colour of a rusty penny and damnably good.
The beef and bone marrow dumplings were also good. Rich, filling, best served with the sauce ladled over the top.
Special mention goes to their signature quail buns: think a classic steamed pork bun with delectable chunks of ginger-​spiced quail. Cue hyperbolic Pavlov’s dog-​style drooling. Will be back for these alone.

My go-​to place for lunch n dinner in Sydney town.
The outstanding Chef Paul Cooper (disclaimer — a mate of mine — but still — I’ve loved his food longer than I’ve known him — I met him through an outstanding Sacher Torte and have prettymuch stalked his cooking ever since). He’s a nose-​to-​tail chef and is really committed to sustainable seafood. So for me, it’s a real relief knowing that most seafood is certified sustainable, and when it’s not, real thought has gone into how it was caught. The meat (pork, lamb, beef) is sourced locally and mostly delivered whole or in sides, and it’s butchered on site.
Bishop Sessa is the kind of place where you can drop in for a quick quail bun fix and a beer, dinner, or a full on dego ($ 65 — absolute bargain and too much food for me — not that that stopped me eating it). There’s also a high risk that you’ll end up hanging around ’til closing time testing out the wine list and chatting to some seriously charming front of house.
Stand outs are the pretty pretty and delicious scallop ceviche, the absolutely divine quail buns (I crave them as soon as I step foot in Surry HIlls), the pork, and an incredible Mulloway and chorizo number.
I do always say this, but save space for dessert. If there is a Sacher on the special — eat it. If they let you, buy the whole thing. failing that, cheesecake fans rate the cheesecake, but my vote goes to the nougat icecream. Deeelicious.
There’s an upstairs dining room too if your group is too large for downstairs.