Epocha has been on my list for a while and I’ve been trying to have dinner there twice already, each time we had to cancel because someone was always too sick to go. So, third time lucky I say. The exterior of Epocha is beautiful and I was in awe when I stood in front of it.
We stepped inside and found that it was super duper dark. I was struggling to read the menu which meant it was quite dark.
Since Miss Train was here with me, we decided to get the chicken liver pate with brioche bread whilst waiting for Miss Pandan. The chicken liver pate was great, very smooth and creamy. The brioche bread as lovely, so soft on the inside and a tad crispy on the outside.
Chicken Liver Pate with Brioche Bread – $12
Home made bread and butter were placed in front of it and I wasn’t a huge fan of it. I found the bread to have a strange aftertaste and wasn’t fluffly (I love my bread fluffy!) which was a shame. The butter, it was a tad on the saltier side.
First small dish to share was the duck croquette. I couldn’t really taste the duck in the croquette which was a shame because I’m such a big fan of duck.
Duck Croquette with Apple – $18
Another small dish we got was the quail and it was absolutely delish! The quail was so tender and so moist and the apple on top, gave it a crisp freshness.
Quail
The seared Albacore Tuna was AMAZEBALL! Very fresh and full of flavour, a tad citrus-y as well. Lovely dish.
Seared Albacore Tuna – $19
Miss Pandan LOVES her steak so we got the sirloin to share. It came out beautiful and was cooked medium rare. However, we did find a little bug halfway through the dish which was very disappointing and weren’t able to finish it. The staff took the dish away, removed the bug and returned the dish. We found it quite strange that the staff returned the dish.
600g O’Connor’s Sirloin with Bone Marrow, Roast Shallots and Mustards – $78
We also got the gnocchi to share instead of sides and they were quite lovely. It was fluffy and full of flavour. Lucky we had the sirloin or else this will be way too much for us.
Pan Fried Gnocchi, Mushrooms, Sage, Pumpkin – $27
We waited for the dessert and cheese cart to be wheeled out but realised after 20 long minutes, they brought out 3 out of the 5 desserts on a tray which was a shame. The first dessert we picked was the creme caramel and I found it to be quite hard and not as jiggly and didn’t really like the flavour of it.
Creme Caramel – $12
The second dessert we got was the honey panna cotta with fig and this was AMAZEBALL! The honey flavour was amazing but I found the panna cotta itself to be way too squishy and soft and had a more yoghurt-y texture.
Honey Panna Cotta – $12
Finally, the peanut butter parfait which the staff recommended. Sure it was peanut butter-y but the parfait itself was super duper hard and we didn’t really enjoy this dessert which was a shame.
Peanut Butter Parfait – $12
The staff were super friendly but the service itself was really slow, we did get a complimentary dessert due to the bug incident on top of the 25% discount from the Entertainment book. The food itself? Well, I adored the tuna, chicken liver pate, panna cotta and gnocchi but all the other dishes were quite average or didn’t tickle our fancy which was a shame since we’ve heard so many good things about Epocha. I think adding more lighting to Epocha would also help as well. I might check out other eateries before heading back here.
The girlies and I received 25% off the bill with the Entertainment Book at Epocha. If you are interested in purchasing the Entertainment Book for loads (and I mean LOADS) of awesome sauce foodie discounts and 20% of memberships sold will go to Sane Australia, just click here.
49 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, VIC 3053
Tel: (03) 9036 4949
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