Jazushi, Surry Hills
Jazz music + Japanese food = Jazushi
Every year, I celebrate my birthday with a few good friends of mine. People who are born on the end of November, beginning of December are “horoscopically” (I think I just made this word up) known as Sagittarians, and with this fact, an annual Sagittarian party was born.
We needed to find a venue which could fit twenty loud 20 something year olds. A friend of mine suggested we give Jazushi a go and it didn’t dissapoint. The best way to describe Jazushi’s food is to label it modern Japanese, which seems to be a trend these days. It is a fusion of Japanese and Eurasion elements, much like what you can find at Rise. The main dining area consists of communal tables and dimly lit lights. It has a nice feel about it and feels like a place where you can unwind on a Friday night with a decent dinner and the sounds of a live jazz band.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear much of the jazz band. Since we had twenty people dining, they suggested we take the private room.
There is a big wooden communal table in the middle of the room. It was fantastic as it meant you could talk to everyone without having to turn your back or get out of your seat.
The seats were quite comfy thanks to the cute cushions.
Plum Wine - Umeshu ($35/bottle)
I thought $35 was a bit on the expensive side, but atleast the Sake Wine was nice. It tasted alot like a dessert wine and is quite refreshing served ice cold.
Kirin ($7.50)
The Kirin is crisp, refreshing and very light on the taste buds. I can imagine myself downing more than a few bottles of these on a lazy Friday night.
I’ve listed the individual prices of the dishes below, but we actually had this all in a set menu for $45 pp for twenty people. The value was on par, with about one dish per four people.
Green tea noodle salad ($13)
What a great appetiser, a simple green tea soba noodle mixed with fresh seasonal lettuce and soy onion dressing make this a light and refreshing starter. The thing that defines this dish from other soba noodles that I’ve had, is that soba noodles when eaten alone can be too filling, therefore limiting your opportunity to try other dishes. By mixing the soba noodles with the salad, you’re gauranteed some carbs to settle the stomach. The addition of julienned spring onion gives the dish a little bit of a kick.
Gyoza ($12)
We have here some pan-fried scallops, pork and vegetable ‘Gyoza’ dumpling with three dipping sauces. I’m not sure if they are worth $2 each, but to their credit the gyoza was delicately crispy on the outside and bursting with flavour on the inside. Unfortunately, I can’t for the life of me remember exactly what flavour the sauces were. Rest assured, they tasted good but I do vaguely remember preferring the first sauce the most.
Wagyu Beef Tatiki - Sliced seared beef in ponzu sauce ($23)
Thinly sliced wagyu beef marinated with ponzu sauce was garnished with julienned spring onion, a sprinkling of sesame seeds and some daikon on the side. As you can see the wagyu beef was drenched in sauce, ensuring it was sufficiently juicy. The beef was very tender, juicy and tasted quite nice with the soba noodle salad above. There was a small amount of marbling too, ensuring copious amounts of fatty goodness.
Camemburt Tempura ($16)
The tempura consists of camembert cheese fingers with teriyaki crème sauce. This dish should come with a health warning, “Caution: Not to be taken by people with a history of cariovascular complications, family history of cardiovascular problems or anyone currently on a stict dietary regulation”.
The name itself should heed warning for those cautious about their LDL and cholesterol levels. Being a fan of all things tempura (and fried stuff in general), the last thing I would expect is eating sticks of rich and creamy camembert cheese deep fried in a light batter. At first bite, I knew that I had contributed to any potential children, grandchilden, great grandchildren’s risk of stroke, but it was just too good to stop at one bite. If eating the deep fried cheese sticks on it’s own is not bad enough, imagine dipping it into a creamy dipping sauce. I could feel my arteries tensing, but I kept telling myself one more wouldn’t hurt.
I must admit Jazushi was quite cosiderate. To negate all the artery clogging cheese, tomato was also served (albeit only four of them). As expected, the cherry tomato’s were very juicy as bursts of tomato juice erupted on every bite.
Sushi set (Reg $24 , Lrg $37)
The Chef’s selection consists of seasonal assorted nigiri sushi and nori rolls. I love the simple combination of sushi, sashimi, pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. In declaring this, you would think that I’ve won the jackpot when the sushi and sashimi combination was served. The sushi and sashimi wasn’t outstanding, but it did it’s job. In terms of quality, it’s what you expect at bare minimum when going to a Japanese restaurant these days.
Kakuni Pork Belly ($19)
The pork belly is braised and marinated in soy dashi sauce and apparently left to marinate overnight. The pork was definately very soft, with the meat falling off easily with every bite. There was a substaintial amount of fat as well which some people may or may not like. For me, I couldn’t get enough of it. In saying that, the pork belly was probably my least favourite dish.
Crispy soft shell crab - Deep fried soft shell crab with miso tomato sauce ($23)
I look for juicyness and crispyness in soft shell crab and I didn’t have to do much looking with Jazushi’s rendition. The miso tomato sauce was definately interesting.
JFC - Jazushi fried chicken with Yuzu citrus sauce on bed of home made tartar ($21)
The JFC tasted very similiar to karaage chicken. The chicken was crispy and tender and went well with the tartar sauce. The home made tartar was unusually tangy (probably due to the citrus sauce). I probably would have preferred some simple Japanese mayonaise though.
Teriyaki Salmon - With roasted potato & fresh vegetables ($23)
The salmon was cooked perfectly, not too hard or soft. It was a rather simple dish and the portions were quite generous. On one hand, I actually thought the dish was quite plain and lacked any flavour or creativity. On the other hand, it can be deemed a simple dish which let the true freshness and natural flavour of the salmon shine through. But if that was the case, I need not spend $23 for it next time.
Dessert Platter - Black sesame ice cream, creme brulee, green tea ice cream ($25)
Black Sesame Ice Cream ($10)
I love this. The black sesame flavour was spot on and the use of crunchy nut cornflakes at the base is a smart touch. The creaminess of the ice cream is perfectly balanced with the sweetness and crunchyness of the corn flakes. I recall Sushi Suma in Surry Hills doing a simliar dessert with green tea ice cream and pieces of red bean.
Cheesecake ($10)
Jazushi is an interesting place. The concept of a live jazz band and Japanese food intrigues me. What impressed me more was the service. Our water jugs were constantly filled up and our meals came out in quick succession. I was worried that even though we were in a private room, we might have been too noisy. When I told the head waiter/Owner to let me know if it got too noisy, he told me not to worry and just let everyone enjoy their evening. That simple assurance made my night even more enjoyable.
Jazushi
145 Devonshire St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone (02) 9699 8977
Fax (02) 9699 8973
Web : http://www.jazushi.com.au
Author
By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 09 Dec 2008, and is filed under Japanese.
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I’ve been meaning to try Jazushi for ages! If anything for the live jazz (there are not enough of those in Sydney!). Great photos as always and happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Howard! Looks yummy! Especially the black Sesame Ice cream with cornflakes!
Reemski’s last blog post..Bistro CBD
The gyoza was served with sweet chilli sauce and soy-miso sauce – I’ve forgotten what the one on the left was!
Mmmmm I’d like to go back for that cheesecake dessert – it was soooo good!
awesome photos and happy (early) birthday dude! the camembert looks freaking awesome i looove fried cheese mmm
I was just talking about this today!!! My friend and I wondered what the private room looked like. Well, thanks for sharing!
JFC – LOL!
Happy Bday mang! and this place looks really really good. I mus try it out!
FFichiban’s last blog post..Burgerlicious – Sydney CBD, Sydney
Karen : I love the concept of Jazz and Jap food! Thanks for the bday wishes
Reemski : Thanks! The corn flakes are great, I’m going to start eating it with vanilla ice cream at home.
Suze : Cheers. The cheese tempura, mmm I can still feel it inside me. It was so creamy!
Christie : I think there might be two private rooms, make sure you get the right one! The one upstairs is a bamboo terrace or something, it’s outdoors.
ffichiban : Thanks mate! Yeah give it a try, it’s something different!
Great review, this place is something a little different and i have been interested to visit, too bad i dont care for jazz………
wow! i just had dinner but looking at the fried cheese and the dessert plate has made me hungry again! fried cheese *droools* It seems like you had a great birthday party =] HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
K’s last blog post..mushroom & tomato pizza
sydneyguyrojoe : Don’t let the Jazz put you off, it actually makes quite a good atmosphere!
K: I wonder if I can make the fried cheese thingo’s myself, would be a great way to become obese! Oh and thanks!
Still a few more days till my actually Birthday, I wonder how many more dinners I can fit in ?
sooooo many dishes had my mouth watering..
and THEN i got to dessert *eeeeep*
that dessert platter looks the treat!
this look really good! I must go and try sometimes, as one of my friends who is a pianist performed there part time.
billy@ATFT’s last blog post..Shin Yokohama Raumen Museum – Yokohama, Japan
Drool. omg, the photos! So gorgeously captured!
I love the idea of crunchy nut and black sesame ice cream too. Could that qualify as breakfast? And ooh, love the sexy dribble of matcha ice cream down the side of the glass too
Helen’s last blog post..Doyles on the Wharf, Watsons Bay
oh, and happy belated birthday
Helen’s last blog post..Doyles on the Wharf, Watsons Bay
Thanks Helen!