Vanessa: Sydneysiders are now lucky enough to have access to a new style of culinary creativity with the arrive of Sash Japanese in Surry Hills. The well-known Melbourne eatery now also calls Sydney its home and diners are in for a treat.
With its trendy dining space and central bar, Sash is the ideal place to meet for a -pre-meal drink. With a wide range of cocktails, wines and spirits its easy to settle in at the bar or a booth and pass the time.
Bianca and I situated ourselves in one of the booths whilst sipping on the Jalapeno Margarita Cocktail and the Yuzu Tears Cocktail. Purple seems to be the color “du jour” with the vibrant purple table and deep purple booths lining the back wall of the restaurant.
We grazed on a serve of edamame with green tea salt flakes ($6) whilst awaiting our meals. We were in for a treat as the kitchen were sending us some of their favourites to try which I always find the element of unknown exciting.
Bianca has an aversion to Oysters so when a serve of Oysters Japanese Mignonette were brought out I gladly took one for the team. The oysters were delightfully fresh ]and well paired with the zesty mignonette of red wine vinegar, shisho jelly and seasoning.
The Hirimasa Kingfish Sashimi ($21) was equally fresh, vibrant and had strong citrus tones from the orange diakon wakame salad. The carefully placed drops of wasabi creme and yuzu ponzu added to the delicacy of the dish.
The wagyu tataki ($23) has some serious wow factor not only visually but it tastes sensational. Paper thin slices of beef wagyu are topped with a truffle soy, jalepeno and yuzu aioli and ganished with red onion and microherbs. This is one incredible dish with really bold flavours.
The dish that blew us both away was the Lobster Mac & Cheese Dog ($18). This delightful, individual serve included a mix of lobster tail, mac & cheese and truffle oil on a brioche bun. To be cliché, this really was a taste sensation with its creamy and sweet flavor topped off with a squeeze of lime juice. Trust me, this is a MUST ORDER dish on any visit to Sash.
Drawing back on the more traditional Japanese offerings, the Crab Medusa Sushi ($22)was a really interesting mix of traditional and innovative. The soft shell crab tempura miso cucumber sushi roll is topped with watermelon feta salsa, balsamic kabayaki sauce and shisho salt
Probably the dish I found to be most unique was the blue cheese sashimi pizza ($26). It goes against everything you think of when you think about Pizza yet it works so well. The blue cheese sauce was strong as you would expect in contrast to the mild sashimi. There was a srirachia sauce that was quite overpowering for me as I can’t handle spice, but it worked.
We ended our meal at Sash with a big bang when the Godzilla Dessert Taco ($18) was set down in front of us. Beautifully presented, this dessert is so much lighter than it appears. Consisting of yuzu custard, cookies & cream ice cream and mango compote atop flaky pastry, this was a wonderful display of creativity and makes for a happy ending to the meal.
From the atmosphere to the food, the experience at Sash was impressive. Definitely keep it in mind whether it be for a drink or a meal, it’s worth a visit.
Enjoy!
Vanessa
Photos by Bianca
*For Foods Sake dined as guests of Sash Japanese
