Jazushi, Surry Hills

I’ve been a very neglectful blogger. I haven’t posted in a week, and dinner at Jazushi a few weeks ago was for my birthday so in my festive spirit I took no notes; i.e. please forgive my short descriptions 😉

My past birthdays usually consisted of nights out or a house party, for example, but this year I just wanted to go to dinner with my best girlfriends – a by-product of getting older I assume 😉 Jazushi describes itself as ‘Japanese fusion cuisine’, and features nightly live jazz entertainment. They have 3 dining areas – the main room where the live music is (which is where we dined), an outdoor terrace, and a gorgeous private dining room for larger groups. The food is designed to be shared, though it’s fine not to, they just warn us that certain items will arrive at different times. Complimentary bowls of edamame are given while we wait for our meals.

Kirin, $7.50

Nat and I decided to share a variety of dishes, for maximum tasting opportunities. We started with a leafy green salad with seaweed and tofu. The seaweed was actually nori, not the bright green seaweed usually found in salads. The tofu tasted fresher than any tofu I’ve had before. Tofu doesn’t have a lot flavour by itself, but it’s the texture and freshness that made it so good.

Seaweed and Tofu Salad

Our scallops were presented in their shells, and were perfectly cooked and finished with a delicious, mild sweet saikyo miso sauce.

Grilled Scallop with Saikyo Sauce, $4 each

There was 1 dish I had heard and read so much about, from a friend and also online. A dish that had me unreasonably excited. Camembert Tempura. Imagine… Sticks of camembert cheese, battered and fried. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it; we actually couldn’t finish it, it was just too rich and sickly fatty. The cheese was gooey inside, but the batter was too thick. To make it even richer, it is served with a teriyaki creme sauce, but this was very runny, almost like a milk consistency rather than a cream.

Camembert Tempura, $16

Next up was another rich dish, ‘Nasu Grilled’. Two thick eggplant ‘steaks’, topped with tofu and a rich tomato miso sauce, and melted cheese. It had nice flavours, but was overall a bit too rich and salty for me (and I do love my salt).

Nasu Grilled, 2 pieces, $11

Our last dish was the Kurobuta Pork Belly – braised and marinated overnight, the pork was tender and delicious. Some of the dishes served had various Masterfoods mustards on the plates, which I thought was a bit odd, as they didn’t seem necessary.

Kakuni Kurobuta Pork Belly, $23

She Who Does Not Eat Duck ordered the Teriyaki Chicken. Unfortunately, another friend’s Duck Teriyaki was placed in front of her, and being dimly lit in the restaurant, she assumed it was her chicken dish. It wasn’t until after she had eaten and enjoyed it, and the chicken was placed in front of my other friend, did she realise. I think we can say she now eats duck 😉

I forgot to take a photo of the Teriyaki Chicken, which was ordered by a few, but it wasn’t great. The skin was on, but we thought it seemed boiled, which left the skin soggy and not very pleasant.

Duck Teriyaki, $24

Amanda ordered the sashimi platter. It was well presented and fresh. She especially loved the crab rolls and the dressing on the oysters.

Large Sashimi Set, $35

We had ordered separate desserts, but they were brought out as dessert platters. This works out better value, but made it awkward because some of us were sharing and some weren’t. By this stage it was too dark to not use the camera flash.

‘Look!’ said the finger, ‘Black Sesame Ice-Cream!’

The dessert options are limited and basic. They do have black sesame ice-cream though – yum! It was creamy and full of that unique, nutty black sesame flavour. Served with a dollop of red bean paste, it sits on top of crunchy nut cornflakes, which I think is a brilliant idea.

Desserts: Black Sesame Ice-Cream, Vanilla Creme Brulee, Chocolate Cake, $10 each or $25 for a platter of 3

Overall I enjoyed Jazushi, I would just stick to ordering the lighter dishes if I were to revisit. It’s a funky spot, service was friendly throughout the night, the atmosphere was fun, and the company was, of course, fantastic.

Jazushi
http://jazushi.com.au/

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday, 6pm till late
Contact details:
Phone: + 61 2 9669 8977
145 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills