Japaz, Neutral Bay
Tapas, Japanese style
I wish I’ve been to Spain and had proper Tapas. When I think of Tapas I think of Encasa. Sure, it’s a mainstream Spanish restaurants in Sydney, but you gotta start somewhere right ? To those cultured in Spanish food, it probably shows my ignorance of what real Spanish food is. But to me it doesn’t matter, I love the concept of tapas because of the small portions and how it allows everyone to order copious amounts of dishes to be shared at a table. Order a few drinks with a group of good people and all the sudden you have a great night without breaking the bank.
Enter Japaz, a fusion of Japanese and Spanish inspired dishes by a man with credentials oozing with class. Hiro has worked for Joel Robuchon and plied his trade in Michelen Starred and Hatted restaurants such as Tetsuya’s. Having done his time at some of the most highly regarded restaurants in the world, Japaz is his brainchild of two cuisines which have been been embraced with open arms by Australia palettes, Japanese and Spanish.
My first visit to Japaz is courtesy of an invite from Yas, the hungry digital elf. He has kindly invited a few friends a long to have a good old catch up over some great food. Thanks again Yas!
After a long day at work, I skip the wines and hit straight for the beer. Sapporo beer is a bit on the light side for me, but this means it is crisp and refreshing. It’s quite an easy beer to knock back with any type of food which is why I like it. While I was admiring the can, I noticed the beer is brewed in Canada of all places ?
Tasmanian oysters with wakame dressing
Big, plump and juicy, not words which you would normally associate with oysters served as entrees (They are usually small from my experiences). The wakame dressing is seaweed based and adds a subtle twist to the sweetness of the oyster.
Razor clams w/ rocket & preserved lemon jus
The razor clams tasted unique in the sense that it tasted like meat, even though it was seafood. Texture was very similiar to squid, but it had a hint of a pork taste. Yes, I’m a bit confused , but the mixture of flavours and textures makes this a great starter to our meal.
Jamon Serrano
Served raw and thinly sliced, jamon serrano is one of my favourite types of jamon due to its softness and sweetness. This stuff is usually quite expensive, but I could easily eat a leg myself without getting sick of it. Jamon to the Spanish is the national equivelant to our Vegemite, the stuff is amazing, I wish I could cure my own.
Fried Eggplant with Honey & Balsamic
Hiro achieves the perfect balance of moistness and crunchiness in this dish. The eggplant is lightly fried but the guilty pleasure of the deepfriedness is offset by the sweet and sticky honey and balsamic sauce.
From left to right : Soy marinated chicken with pesto mayo and Patatas bravas
The chicken was good enough to serve on it’s own and was probably better off without the potatoes. Bite sized and juicy pieces of chicken tasted amazing with the home made pesto mayo, the mayo had a real kick to it. The potatoes were not as inspiring, they were a bit on the bland side but were cooked to al dente with a bit of crispness on the outside.
Ajillo - Shiitake, Enoki, Woodear Mushrooms & Chick Pea
Now this is what I am talking about, a Japaz rendition of a tradtional Spanish tapas dish called ajillo. Ajillo is usually just mushrooms in garlic sauce, but Hiro adds some fantastic mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki and woodear. You can really taste the individual flavours of each mushroom and the chickpeas roundoff a whirlwind of textures and flavours.
Spring cabbage, mince beef, mushroom & carrot
The great thing about this evening was Hiro churning a few dishes which he was experimenting with, this one being parcels of cabbage stuffed with beef. This dish wasn’t on the men
Lamb meatballs w/ winter vegetable Sauce of tomato
When I think tapas, I think of meatballs served in a rustic pan like this. The meatballs are tender and have sucked in all the aromas of the vegetable sauce. This is a realy winter warmer dish, it would of been perfect with some hot crusty bread too.
Cucumber pinchos with seafood paste (crab, scallop, prawn), yuzukosho + miso
This dish reminded me of my visit to Itaru in Japan. Chilled and refreshing pieces of cucumber were topped with a generous dollop of seafood paste. Despite the heavy presence of seafood, it wasn’t too overpowering at all and went down well with my Sapporo beer.
Crumbed Portabello Mushroom
The great thing about the fried dishes so far is that they are not too oily. The portabello mushrooms are lightly crumbed and then fried, resulting in a juicy and sweet mushroom inside which bursts with flavour and juices on first bite.
Grilled quail with quail jus served on tortilla Japaz
This was another crowd pleaser. The quail was grilled perfectly, still tender and falling off the bone. The japaz tortilla filled with alot of onion was quite random, but it went along quite nicely with the quail jus.
Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek & Almond Sauce
Collective sighs of ” oh my god ” were heard with each bite of the wagyu beef cheek. It was amazingly tender and fell apart with the slightest bite or movement. The sauce was full of good richness and was infused into the beef cheeks.
From left to right : Strawberry w/ lime infused coconut cream, Peach Sorbet & Apple Cider Jelly w/ Vanilla Infused Olive Oil, Vodka infused Crema Catalana
I’m surprised we had room for dessert, but apparently everyone has a second stomach for dessert. My favourite was the most simple of the trio, the strawberry with lime infused coconut cream. The coconut cream had me going back for more, so much that I was finishing everyone elses. The peach sorbet was fantastic, very smooth. I found the crema catalana to be a bit heavy on the vodka, but it gave a nice kick to finish off the fantastic meal we had.
A happy team means a good experience for the customers, and it seemed everyone loved what they were doing. The great service and food reflected this too.
Japaz is an interesting foray into the fusion food category. Hiro has a real knack of blending flavours and textures from the two cooking genres in Japanese and Spanish, resulting in some very interesting dishes and flavours. I found it to be a great privelege to be eating the creations of Chef which such a high pedigree of training and experience, I wonder what his next vision would be for Japaz or beyond.
Japaz
165 Wycombe Rd
Neutral Bay NSW 2089
Ph : 02 9904 0688
Web : www.japaz.com.au
eatshowandtell dined as guests of Japaz.
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 22 Aug 2009, and is filed under Dinner, Japanese, Spanish, Sydney, North.
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I’m so bummed that I wasn’t able to go, this meal looks fantastic! I normally steer well clear of that fusion thing, but this looks to be in a whole other dimension. I’ve never tastes razor clams before, and now I’m intrigued, gotta get me some of that porky seafood
.-= lili – pikeletandpie´s last blog ..It’s a Secret Dinner! =-.
Japanese and Spanish isn’t a mix I would have thought of, but it seems to have worked well. Small dishes are always more fun. That chickpea and mushroom dish looks wonderful!
.-= Arwen from Hoglet K´s last blog ..Crème Caramel =-.
Ohh you are quick to post, I haven’t even managed to go through pictures yet!
It was my first time eating razor clam, and your description is perfectly accurate – it’s a very interesting ingredient!
.-= Yas´s last blog ..Yas’ late night kitchen: food for midlife crisis =-.
food looks really yummy. great pics! i really like the look of Fried Eggplant with Honey & Balsamic. actually anything deep fried is so tempting hehe. actually i believe the real spanish tapas in Spain is more for just to have a quick snack while drinking between bars — a bit like how aussie’s have chips or wedges while drinking their beer. it’s actually not meant to be the main meal but only a snack to have before you actually go and have a real proper sit down dinner which isn’t tapas at all. that’s what I’ve experienced and have been told while travelling through Spain. other cultures seem to have taken on the tapas idea and have made it more the main meal now.
.-= Simon Food Favourites´s last blog ..Home Cooking: BBQ Pork Ribs (11 August 2009) =-.
Oh I absolutely loved the wagyu beef cheeks and the portobello mushrooms when I went to Japaz. I think it’s time for a return visit for me!
.-= Jacq´s last blog ..Mumu Grill, Crows Nest =-.
[...] Here Comes the Food…bloggers – Shez, Suze, Yas, Simon, Lorraine and Howard! [...]
Ahh great coverage man! You and your one shot wonders = Too pro! Thanks again for the help btw
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Japaz – Neutral Bay, Sydney (2) =-.
Looks great, too bad i dont even know where Neutral bay is!! haha im a westie………
I love tapas and I love Japanese food – but not quite sure about the two together – but the pictures do look interesting enough to have a try at it. Thanks for the post!
.-= Trissa´s last blog ..Spring on a plate! (Vegetable Gateau of Julia Child) =-.
Oh my goodness you’ve sorted through your pictures quickly
Great shots (and I could totally do another serve of the mushrooms. And the eggplant. And the wagyu. And the… well, I think you get the point!)
.-= shez´s last blog ..emmilou =-.
[...] – Japanese. Howard from eatshow&tell reviews Japaz, a Japanese tapas restaurant in Neutral [...]
Actually, this place looks a whole lot better than it tastes. The service is impeccible. The food, less so. Trying too hard.
@Chello : That’s a shame, it’s a good venue with a few friends though.