The story as told is that Chase Kojima (of Sokyo fame) goes to the fish markets every weekend of the pandemic to handpick the freshest and best seafood for his new pop up takeaway sushi restaurant.
Simulation Senpai is open for business only two days a week (Friday and Saturday) and for only 3 hours on each of these days (12:30PM-2PM and 5PM-6:30PM). It is online pre-order only and takeaway only (food-court style seating available), but within these strict limits is world class sushi and sashimi at a reasonable price.
Chase Kojima was there to greet his customers when we came to pick up our order on a Friday night. We ate in surprisingly luxurious food court style seating, and I’m told there is a nice park outside for lunchtime picnicking.
The Hoseki Bako ($55) is, as advertised, a box of treasures. It features an assortment of fresh sashimi on Masshigura rice. Every single morsel is unique and delicious. The salmon roe and sea urchin were both perfectly creamy and sweet. The scallops were sweet and delicate, and all of the fresh sashimi was as well. The tartar of tuna and salmon added an additional dimension of texture to the meal and worked well with the rice. The seafood to rice ratio was just perfect.
The Zenbu Don ($65) is a true tuna fantasy box of tuna (akami), medium fatty (chu-toro) tuna, and fatty tuna (toro) on rice. The fatty tuna just melts in your mouth like a dream, and is the best fatty tuna I’ve had outside of Japan. The red portion of tuna (akami) was also the best I’ve had in Australia. I often find akami a bit too metallic tasting, but this was not the case at Simulation Senpai. I think the Zenbu Don is really the star of the show and I encourage anyone missing toro to give it a try. Again the fish to rice ratio is perfect.
The Yuzu Mango Tapioca Pudding ($6) is a surprising winner, with a mild, not-too-sweet flavour to cap off the sashimi. The cartoon label doesn’t do the complex flavours justice.
I simply cannot recommend Simulation Senpai enough. Chef Kojima has truly set the new standard for fast fine dining. I was initially nervous about spending $130 on food court food, but one taste of the toro was enough to put any doubts out of my mind. It is the best sushi I’ve had outside of Japan, and you need to go while you still can.
Simulation Senpai.
Tramsheds Pop-Up Kitchen, 1 Dalgal Way, FOREST LODGE NSW 2037