From sushi and sashimi to ramen and katsu curry, Sydney is full of great Japanese food. Take a visit to The Land of the Rising Sun at some of the city’s best Japanese restaurants.
- 2 min read
Luc-San
Where: Potts Point
Every mouthful at Potts Point’s Luc-San is a delicious fusion of Japanese and French flavours. That’s because they are the two favourite cuisines of the restaurant’s founder, celebrity chef Luke Mangan. Think classic steak tartare with wasabi leaf, duck with burnt orange and ume or chocolate cake with yuzu chantilly cream. With chic, moody design and a relaxed atmosphere, it’s the kind of place you can grab a cocktail and a few bar snacks or sit down to a full eight-course set menu that takes you across two continents.
Fusion of Japanese and French flavours at Luc-San, Potts Point
Toko
Where: CBD
After 15 years in Surry Hills, Sydney icon Toko found a new home on George Street in the CBD in mid-2022. The most popular dishes have remained on the menu, like the Moreton Bay bug tempura, smoked miso king salmon, scampi nigiri with foie gras and kingfish with truffle ponzu. It’s also retained the casual cool atmosphere, with large communal tables, a Robata grill counter and sushi bar, and catchy tunes on repeat.
Selection of dishes at Toko, Sydney CBD - Credit: Steven Woodburn
Sokyo
Where: Pyrmont
The dark and moody Sokyo is one of Sydney’s most elegant and innovative Japanese restaurants. There’s a dedicated sushi counter serving up fresh seafood sushi and sashimi, and the rest of the menu features sections dedicated to tempura, meat grilled over the Robata and soups. There are special kids’ menus and even a breakfast buffet, pairing pastry, fruit and eggs with udon, chicken yakitori and smashed avocado spiced up with furikake seasoning.
Friends enjoying food and drink - Sokyo restaurant - Pyrmont
Cho Cho San
Where: Potts Point
A little slice of Tokyo style in Macleay Street, Cho Cho San is all bright white interiors, with a sleek concrete bar and buzzy atmosphere. It’s the kind of place you can drop in for a drink and a snack (like pickled cucumber, miso eggplant skewers or pork bao buns) or sit down for the full set menu with spicy sesame noodles, prawns in kombu butter, XO crab fried rice, and charcoal chicken with onion and miso.
Sushi at Cho Cho San, Potts Point
Chaco Ramen
Where: Darlinghurst and Bondi
The original Chaco Ramen in Darlinghurst was born from chef Keita Abe’s love of ramen. Today, the simple menu features just seven ramen options from the classic fat soy with chashu pork to the innovative yuzu scallop or chilli coriander chicken. The second outpost opened in Bondi in 2021 and is styled more like a ramen izakaya, serving yakitori (grilled meat skewers), prawn fried rice and dumplings.
Chaco Ramen, Darlinghurst
Bay Nine Omakase
Where: Circular Quay
The Japanese word ‘omakase’ roughly translates to “I’ll leave it up to you”. In restaurant terms, that means putting your faith in the chef and eating what they serve you. At Bay Nine Omakase, just 10 diners can sit at the Omakase Counter and feast on an ever-changing 11-course menu. Pair it with the sake tasting menu for the full experience.
Bay Nine Omakase, Circular Quay
Rising Sun Workshop
Where: Newtown
In the back streets of Newtown, motorcycles and ramen make the perfect pairing. Rising Sun Workshop is part communal motorbike workshop and part restaurant, specialising in ramen during the day (there’s even a bacon and egg breakfast ramen) and moving onto dishes like taro gnocchi, sambal barramundi and tamarind pork chop in the evenings. The noises of revving engines and clanging tools make for a surprisingly soothing soundtrack.
Rising Sun Workshop, Newtown - Credit: andre&dominique
Kurumac
Where: Marrickville
East-West fusion meets Inner West cool at Kurumac, a laid-back cafe with jazz and hip hop on the speakers. The menu is short; just half a dozen options for breakfast and the same again for lunch. Start the day with Japanese scrambled eggs, a cod roe toastie or congee, then move on to sushi and sashimi, soba salad bowls or their famous ox tongue curry.
Cod roe toastie at Kurumac, Marrickville
Haco
Where: Surry Hills
A tiny, 12-seater housed in a concrete cube, Haco dishes up a 20-course, omakase-style set menu – rather theatrically – to guests seated on a centrepiece wraparound counter. Expect plates like fried lotus root with dashi jelly served within a crab to fried soft-yolked quails egg with pops of caviar. The entire experience lasts about three hours, but taking it slow is worth it to truly savour this art-meets-food marathon.
Haco, Surry Hills
Ante
Where: Newtown
Japan is famous for its ‘jazz kissa’, cafes where people gather to have a drink and listen to music (usually imported records). Ante brings this tradition to Newtown – sit down, order one of the 60 top quality sakes on offer and choose something from the 2,500-strong record collection. The food is exceptional too and the menu constantly changing. Food is simple, snacky and easily shareable – torched bonito with blood orange and ponzu, fried potato mochi with everything bagel sprinkles or grilled Murray cod with chicken fat and spinach.
Ante, Newtown - Credit: Ante
Oborozuki
Where: Circular Quay
Another take on Japanese-French fusion, Oborozuki in Circular Quay is fine dining at its finest. The food is delicate, refined and high on technique, with plates looking almost too pretty to eat. There are luxurious touches like a sake sommelier who can recommend the perfect pairing and then offers a choice of crystal glasses from a Louis Vuitton trunk. And you can start your meal with a little beluga caviar if you’re feeling fancy. Choose from the a la carte menu or the six- or eight course teppanyaki to watch the skilled chefs at work.
Oborozuki, Circular Quay - Credit: Steven Woodburn
Amuro
Where: Darlinghurst
Compact and carefully considered, Amuro in Darlinghurst is more of a bar than a restaurant but the snack menu (that changes weekly) is more than enough to keep you satisfied. It’s inspired by the manga series Shinya Shokudo, which tells the stories of customers who pass through a late night Tokyo restaurant, and the dishes cover the whole country from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. Let the staff recommend the perfect sake and a dish to pair with it – you won’t be disappointed.
Amuro - Credit: Tomo Okai | Amuro
Besuto
Where: Circular Quay
A little slice of Osaka in Circular Quay, Besuto is an authentic omakase experience, with just eight diners seated around a high bench with the chef in the centre. There’s no menu, just 15 courses of some of the most exquisite Japanese food you will ever eat. You could get chawanmushi (a traditional steamed egg custard), glacier 51 toothfish in yuzu miso or spanner crab with Tasmanian sea urchin and salmon roe. After dinner, head next door to Bar Besuto to try something from their collection of ultra-rare Japanese whiskies.
Besuto, Circular Quay - Credit: Kitti Gould Initials
