Has anyone heard about the experienced Japanese sushi chef in Crows Nest? Even in Japanese society, @!Restaurant is a still hidden gem.
Chef Atsushi started his career as a sushi chef 29 years ago. Since he moved to Sydney in 1993, he worked at Yoshii and Sushi e, and NOBU in the Bahamas.
I visited @!Restaurant as part of Washoku Lovers’s first anniversary celebration.
We had a dish of tender octopus as a starter. The octopus was tender, not at all chewy, with a delicate dashi flavour.
There are so many different types of sashimi these days, but I think, the best sashimi is made by experienced washoku chefs. Usuzukuri, means thinly sliced sashimi, needs high skill to cut a fish properly. Use chopsticks to grab your piece of sashimi, put chopped spring onions and white radish in the centre of it, wrap it, then dip it in to ponzu, a homemade vinegar soy source. The taste and mix of texture is just perfection.. A dish made in heaven.
What drinks would be the best with these dishes?
SAKE please.
Sake is great matched with Japanese foods, just like wine is for you with Australian and European dishes. The authentic way to cook Japanese foods is necessary to use broth flavoured with bonito flakes, dried seaweed and dried mushrooms and so on. These soft and elegant dashi flavours are perfect with sake.
On this occasion I chose chilled sake, from IPPIN which comes from the Ibaraki prefecture.
IPPIN has several types of sake such as Jyunmai, Ginjyo and Daiginjyo. The taste, and type of sake, depends on how much the rice used to produce it is polished. A high rate of polishing rice, produces a more flavourable sake called Daiginjyo that is just like wine. I personally think that sashimi and sushi are best matched with Daiginjyo.
If you like to have wine with sushi and sashimi normally, I would like you to try sake Daiginjyo next time instead of white wine 🙂
Chef Atsushi started to make sushi. By the way, the best seat in the restaurant would be the sushi counter in front of the chef.
We ordered Omakase sushi with 15pc.
This dish is superb!
From the left: fatty tuna (toro), snapper, mackerel, kingfish and mackerel marinated in vinegar (shimesaba).
I especially love Toro! I love how it melts in my mouth. The texture is so soft. It’s just divine!
Next, is another brilliant dish with scampi.
Fresh scampi, doesn’t it just look delicious? I can assure you it was! My mouth is watering just looking these photos again.
With the scampi came prawn and aburi (grilled) scallops. Aburi is becoming quite popular here in Australia. Aburi means to seal the fish with an open flame. The grilling imparts a delicious, slightly smokey flavour.
Above is squid with sea urchin on top and grilled (aburi) salmon. Chef Atsushi recommends to have them with lemon juice and salt. I have to say, for me, this was the highlight of my meal! A taste sensation!
The last dish of Omakase was another surprise for me!
My favourite sushi, sea urchin, was wrapped with sea weed (nori). It was with a piece of conger, which is a type of eel. The conger was cooked very gently and the surface was sealed aburi style and was served with sweet and bitter soy source and sesame seeds. A mini donburi (rice bowl) with what I call a “salmon family” (because it has a a piece of salmon sashimi and salmon roe), was included as part of this delicious dish. There was a piece of seaweed paper (nori) to wrap the donburi with. Another mouthwatering, delicious dish!
This surprise made me cry. Chef Atsushi presented a birthday sushi cake for the Washoku Lovers 1st anniversary. It was a round sushi consisting of a base of sliced avocados, grilled prawn on top of that and another a little round sushi on top this again with grilled scallops and salmon roe (ikura) on the top of everything. The taste was absolutely amazing! So delicious! 🙂 I loved how it was matched with mayonnaise and the strong aburi flavour.
I was very touched by Chef Atsushi’s thoughts for our special celebration.
I highly recommend @! Restaurant in Crows Nest for celebrating special occasion such as birthdays or anniversaries.
The restaurant is very busy, especially on weekends. I want you to secure your seats by booking in advance.
@!Restaurant is opened on Sundays as well and is well worth travelling to to travel to try Chef Atsushi’s delicious sushi creations on the weekend.
As a Washoku Lovers Benefit, you can enjoy complimentary ice cream (green tea or sesame) when you show your Washoku Lovers Benefit screen on your mobile.
Please leave your comments here and feel free to ask if you have any questions!
Enjoy your washoku journey at @!Restaurant🙂
Lunch: Thursday – Sunday 12pm – 2:30pm,
Dinner: Tuesday – Saturday 6pm -9:30pm , Sunday 5:30p, – 9pm
Address: 417 Pacific Highway, Sydney NSW 2065
Phone: (02) 9437 5285
Booking Policy: Welcomed
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