Chaco Bar - Darlinghurst, Sydney

Chaco Bar is Sydney’s pride when it comes to ramen and yakitori. Keita Abe (owner and executive chef) and the rest of team Chaco has impressed Sydney-siders since opening in 2014 with their Fukuoka-style yakitori and modern take on ramen. They have recently announced that the yakitori side of Chaco will be moved at a new location on Victoria Street in Potts Point sometime in October 2019. 

The current Chaco site will still be around but will be become Chaco Ramen where they will be serving ramen for most likely 6 days a week (good news for ramen geeks like me).

Fat soy ramen (available during ramen service hours)

Here’s what we recently had at our last visit to Chaco:

Sashimi is normally available and we had some beautiful Kingfish. The fish had a clean taste, firm texture and accompanied by a ponzu-like sauce.

The gyozas ($18 for 6 pieces) here are plump and the pork filling is so damn flavoursome. It also has that perfect crisped caramelised bottoms.

There’s a good range of yakitori dishes on the menu (ranging from $3-$7 each). This includes spicy lamb, chicken thigh, chicken tail, gristle, chicken gizzard and even pork belly. All skewered meats are laced and grilled with umami rich tare (seasoning marinade). You’ll find nothing but smoky and deep flavoured meats with an array of flavours. I particularly love the fatty chicken tail and crunchy gristle.

Chaco Bar does Fukuoka style yakitori, which means they offer more than just skewered meats. They also have sharing plates and I recommend looking at their “specials” board. We tried 3 dishes from the Special menu:

The uni wagyu ($29) had thinly buttery slices of +9 grade Wagyu. There were also bursts of umami from the creamy uni (sea urchin gonads), parmesan cheese and lovely WA truffles. The serving of egg yolk added a nice extra texture to the whole dish.

The baby corn dish ($13) with Chaco butter was also amazing! The corn was so smoky and the butter sauce with squid ink added extra umami and sweetness.

The highlight for me was the M9 Wagyu steak with shiitake mushroom, housemade mustard and bone marrow ($32). The beautiful marbled Wagyu steak slices was amazingly tender, nicely seasoned and accompanied with a beautiful tare. I also loved the buttery marrow.

Chaco bar never ceases to amaze me with every visit. It is everything from the moody Japanese style tavern interior, the excellent service and the amazing food on offer. It’s an authentic piece of Japan in the heart of Sydney.

  

Chaco Bar

238 Crown Street 

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

(02) 9007 8352

Hours:

Yakitori

Tue-Sat 5:30-10:00pm

Ramen

Mon 5:30-9:00pm

Wed-Sat 11:30-2:30pm

Sun 11:30-2:30pm 5:00-8:30pm

Goryon San, Surry Hills - Kushiyaki/Yakitori

The contemporary yakitori that we come across out here in Australia and other parts of the world is in actual fact Kushiyaki. Whilst the menu in a yakitori restaurant mainly consists of chicken based grilled skewers, kushiyaki restaurants covers all bases.

 

Head Chef Akihito Marui

The new Goryon San in Surry Hills is a Hakata-style Kushiyaki restaurant that offers a great range of grilled delights. They have 3 shops in Tokyo: Nishiazabu, Shibuya Miyamasuzaka and Shibuya Nanpeida. My friend Akihito Marui (ex Torikizoku Osaka, Yakitori Jin) is the head chef at the Surry Hills shop. Hakata-style kushiyaki specialises in rolled up meat skewers that are filled with either vegetables, seafood and even cheese seasoned with tare (sauce marinade) or shio (salt). But since it’s Hakata in origin, expect a lot of pork in the menu. There’s a decent range of sake, shochu and wine too.

Chef Yuto Moriue

The Surry Hills shop has counter seatings that lets you enjoy the grilling action (watch out for Chef Yuto Moriue aka the “Japanese Salt Bae”) as well as seatings for 2 people and big groups. The space is well lit with modern Japanese fittings and furnishings.

The grilled skewers menu is quite extensive and boasts quality:

The wagyu loin skewer ($10 each) was extremely tasty, tender and buttery. It also comes with some freshly grated wasabi.

The sukiyaki wagyu skewer ($8.50 each) is another hit! Crown daisy leaf & enoki mushrooms wrapped in tender Wagyu glazed with tare. It also comes with egg yolk for dipping.

King prawns ($7.50 each) wrapped in thinly sliced pork belly.

The buta bara ($5.50 each) is a pork belly skewer that is extra fatty and seasoned with shio.

A bunch of juicy (with a slight crunch) enoki mushrooms & pork belly skewers ($6.50 each).

The XL shiitake mushrooms ($6 each) are smoky and full of umami.

How can I say no to grilled camembert cheese ($5.50 each)!

What do I love more than tsukune (grilled minced chicken skewers)? Grilled cheese tsukune ($8 each) of course!

Then there’s the gorgonzola honey skewers ($6 each). Pungent and delicious gorgonzola cheese wrapped in sweet & smoky flaky pastry glazed with honey.

The scallop and bacon skewers ($7.50 each) were so addictive!

There’s a also a classic zuri or chicken giblet skewer ($5.50 each) that was smoky, sweet and tender.

Last but not least is the fatty and delicious bonjiri ($5.50 each) or chicken tail. Love the umami packed caramelised bits at the edges of the fatty bits.

Omedetou gozaimasu Goryon San on your first Sydney branch opening!

Goryon San Surry Hills
47 Reservoir Street
Surry Hills NSW
Ph: 9281 2228
https://goryon-san.com.au

Opening Hours
Dinner 5:30pm to 10:00pm 7 days

Ramen lunch (COMING SOON) 12pm to 2:00pm