A hidden gem on George St, for now ….

Izakaya and kushiyaki, the two words that I have heard over and over again since Howard and Teresa’s return trip from Japan. Needless to say, I was quite envious, thus requested an immediate Izakaya/kushiyaki experience. Asking for volunteers to join me was too easy a feat, I managed to grab six friends who were also desperately seeking “the” experience. Due to our fondness for Chef Kimitaka Azuma’s craftsmanship at Azuma in Chifley, who better to introduce us to this style of food but the masterchef himself. Azuma has just recently bramched itself to include a smaller, more dynamic little joint which is tucked away in the new Regent Place shopping center.  This is also the same spot which has Shu Shin Bou.

Kushiyaki Azuma specialises in traditional Kushiyaki, Sushi and Sashimi. It is best paired with a comprehensive list of sake, beers and wine. Housed in a contemporary setting, it is definitely one of many up and coming places in the Sydney CBD.

To get us started, we asked the waitress to select a bottle of the more popular sake for us. Any Sake experts out there who can verify whether this bottle was any good or not ?

Since the girls were the designated drivers, we opted for some light drinks. Cassis Orange consists of Crème de Cassis and orange juice and was quite refreshing.

The first of many dishes brought to our private booth was the Edamame beans, at $7.00 a bowl, my initial thoughts were the price was a little steep. However upon splitting the pods and popping out the beans, I knew it was worth it. Unlike ones that I’ve had before, these beans were naturally sweet, quite nutty and aromatic, moisturised with a slightly salty liquid. These were an addictive snack to accompany the sake.

These slightly grilled salmon fillets were placed onto our table shortly after the arrival of the beans. Served with a wedge of lemon and an assortment of salts (Paprika, Japanese salt and lemon salt), this was a great way to quieten a rumbling tummy. The pieces of fillets were quite tender and juicy, however with the attachment of the skin, I found it a little too ‘fishy’.

The beef fillets are naturally gras fed from Cape Grim in Tasmania. Looking at these, I expected chewy little pieces. Cooked medium rare, these pieces were simply presented once again with a wedge of lemon. Upon first bite, these little morsels were beautifully tender, bursting with flavours, dipped in a little bit of the salts, I was tempted to finish the entire plate.

Next up were pork fillets. Unfortunately for me, this was the only dissapointment of the night. I found that the smell of pork was quite overwhelming, and despite its glistening exterior, the interior of the pieces were quite dry. The absence of herbs or spices to mask the pork smell made it quite difficult to eat.

Dining with a couple of friends of ours who are Chef’s, we were bound to get some interesting choices. Grilled giblet was next to arrive on our table. Once again, very tender, however with my intolerance to offal I wasn’t able to enjoy this dish.

As any regular eatshow&tell reader would know, I’m a diehard seafood lover and therefore there was no doubt that this was a great dish. Not only were the prawns sweet and fresh, but also cooked perfectly. Throughout the years, I’ve found that many places either over-cook their prawns resulting in a dry and filamentous flesh or under-cook it rendering the flesh mushy. To cap of the dish, liglty coated prawn heads were deep fried, flavoured with salt and pepper. I’m quite ashamed to admit that whenever I go to restaurants I would be too embarassed to be caught rummaging through the prawn heads. Unfortunately to keep my dignity in tact, I often discarded them. However, now with Azuma frying it and offering it to be devoured, I was more than happy to comply.

To give the carnivores in us a little bit of a break, we requested some grilled vegetables which were flavoured with miso and sesame paste. Simple but effective.

Back to the meats. Initially we ordered grilled corn fed chicken skin, however we were later informed that they had ran out, so instead the chicken sausages were recommended. Nothing spectacular about the sausage, very similar to ones that are readily available from Woolies but they were still a hit with all the boys.

The soft shell crab tempura was very light yet crispy. It was fried just enough to cook the sweet crab flesh which when combined with the slightly salty batter dipped in the soy sauce was pure bliss. Shame the serving size was quite small for $18 as we only received a handful of crabs.

At the presentation of the above dish, we scratched our heads in confusion as to whether we had actually ordered the item. Upon further probing, we were notified it was the Wagyu hamburger steak (Not Hamburger, served with buns as expected). Made with 100% ‘premium wagyu beef’ and devoided of the buns, I must admit, I was able to appreciate the buttery flavours of the wagyu steak much more. With the beef and egg immersed in a slighty sweet soy sauce and adorned wth freshly blanched vegetables, this was another dish that had exceeded our expectations.

The last of our seafood dishes was mussels cooked in a naturally sweet Sake broth. Using the muscle shell to scoop up the broth to be eaten with the muscle flesh was sublime. I was stuffed to the gills by this stage, however, the sweetness of the broth was just too tempting not to continue. The portion was quite generous for $16 as well.

And the highlight dish ….

The last but definitely not the least savoury dish of the night was the Otsumami set. We were informed by the waitress that the set can vary from day to day depending on what ingredients are in season.

From left to right,  a spectacular combination consisting of smoked duck breast with sliced avocado, sunny side up quail egg atop blanched baby asparagus with robust anchovies, deliciously flaky crumbed flounder tempura served with melted cheese, crunchy fried mackerel bone, sweet miso flavoured grilled cod, tofu bathed in sea urchin roe, whitebait marinated in sweet soy sauce, boiled quail egg with a prawn mince case, tenderly braised baby abalone and finally smoked roe served with pickled daikon. What a spread! Each component was cleverly added to the platter to compliment the variety of sake on offer. Despite the abundance of things on offer, I must admit, each aspect was executed very well. This was definately the highlight of our meal as every single one of the offerings were fantastic.

Desserts

Finally, to cap off our night, a couple of desserts were selected to share. The mont blanc was quite spectacular in presentation, however it did not deliver. The chestnut cream was not overly sweet, which went quite well with the green tea ice cream. However beneath the chestnut cream was a very generic tasting whipped cream, which I felt was the downfall of the dessert.

Our fondant was a sight to behold. I was expecting warm chocolate to ooze upon spooning but we were dissapointed by the coldness of the dessert. There was potential for the dessert to be better, if it had been heated for a little longer, thus allowing the pool of chocolate to melt. Despite this imperfection, the fondant was still quite nice.

By this stage, I was more than ectstatic when the waitress announced that this was our absolute last dish for the night. A beautiful chocolate mousse consisting of copious amounts of dark and rich chocolate was on offer. The green tea ice cream did a great job in nullifying the richness of the mousse.

You can easily see the Chef’s ply their trade due to the open kitchen. 

At the end of our meal, we were the last patrons of the restaurant. We were actually quite proud of ourselves for eating such a huge spread considering it was our second dinner of the night. My experience at the new Azuma was quite pleasant, as their beautiful decore combined with the presence of normal dining tables or separate booths to accomodate romantic diners or a roudy group like ourselves. For this style of dining, I would personally recommend a large group just so you can trial their extensive and unique yet traditional style menu. I really hope more of these type places start popping up in Sydney (eg. Wagaya). Kushiyaki Azuma proves that there is more to Japanese food than sushi, tempura and sashimi.

Kushiyaki Azuma

Shop 10.17, George Street Level 
Level 10, Regent Place
501 George St. SYDNEY
Ph: 9267 7775
Web: www.azuma.com.au

Hours: Open Monday to Sunday

Lunch 12:00pm – 14:30pm

Dinner 6:00pm – 10:00pm Last Order