Stinking Bishops, Newtown, Sydney, Australia

This was their special 1-year anniversary degustation menu

Amuse Bouche 
A lovely little cup of a smoked fish soup, with apple. It was very savory, and just the thing to kick of a cold and wet evening.

Autumn Vegetables
Vegetable medley, consisting of golden beetroot, artichoke and radish, atop a delicious puree (no idea what it was, but it might be parsnip). Nicely done, but the crispy flakes of garlic were completely out of tune with the dish, and did not add to the flavor. If they wanted to add a crispy texture, toasted flaked almonds would have been the thing.

Confit Ocean Trout, Black Olive Crumb, Marinated Goats Feta 
Nicely done on all counts, even the black olive crumb -- I do not like olives. The only problem was that together, they were too salty.

Rabbit Cigar, Seared Scallop, Scotch Quail Egg, Dutch Carrot, Pea
I am sad to say that they did not serve an individual, perfect pea with this dish. It came with a vibrant but grainy pea puree instead.
The rabbit cigar was minced rabbit piped diagonally along a spring roll wrapper, and deep fried. It was like Australian lor bak, but overly gamy. Very disappointing, as was the scotch quail egg.
The highlight of the dish were the Dutch carrots. They came dusted in cocoa, which is a surprisingly terrific pairing.
Overall, this was not a great dish. The individual components were not great, and I cannot see how they were meant to go together.

Cheese
They served a Comte and a soft, sheep and cow's milk cheese. As usual for the Stinking Bishops, the cheeses were delicious and served at the perfect temperature.

Hot X Bun Ice Cream Sandwich 
Essentially what it says on the title: they split a hot cross bun, stuffed some cinnamon ice cream, blood orange jam and a half Cadbury creme egg in there.
And terrible. Seriously terrible.
The hot cross bun on its own was not bad. But the combination just did not work. The jam overpowered the ice cream -- you could not taste the cinnamon, just something cold and creamy -- and why on earth was there a Cadbury creme egg in there?

Overall
Very disappointing. I adore the Stinking Bishops, and maybe my expectations were too high. Matthias and I often go there in the mid-afternoon on the weekend and he likes to try whatever hot plates they have, and we have always loved the food.
If you go, stick to the cheeses (tell them what you like and let them steer you), the charcuterie (they do an awesome smoked Wagyu beef, amongst other things), and the regular menu.

Ume Restaurant, Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

We had the 5 course tasting menu + scallops.

Yuzu Shochu Cocktail 
Pretty good and straightforward cocktail. The yuzu flavor shone.

Sashimi Course 
Really beautiful. Set the high bar for the night.
A few slices of sashimi (I want to say that it was hirame, but I can't remember for certain) with sesame and lightly seasoned with yuzu shoyu.

Shiki no Salad 
Roasted carrots with brussel sprouts.
Not very special, and the brussel sprouts were a little burnt for my taste.

Seared Hokkaido Scallop
The scallops were perfectly cooked, but they overdid the butter, so you could not taste as much of the natural scallop sweetness.
They were dressed with butter and finger limes.

MisoYaki Gindara
Perfectly cooked. One of the highlights of the meal.
They coated the skin with some rice crispies, which was novel and added to the dish. Cod dishes are usually just full of soft, and the rice crispies made for a great textural contrast.

Riverina Lamb 
If not for the menu, I would have thought that it was very tender beef -- I do not usually eat lamb.
For a meat dish, this was on the sweeter side for me, but otherwise decent.

Dashi Rice 
They asked if we wanted rice with the lamb. This was easily the worst dish they served. The grains of rice were furry, and almost gluey in the mouth.
According to the receipt, they used Akitakomachi rice and it was such a terrible waste.

Peach with Smoked Tea Ice Cream 
The ice cream was excellent, and the rest of dessert detracted from it. The dessert included honey poached peaches and freeze-dried raspberries. The flavor of the smoked tea cut through the sweetness perfectly.

Overall: 
I would go back, but I would stick to the sashimi offerings next time. The savory dishes were on the sweeter side for my taste.