Drawing its name from a province in Japan, this Japanese Izakaya is set in a two story corner building in the heart of Surry Hills. With food by former Cho Cho San and Nobu chefs, you can understand why the food is so good. It’s a menu that’s designed to share, and you can do a banquet if you’d prefer to not make the decisions.
Snacks, raw plates, small plates and larger plates are the way their menu is organised, and which ever you pick from, you can make a selection that suits your dining party. We were keen on a few things that didn’t feature on the banquet menu, so we ordered a few plates to share amongst the three of us. We probably had one more than we needed, but it was so good that we did finish it off.
The brioche rolls come out, fresh from the oven, served with a nori butter. They are nice, fluffy and buttery, not much different than I expect from a brioche.
The hiramasa kingfish crudo was an impressive start to the selection from the smaller dishes. This is a meal that is often featured on Japanese menus and so we’ve had our fair share. But this takes the cake, it’s a standout. The well cured slices of fish are dressed with white soy yuzu, ginger and rice vinegar and are topped with sliced golden zucchini. A beautifully seasoned fish that we would definately return for.
Another favourite of ours when we dine out is a miso cod and the Murray Cod here is another example of one of the best we’ve had. Melt in your mouth, the buttery fish was divine, lightly charred outside and sitting in a creamy sauce with small bits of asparagus.
A big portion of their mushroom noodles came out, and it was delicious, seasoned with black pepper, miso and topped with a runny yolk to mix through.
The Wagyu was next, served sliced, it had a nice char and smokiness to it, yet it was also moist – medium cooked and the and sauce is just perfection, a thick caramel oomite type flavour. It also had a little mound of pickled onion to go with it. To balance this, the light and refreshing crunchy and shredded cabbage and ginger salad was ideal.
For drinks, there’s a short cocktail list as well as – sake they are very good, an extensive wine list and a couple of Japanese beers . We really like our cocktails; their take on a chilli margarita and highballs.
It’s a full house and when we booked it was only outside dining, but even on a cold night, it was manageable with some little above head heaters. The wait staff were excellent and food was served in an efficient manner. We do recommend making it a priority to visit here soon.
413-415 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW