Review: Crown Street Assembly - (now Bishop Sessa)

527 Crown Street
Surry Hills

8065 7223

Lunch & Dinner
7 Days

So, it is a quiet Wednesday evening and Buggles and I are in the mood for a bit of a cheeky mid weeker.

Unable to decide on a location we aim the Mazda in the general direction of Surry Hills & decide to take it from there.

Not far up from the Cleveland Street end of Crown, we spot Crown Street Assembly and decide to give it a try.

The room is not large, but on this quiet Wednesday evening they have plenty of room for us.

We score a table by the window and peruse the extensive menu. It is a menu that seems to want to offer a variety of world flavours though - so it is hard to define the style of food they are going for. Despite that, it is a delicious sounding menu. 

Wine ordered, we settle in and await our starters.

First to arrive is the Quail and Ginger steamed buns with hoi sin sauce. These are fantastic, the quail is juicy and tender, the ginger is not overpowering but adds a subtle heat - the bun is pretty good, if just that little bit doughy. We would certainly order this again.

The Proper Corned Beef with house mustard - is also pretty good if a little too fatty (which is a very rare complaint of ours!) - the house mustard isn't what we expect, if more like a fruit jam than a traditional hot mustard.

Buggles' Crispy Skin Aylesbury Duck breast, spiced duck pie, glazed eggplant, dukkah and port sauce is on the whole quite successful. The skin isn't very crispy, though the meat is cooked really well. The highlight for Buggles is the spiced duck pie which is like a sausage roll filled with deliciously flavoured, shredded duck meat. 

My Bavette is a bit of a disappointment. It arrives sliced and is quite overcooked and dry with the texture of roast beef that has been sitting in a bain marie for too long. The flavour is ok - but not sure I would order this again.

The accompanying hand cut chips are also on the wrong side of 'crispy'. 

Our side of broccoli, breadcrumbs and egg is quite tasty.

Feeling pretty full at the stage, we unusually decide to share dessert. 

The Pain Perdu with candied popcorn ice cream & caramelised banana is good but not exceptional. The 'bready' bit is a tad dry, but the caramelised banana is very good. The ice cream while not big on popcorn flavour, is quite lush and creamy.

Crown Street Assembly still seems to be finding its feet. While there were a few elements of our meal that were a bit of a let down, on the whole we quite enjoyed our visit.
Service is very friendly and accommodating & we most certainly will try this place again.

Squeak