Chuuka, Pyrmont, Sydney

I’m sure it’s pretty obvious with the blog’s name on how much I love ramen. Ramen is also referred to as Chuka Soba, which means Chinese noodles. Chuka or Chuuka normally refers to Japanese style or take on Chinese food. It’s dishes like ramen, gyoza, and kakuni pork belly. But with Chefs Victor Liong and Chase Kojima’s Chuuka Restaurant, it’s more of a 50/50 fusion of Japanese and Chinese flavours and cooking style.

Chuuka Restaurant is part of The Star group of restaurants and is located at Jones Bay Wharf. The space has a rustic contemporary look with nice scenic views of the Johnstons bay area. I visited Chuuka for lunch a few weeks back with the fam.

The hiramasa kingfish with white fungi, radish, burnt garlic, spring onion and soy cream ($24) was beautifully delicate with sweet notes and light umami.

Chuuka’s version of chawanmushi ($13pp) is a savoury steamed custard  dish with foie gras, blue swimmer crab, carrot ginger sauce and shellfish essence. This dish is all about silky textures with notes of umami and some sweetness to balance the overall flavour of the dish.

Y’all need to try Chase’s ‘tempura yuzu chicken”($24) with dried chilli, sweet & sour yuzu sauce. It is like a very premium Chinese lemon chicken. It was so damn addictive.

Another addictive item on the menu is the Chuuka ebi chilli ($42), which is stir fried prawns in chilli miso butter and accompanied by Japanese milk buns. The chilli and umami factors weren’t as intense but it was very well-balanced with hints of sweet flavour. The soft buns were perfect to soak up all the delicious chilli miso butter sauce.

The Sichuan eggplant dish with puffed chickpeas, crispy garlic, fried wonton skins and white miso sesame dressing ($28) had an interesting contrast of textures and flavours. It’s a mix and toss type of dish to bring out all the awesome flavours from the ingredients.

The wagyu short rib ($59) was so tender and buttery! It comes with baby cos lettuce, ginger & spring onion relish to make mini wraps.

My favourite savoury dish hands down was the tenshindon ($35). This is a classic Chuka dish, which is typically a blanket of crab omelette on rice. Chuuka’s version is levelled up with blue swimmer crab, and a thick broth like Japanese style XO Sauce with egg on scallop rice. It was packed with punches of umami with light sweet, earthy and peppery notes.

The “Chuuka yoghurt service” is a massive dessert set that’s good for 2 or more people ($38). It’s yoghurt sorbet with mascarpone ice cream and frozen meringue. It also comes with toppings (served on the side): 1) yuzu & ginger jam; 2) raspberry , freeze dried beetroot & pink peppercorn; 3) roasted hazelnuts and kinako; 4) Vietnamese coffee jelly, 5) matcha milk crumb; 6) bitter chocolate and cocoa nibs.

If you’re a fan of bubble tea, then you need try the super fun Japanese purple yam ice cream dessert with pearl jasmine tea, sago and bluberries ($14).

The Kurozato brown sugar mochi ice cream ($9) is a simple yet amazing play on Kyoto yatsuhashi mochi. Rather than stuffed with azuki bean filling etc., ice cream is sandwiched in yatsuhashi mochi.

Chuuka
Suite 62-64, Jones Bay Wharf
26-32 Pirrrama Road
Pyrmont NSW
Ph: 02 9657 9882

Opening hours:
Tues to Sat 12pm-3pm, 5:30pm-10pm
Sun 12pm-3pm

Lumi Bar and Dining, Pyrmont - Sydney

If you were to ask Sydneysiders a list of the best restaurants in Sydney, chances are Lumi Bar and Dining will get mentioned a lot. This is not surprising for a restaurant with an award-winning executive chef, Federico Zanellato (ex Noma, Attica and Ormeggio at The Spit). Federico’s fascination with fusing Italian and Japanese cuisine is the core of his establishment.

  

Lumi is one of the embodiments of the perfect Sydney dining experience and setting in my opinion. From its iconic Pyrmont waterfront setting to its sleek glass-walled spacious mid-century Italian interior design and the sublime Japanese/Italian fusion cuisine. This visit was from a few months ago with my homies Kerby and Chocolatesuze during a Saturday lunch session. There are numerous excellent reviews out there about Lumi. So, I want to approach this one as more of an appreciation post rather than a review. Lumi has a seasonal approach to their menu so some of the dishes we’ve had may or may not be available. The 10 ten-course degustation costs $150.

Disclaimer: On our visit, the kitchen brought out some extra dishes on the house.

The rye and spelt brioche was more soft and flavoursome than your usual brioche. It’s quite addictive so be careful not to over indulge on the bread before having all the other dishes.

The lovely yellow fin tuna dish was served in cute cones that tasted like delicate high-end Doritos cheese supreme nacho chips. That’s not a bad thing because Doritos is the best! Haha but seriously, these were amazing.

Rye crackers with zucchini and parmesan.

The uni is served as a nigiri boat. The umami from the uni and nori is balanced out by the creamy components of the dish.

The kangaroo tart was also fantastic! A blend of kangaroo and buttery bone marrow topped with sweet nutty fried leek in a perfect savoury tart pastry.

The chawanmushi is Federico’s take on a classic Japanese egg custard dish with Australian sea blight and shellfish oil.

The semi dried tomatoes with strawberry and olive oil is a nice delicate combo of light umami, sweet, fruity and bitter flavours.

The tooth fish with shiitake mushrooms, miso and Japanese turnip was oustanding. It’s a dish that showcases a lot of umami and a perfectly cooked fish.

Black caviar nigiri boat

The Moreton bay bug tart was next level in texture and taste. It was creamy Moreton bay bug in a seaweed pastry and topped with sea lettuce powder.

Don’t judge the pocket rocket Mushroom Agnolotti! These tiny little morsels are packed with a lot of flavour. Pieces perfect pasta filled with mushroom, truffle oil and manchego.

Tagliolini with calamari and 'nduja

The roast duck at Lumi is the most premium tasting duck I’ve ever had to date. The process to make the duck took around 4 weeks. The spices used, the flavour, caramelisation on the skin and texture was absolutely beautiful. We had the duck meat on its own and in a rice pot dish with star anise, mandarin peel and topped with shichimi togarashi. The combo of shichimi togarashi and the duck works so well.

One of the most refreshing desserts I’ve has is Lumi’s plum kakigori. Their take on this classic shaved ice Japanese treat contained basil, lime sherbet, plum and vinegar custard. Along with the fluffiest shaved came a super balanced citrus, sweet, sour and fruity flavours.

Salted geranium: An outstanding dessert that contains meringue, violet mousse, blackcurrant reduction and salted cherries.

Lumi Bar and Dining
56 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW
http://www.lumidining.com/contact

Hours:
Lunch - Friday to Sunday from 12pm
Dinner – Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday from 6.30pm
Friday and Saturday from 6pm