Rise, Darlinghurst
After hearing mixed reviews from many people about their experiences at Rise – some saying it was “SOOO GOOD and SOOO yummy!” however some saying “eh it was that great…” – so I just HAD to find out for myself what Rise was really like. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday nights, there is a 25% discount on their 7-course Okamase degustation, so we booked a table for 4 on a sunday night to take up such a great offer.
Located on the outskirts of Kings Cross, Rise is a nicely hidden japanese restaurant, taking on a “fushion” cuisine style. On arrival, the interior is very intimate, nicely lit with floating candles in cute little glasses. To my surprise, it was not very busy at all – maybe two-thirds full all night – which was actually quite nice because this kept the noise “pollution” to a low level.
There was a nice drinks variety, but after my trip to Japan, I have been taking every chance to drink plum wine (preferably with Soda) at every Japanese restaurant I go to. Very yummy and easy to drink, however, it can get you drunk relatively easily for this same reason…!
I had saved my appetite for this meal all day, indulging myself in my illustration assignment… so my tummy was grumbling for this highly anticipated degustation.
First on the menu was the Appetizer.
Tuna Tartare, guacamole and witlof salad
The tuna and guacamole was presented on a type of pastry biscuit. The pastry complement this dish very well as it allowed you to eat the tuna together with the guacamole. There was a dizzle of sesame oil and mild chilli flakes. This enhanced the flavour of the tuna very well. The texture of the tuna was a little stringy (but that’s what tuna is like in Australia).
Next, the Soup…
Potato cream soup with prawn tempura and agedashi tofu
The soup felt more like “sauce” to complement the tofu and prawn tempura due to its thickness and cream-iness. The prawn was nice and crunchy. It tasted very nice dipped in the soup! The agedashi tofu had a very sticky exterior and was quite average. I gave a good attempt at finishing the soup but there was quite a bit of it… AND it was only the second dish so I have to save some room for the remaining 5 courses…!
Today’s fresh sashimi
Ocean trout with sweet soy sauce, kingfish with vinaigrette and fresh oyster
The sashimi was a favourite for my fellow diners (minus the oyster as J gets quite sick eating oysters!). The kingfish was a highlight of this dish, mainly because of the vinnaigrette. It was a very nice match which turn non-kingfish eater into lovers of kingfish. The ocean trout was fresh and sweet so its simple soy dressing was a nice addition. There was a sauce covering the oyster, but even on my second oyster, I wasn’t able to work out what it was being there was only a very light flavour to it.
Seasonal Plate
Grilled eel rice paper rolls, ocean trout in chilli hoisin sauce in a wonton cup, steamed baby octopus with “ume” plum vinaigrette
The grilled eel rice paper roll was nice creative idea. I would have never thought to put eel into rice paper roll and it was surprisingly nice (maybe only for lovers of eel). For myself (as a non-meat eater), I was given ocean trout marinated in a mild chilli hoisin sauce. Usually, the wonton cup was filled with duck and bamboo shoots in a hoisin sauce. The steamed baby octopus was nicely served on a spoon which allowed the diner to eat in one go. The flavour was very light but the plum vinaigrette made the octopus a little more exciting!
Pasta dish
Steamed scallop, mung bean noodle and ginger shallot sauce
I personally found this course a little disappointing due to my dislike of fresh scallops (cooked and uncooked). This dish was served in a nice light soy sauce with a bit of black bean. I felt there was a very “chinese” feel to this dish as well.
Main course, served with rice
Braised pork belly wrapped with savoy cabbage, eggplant ragu and gochujang miso sauce – for the meat eaters
Although I didn’t personally taste this dish, I was informed the pork was nice and tender and had a nice flavour to it.
Pan fried ocean trout on potato ragu and gochujang miso sauce – for the “fake” vegetarians
The ocean trout was nicely fried and was quite juicy. The ragu-flavoured potato patty compliment the fish very well as it gave an additional flavour to the fish. The sauce was sweet and went well with the rest of the dish.
Finally, DESSERT.
Pannacotta with cumquat, blood orange and pink grapefruit granita
To be completely honest, I didn’t like the dessert at all. In fact, I didn’t and counldn’t even finish it! Although I personally don’t like orange rind nor cumquat, both these fruits completely overpowered the flavour of the dessert. I had to eat the granita to balance it out. Due to my dislike of the ingredients on top of the pannacotta, I thought I would try out the pannacotta by itself. The pannacotta was very average and a little watery for my liking.
Because, personally, I am quite critical of my food and dining experiences, I found many dishes lacking the “quality” of a great restaurant. I think it is because of this, that Rise has not been considered a top japanese restaurant (which is something I’ve always wondered about). Although many of the dishes had a nice flavour, I felt the creativity to the food was quite “cheap”. I found that the style of the cuisine at Rise was very similar to Wasavie (in Paddington), but Wasavie has a bit more creativity in enhancing the flavour of their dishes – this is something I admire from chefs… being creative in their creations. I would recommend people to this place as “not too bad for the price of a degustation” but there are many other japanese restaurants I would rate and recommend before this one.
Other eatshowandtell visits to Rise
- http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2007/11/30/rise-darlinghurst/
- http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2008/03/02/rise-darlinghurst-2/
Website: Rise
Address: 23 Craigend St, Darlinghurst, NSW
Ph:(02)9357 1755
Open… Tuesday to Sunday from 6pm.
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By teresa
Teresa lives in New York City. She's originally from Sydney, like the rest of the EST crew, but crossed the Pacific to explore the culinary delights of the United States. In a country known for artery-clogging, cholesterol-filled, join in on Teresa's culinary adventure!
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This article was written on 17 Sep 2008, and is filed under Japanese.
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heh i got told off for taking too many fotos of my food there…
I heard the chef at Wasavie used to work at Rise.
Suze : That’s not the first time I have heard that happening, maybe they are scared people will steal their ideas or something heh
V : Hmm interesting, these Sydney Jap chefs sure like to move around. The head chef of Ocean Room use to be from Rise I think.
Suze: that’s strange…! Did you use flash? I don’t use flash for any of my photos so half the time they don’t know we’re taking photos. Personally, I think it should be ok to take photos. After all, we are paying for the experience!
When we used our flash they asked us not to in case it bothered other diners. Normally the camera is ok even in low light but Rise is daaaark! We struggled with getting the photos.
True Lorraine… That’s actually another reason why I don’t use flash as I don’t want to bother others with a sudden *FLASH* out of nowhere…!
That’s the best we could do with our photos without flash!
Thanks for adding me on LJ hon
And ooo I love Rise too!
I didn’t use the flash for the first couple of dishes, but then it got too dark not to.
Tried to limit one photo per dish haha that was hard.
do you really think it is fair to critique dishes when you freely admit that you do not the main ingredients? This seems a little strange to me
R: I knew someone would say something like this. So you have a point there! I actually tasted the pannacotta by itself and I like pannacotta, so even if I didn’t like the ingredients on top, it shouldn’t affect the overall dessert taste. And another thing is, although I don’t like one or more of the ingredients, it doesn’t mean I will not like the whole thing. For example, those fruit buns have lots of orange rind in them and I think the buns are quite nice.
So I’m always open to try new things even if I don’t like some of the ingredients =) Hope that answers your question!