The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
We ended our search of a late night feed one Wednesday night at Yakitori Yebisu in Regent Place, quite a legit looking and feeling Japanese izakaya.
Upon approaching the restaurant we were greeted by a staff member who told us quite sternly that we would have to spend at least $30 per head for a seat. That was fine, we thought – but we didn’t know just how easy it would be to spend that amount.
The vibe inside was lively, with several groups of young people, as well as a few couples, drinking large towers of beer and chatting. Ordering was via an iPad tablet system, which was good as it helped us to minimise interpersonal contact.
We ordered a couple of beef yakitori ($7.80 each) and chicken yakitori ($4.80 each)– both were tender and delicious but at a mind numbing price.
We also ordered a variety of sushi, again mind numbingly expensive. We thought that the salmon roe gunkan ($9 for 2) was of poor quality, as it was too salty, but the sea urchin gunkan($15 for 2) tasted good though much too expensive than it had any right to be. The aburi salmon ($7 for 2) and aburi scallop ($8 for 2) were good, however the flavour somewhat drowned out by the mayonnaise, and the constant thought at the back of our minds was that we could get the same thing for less than half the price across the road at Sushi Hotaru.
Ultimately the food pictured and a garden variety bottle of Kirin beer hurt us to the tune of $72.20. While the vibe was good and the food was reasonable, the exorbitant prices at Yebisu are indefensible.
As young professionals we are somewhat price insensitive but Yebisu takes it too far.
Avoid. (2/5)
Yakitori Yebisu Regent Place, 7-10/501 George St, Sydney NSW 2000 (02) 9264 3272
Casoni is one of the nicest meals I’ve had in some time. The menu was described to us as “Modern Italian”, with a selection of Italian staples fused with some Japanese inspiration.
We started with the Wattle Seed Flatbread ($6). Originally our choice of topping was going to be the salmon roe, however as they were out of stock we had to improvise. After the reassurance of our host that the serving of bread would be “quite generous” and suited to having two sides/toppings, I chose the ortiz anchovies ($6) and green garlic burrata ($10). While the bread was warm, soft, fragrant and delicious, it turns out that “quite generous” was a straight out lie. I would not characterise the bread as being suited to having two toppings. One was more than enough, so much so that we weighed up whether or not we should order a second serving of flatbread to mop up voluminous sides.
The ortiz anchovies ($6) were salty. I think they always are. I’m yet to develop a taste for them. My partner straight up refused to try it (she’s a bit of a fish-o-phobe).
The garlic green burrata ($10) was quite delicious. The inside of the burrata was very wet. It was a great dish to spread on the bread.
Black garlic bread
The Black Garlic Bread ($8) is a must try. It is more of a dessert than a garlic bread, with a sweet glaze and sauce. The topping of miso butter was divine. It is a house specialty for a reason and I would recommend no one leave this restaurant without trying it (cats and other people who can’t have garlic aside).
Tuna Carpaccio
The yellowfin tuna carpaccio with wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing ($18) was quite good but straddled the line towards being too tasty. I thought that the wasabi cream and burnt mandarin dressing overpowered the fish to the extent where I couldn’t really taste the star ingredient. While the flavours were good I wonder if a bit of tweaking is in order to highlight the tuna a bit better. Wasabi-phobes need not worry, the wasabi itself isn’t too strong.
Sausage and pecorino pappardelle
The sausage and pecorino pappardelle ($?26) was delicious. The serving size was large enough to share between two. The pappardelle was fresh and soft and tasty – not too al dente for me. The serving of sausage was extremely and unexpectedly generous, there was enough for each bite, and the pecorino added a great sharp flavour to the dish. While I’ve read from other reviews that pasta isn’t Casoni’s strong point, my experience with this pasta would lead me to disagree. It was just fantastic.
Comfortable seats
INTERIM OPINION (DECEMBER 2020)
As I’m sure you can tell by now we really enjoyed our meal at Casoni. We can’t wait to go back.
5 stars.
SUBSEQUENT VISIT (APRIL 2022)
It turns out we could wait to go back, in fact we waited around a year and a half, taking advantage of Casoni’s late opening hours after a night at the museum.
The black garlic sourdough ($12) has now replaced the previous black garlic bread. The differences? This sourdough bread is now a bit more dense, as one could quite reasonably expect. Where the previous black garlic bread was quite sweet with its creamy topping, this dish was much more of a savoury affair, with the miso butter imparting quite a salty taste.
The wagyu tartare ($19) with sundried tomato and coriander seed matched with sunchoke crispy was a pretty solid, inoffensive and even tasty tartare. Its flavouring was a bit of a departure from your usual tartare, its sourness a bit sweeter owing to the use of tomato rather than your classic capers. I found the meat a bit overrepresented in comparison to the creme fraiche and crisp however, and we quickly ran out of yummy crisp to put the tartare on.
The signature croquette ($25) was a great addition to the menu. It featured an unbelievably creamy potato inner, coated in a delicious katsu-style crumb and fried to a somewhat unbelievable level of crispy perfection. The marscapone topping and abundance of salty umami salmon roe made for the perfect foil for the mild potato within. This dish reminded me of the roe course at Quay, but for a far more accessible price (plus, you don’t have to eat all the other disappointments there either).
The spanner crab tagliatelle ($31) with nduja, fermented mustard greens and burnt kombu was a solid pasta, though not revolutionary. The serving of crab was generous for the price, and the overall quality of the sauce and pasta met the high expectations set by our previous experience at Casoni.
OPINION Sometimes when you revisit a beloved restaurant you are disappointed by the ideals formed during your first visit. This was not the case with Casoni. They remain reliably excellent.
We ate at Sanpo in Rosebery in June 2020, at the height of the first wave of COVID-19 in Sydney.
We appreciated the strict hand hygiene and social distancing procedures, and understood that we had to wait outside for our table to free up. Safety was more important than comfort.
The beef sukiyaki hotpot was delicious.
The uni sashimi was some of the best sea urchin I’ve had in a while. Large, plump pieces.
The sashimi and sushi set was delicious.
The aburi scallop nigiri was also delicious, however as there was already some that came with the sushi and sashimi set we need not have ordered.
Overall I loved the dimly lit and quiet romantic vibe of the restaurant. I can recommend Sanpo as a nice date location to take your special person or feline (confirm with the restaurant ahead of time).
We dined in early July 2020, just as COVID-19 social distancing restrictions had started to be eased in NSW. I was very impressed by Manpuku’s commitment to hygiene and social distancing, and even looking back on our visit four months later the care that they took to protect their patrons and staff was outstanding.
Okonomi Sticks (L), Gyoza (R)
Okonomi sticks (2 for $7) , with bonito, sauce, mayonnaise were way too sauced and tasty for me. Good portion size for price, but I wasn’t a fan.
Gyoza were completely non-memorable
Karaage Curry
The Karaage Curry ($18) was the most special Japanese curry I have ever eaten. The chicken karaage was stock standard, good. What was special was the curry sauce, which had beef meat and offal stewed inside it, giving it a complex and beefy taste. The serving was quite large, and the ratio of curry sauce and chicken karaage to rice was perfect. I can recommend it.
Manpuku’s self-proclaimed specialty ramen is the Kono Deaini Kanshashite Aijou to Jonetsu Komete Isshoukenmei Tsukutta Uchirano Icchan Sukina Manpuku Shiawase Ramen. This name does not actually describe the ingredients, which is a ramen with soy based chicken and pork broth. They say that they are the only store that has this ramen, however I guess any restaurant could say the same if they strung together random words in a row. I didn’t think the ramen tasted really special. Their curry was more suited to be called a specialty.
I’ve been wanting to try Monkey’s Corner for a long time, but it’s been difficult to get our work schedules to sync up with its limited Thurs-Sun 5PM-9PM opening hours. This afternoon I finally got the call – to come try out Monkey’s Corner to see if it’s good before bringing the wider group.
Monkey’s Corner, located next to its sister restaurant KOI, is a Japanese-influenced eatery run by the Poernomo brothers. Its menu consists of doburi, noodles, and other japanese inspired dishes, and patrons are free to order desserts and coffee from KOI next door.
I had the Uni egg noodle with dashi cream, sea urchin, salmon roe ($27). The first thing to mention is that the portion was absolutely tiny. The photos on instagram and even the photo that I’ve taken don’t do justice to the miniscule size of the portion. Perhaps the best measure of the size is the spoon in the background of the image. This dish was about three spoons long and one and a half spoons wide.
What I think was most disappointing was that this dish was clearly pasta, rather than noodles. Noodles in an Asian context does not describe super-al-dente noodles in a heavy cabonara-like sauce. That’s what this was, and it caught me off guard. Pasta was not what I was expecting, and pasta was not what I wanted. The portions of uni seem large in this photo, but were actually very small in person. I had high hopes for this dish, but it was not meant to be.
I really wanted to enjoy Monkey’s Corner, but it was not meant to be. I would not bring a friend or colleague.
