Azuma - Chifley Plaza, Sydney

Lunch with Cla. I haven't been to this restaurant for ages - in fact, this is one of the first Japanese restaurants I've been in Sydney. This place is (or used to be) quite a big deal - gaining awards and such, however, not much has changed since they relocated to their current location nearly a decade ago. The food is great, but the decor is somewhat bland and deteriorating. A nice place for power lunches (considering its location at the heart of CBD) but not for dinners, really.

Considering their great food, they should do something to pimp up the place a bit, really - the place is really uninteresting.

Azuma Bento

Wagyu, nigiri sushi, sashimi, hourensou, assorted amuse bouche, assorted tempura

-> I actually wanted to order this one, but since I came late, Cla beat me to it! The sushi is apparently good.

Rating: 7.5/10

Steak Bento

-> The wafu steak. It's really good, and grilled to my desired level of done-ness. The sauce is sweet and delightful, and I can see that it's daikon (white raddish)-based, my favorite kind. The meat is tender, as expected, however, it's rather cold. Well, I'm not expecting this dish to be sizzling hot with amazing fumes coming out of it à la Chinese food court dishes (such spectacle is against every concept of traditional, refined Japanese dining), but considering that they put the steak in a hotplate, they could at least serve it a bit warmer.

-> The assorted tempura. Ingredients aren't exactly spectacular - just your ordinary tempura. However, it tastes amazing and couldn't be more perfect.

-> The Maguro (tuna) Carpaccio with rockets. Quite nice, with Japanese-style dressing.


Rating (overall, for the Steak Bento): 8.5/10