Almost Japanese

Tag : teppanyaki sydney

So now we are with the grown-ups at the main table's polishedrunway, over which hang fantastically original black lanterns withswishing fringes, sort of like the hats worn by China's Hakkapeople.
It's a buzzy setting and not too elbowy. Such all-in-togetherseating isn't to everyone's taste, but like other Sydneyrestaurants that have adopted this canteen approach, place settingsare grouped and there's the sense of invisible barriers. It seemsto be a particularly popular approach to mod Asian dining, withdishes shared across the table, and works well in Sydney atLongrain and Toko in Surry Hills and Wasavie in Paddington.
The menu offers a set series of courses for $90 but we decide toorder a la carte, which turns out to be a slightly perplexingaffair. Although the menu is grouped into appetisers, "fromthe teppan" and "from the wok", prices give no clueas to a dish's size, and most appetisers come with four portions,which doesn't work for a group of three.
Waiters at Asian restaurants usually suggest a serve and a half(six pieces rather than four) in such circumstances, but there's nosuch flexibility offered at Teppanyaki; the bar's canape menu,however, is sensibly full of single serves.
To start, we share a generous-sized bowl of edamame ($7), scrapingthe delicious steamed soy beans speckled with pink salt from theirskins. Edamame is the de rigueur starter in Sydney, a 21st-centuryadvance on prawn crackers or pappadums. Our first appetiser of tunatempura roll ($28) is reminiscent of Japanese food served inHawaii, where seared or batter-rolled raw fish is a lateral take ontraditional fare. There are four rolls and a lime-fresh ponzudipping sauce: soft and delicious, the thin casings of crunchytempura and seaweed add texture and flavour to the pinky-red tuna.
Continuing with appetisers, crab leaves ($25) -- dollops of blueswimmer crab meat moistened with ginger, chives, chilli and lime,served on four little betel leaves -- are tasty and it's always funto eat with your fingers. But the dish seems stiffly priced for aquartet of tiny portions that make the lettuce-wrapped san choy bowat the average Cantonese restaurant look as big as cabbages.
We fare better with the day's special: wagyu gyoza ($25), anartistically presented line-up of six delicate potsticker dumplingsencasing butter-soft meat.
For mains, off the teppan grill, ocean trout ($30) is served withits crispy skin as a stacked garnish, a side of smoky eggplant anda gloss of den miso marinade (shades of Nobu's signature blackcod). But the fish is a trifle overdone andslips off our chopsticksin discouragingly dryflakes.
Mushrooms tossed with green chilli, lettuce hearts and citrus miso($21) from the menu's wok section are a mush of flavours andstrangely sweet: the citrus in the miso tastes honeyed rather thanlemony.
Then, horrors, the double-baked green tea cheesecake ($16) we havebeen eyeing is off the menu. Banana harumaki ($16) is our too-sweetsecond choice. Harumaki means spring roll and should perhaps beconfined to its more usual savoury realms. At least it is apuckering excuse for two more glasses of Kiwi red: the velvety 2006Neudorf Tom's Block Pinot Noir ($16) from Nelson.
All dishes are served in, and on, individual bowls and platters,many of which look authentically handcrafted in the style of thoseused in Japan's classic ryokan. And our lovely waitress is indeedJapanese. This matters to us because although the restaurant iscalled Teppanyaki, there is much more of a trans-Asian vibe to thedecor, Nobu-trained executive chef Shaun Presland's crossover foodand the overall experience, as if the new Shanghai has landed inSydney after a token detour to, say, Kyoto.
We are left with an uneasy feeling that it's a question of styleover substance. From the door attendants outside the Ivy to thehigh-end loungey fitout, it's all about the look and the feel thatyou have been admitted to an insiders' club.
The service has been attentive, the food average, the expectationof a real teppanyaki meal with all its attendant theatre andflourish far from fulfilled. My vote for Sydney's best Japanesefood remains where it has long been: with the unassumingNagoya-born chef Ryuichi Yoshii at his tiny restaurant, Yoshii, askip removed from the Ivy complex but with its sensibilities firmlyand properly anchored in oldNippon.
All Tables visits are unannounced and meals paid for.
Checklist
Teppanyaki The Ivy, 330 George St, Sydney. Phone (02) 9240 3000; www.merivale.com.au .
Open: Monday to Friday, lunch and dinner; Saturday, dinner.
Cost: About $200 for two, with wine by the glass. Allow for extras suchas miso soup ($7) and rice ($3).
Drink: A 400ml flask of warmed sake: try Australian-made Goshu ($26).
Reason to return: To pose with louche cocktails in the glam bar and get stuck intomini-wagyu burgers (sliders) with smoked cheese, salsa andcondiments ($7).