Sephardim — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

We went for Mothers Day Dinner. Food (set meal) I would only describe as average with only a hint of middle eastern spice in most of the dishes.To qualify this, I have actually worked in the middle east (Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq) for over 2 years where I had, and enjoyed the local foods daily. Personally, I thought the food in general came across as an Australian interpretation of what Middle Eastern food should be and lacked any sincere authenticity The Lamb / mutton pieces in the main, whilst flavoursome, were more than 50% fat which I actually didn't mind but everyone else did mind.. Portion sizes were quite small for a meal for 5 people and considering 2 had eaten earlier and one wasn't hungry it was barely enough. A number of the set menu options had run out, a bit odd considering we were one of the earliest tables there? Perhaps they had a busy lunch service? Deserts were not great.I tried the Turkish delight (OK) a chocolate mouse thing (average) and the orange cake which was again average. One of our party order take away Baklava which arrived looking very dry and without syrup of any sort, looked a bit like some wheatbix mini's. Service was good although the first of the wait staff didn't seem to know what was available and what wasn't. two of the deserts got missed completely although they did offer replacements at no cost. Service was prompt and pleasant. Would we go again? Probably not, whilst at $40 per head for a set meal is not that expensive, I and collectively, we, didn't think t was value for money. Perhaps the "A La Carte" food is significantly different, what I'd give for an authentic...

Im giving 1 star because the beef cheek dish was lovely....unfortunately it stops there. We ordered drinks, an entree, 3 mains and 2 side dishes. The entree came out and was nice, but then the 2 side dishes of plain rice and the patatas bravas which in English is potato and tomato sauce came out. We waited and waited and the main dishes were no where to be seen,along with the staff. We literally sat there eating boiled rice and potato cubes with tomato sauce for dinner, and had been there for over an hour at this point. Once we finished that off, the staff came out of nowhere to clear the plates. We waited another 15 minutes before the main meals came out minus 1. When we finished, the staff came over to ask if we were done and we had to ask for our last main dish. It was clear they had forgotten to make it and we waited another 20 minutes for it. Once finished we decided to try dessert. Should have known it was not going to happen because the staff didnt bother getting our order. When we went up to pay, the lady asked how our meal was. I was polite but honest and said the meals didn't come out in the right order and we ate rice and potato on its own and the order for dessert was too long and we didnt end up ordering any..she said its a tapas menu and got defensive. I understand what tapas is, but the menu clearly says entree, mains and sides. I said to the lady that sides usually come out with the mains but then just said the meals were lovely and left it at that. We...

Have long raved about the food and was really excited to take my out of town visitors here on Saturday night. Food was as usual amazing and very much enjoyed by all. Staff are very pleasant and attentive as per usual. Service was maybe a bit slow but not unexpected for a busy Saturday night near Christmas and your waitstaff were very attentive in giving us updates. My only issue was the noise. Absolutely deafening and precluded any conversation other than with the person next to you - which does not make for a pleasant night out. Have found it noisy before but this was beyond annoying. We did not linger over coffee but went elsewhere for this at the end of the meal. Please please please Sephardim, consider consulting an acoustic engineer and putting in some soft furnishings, floor or wall coverings to mitigate the din. I'd imagine it could be easily and relatively inexpensively done. Love your food, love the service, love the vibe, but the noise is a real issue. Would hate to see one of my favourite resteraunts loose trade...