Thursday evening and Stef and I had arranged to try Wabi Sabi after hearing some good reviews. We love Japanese food and so after work, jumped on a tram and headed to Smith Street.
It's a cute little restaurant with Japanese roofing inside and an outdoor area at the back. The drinks list is extensive covering sake, shochu and wine but we restrained.
It's a cute little restaurant with Japanese roofing inside and an outdoor area at the back. The drinks list is extensive covering sake, shochu and wine but we restrained.
- Fresh snapper sashimi and daikon salad
- Lightly scorched ocean trout and scallop sushi
- Hiramasa kingfish contemporary sashimi
So we started off with some sashimu style dishes. The snapper salad was fresh and zingy and we enjoyed the balance of fish and salad and lucky for me not too much raw carrot.
The scallop sushi and ocean trout sushi were probably one of my favourite dishes of the night. The fish was fresh and plump; thick slices which is what I like and interestingly enough pre seasoned so no need for the old soy sauce dipping action.
The kingfish was also good and again I loved the generous slices but I didn't enjoy the grated daikon and soy mixture which served as a topping. I found the texture of it weirdly mushy and grainy but Stef liked it so it obviously would be popular with some palettes.
Next fried stuff. The special tempura was beautifully light and crunchy and the dipping sauce a gentle blend of savoury flavours. There was a good choice of veggies, white fish, one prawn and some shiitake and enoki mushrooms.
I was intrigued by the white fish and proscuitto spring roll on the menu but execution of it wasn't as intriguing. We found it a little weird, hard and dry.
The stuffed chicken wings with pork gyoza filling were another favourite. Generously plump and savoury, juicy and meaty they were very good. There's a lot of social media chatter about the same dish at Akachochin in South Wharf and I have tried the version there and I have to say the Wabi Sabi wing gets my vote. It's just bigger and yummier and slightly crispier. I found the gyoza filling at Akachochin a bit too light and watery almost with a weird sweet flavour from the wombok or cabbage and prefer the dense meat consistency here.
I was intrigued by the white fish and proscuitto spring roll on the menu but execution of it wasn't as intriguing. We found it a little weird, hard and dry.
The stuffed chicken wings with pork gyoza filling were another favourite. Generously plump and savoury, juicy and meaty they were very good. There's a lot of social media chatter about the same dish at Akachochin in South Wharf and I have tried the version there and I have to say the Wabi Sabi wing gets my vote. It's just bigger and yummier and slightly crispier. I found the gyoza filling at Akachochin a bit too light and watery almost with a weird sweet flavour from the wombok or cabbage and prefer the dense meat consistency here.
Tender grilled black cod was overly salty so not a patch on Nobu's version sadly. The grilled yellowtail was not special enough really and didn't live up to the description on the menu.
Tender pork belly kakuni stew was indeed tender but the overpowering flavour was just sweetness and it really needed some other dimensions. The best version I've had of this was at Purple Peanuts where there was also a chilli heat.
Our last dish was Wagyu beef sashimi bruschetta. Very rich and meaty the beef tartare was good. I was surprised it was chopped up meat because the sashimi description conjured up idea of sliced beef like carpaccio. Nevertheless, flavours were good. I found the drizzle of mayo to be unnecessary as it was rich and fatty enough. Definitely a dish to share.
We were very full but couldn't resist a sweet finish so we enjoyed green tea creme brulee, green tea ice cream and black sesame ice cream.
The best was the black sesame ice cream. The green tea creme brulee was more like green tea mousse which is not necessarily a bad thing but I didn't like the red bean addition. The green tea ice cream could have had a stronger hit of flavour.
Overall Wabi Sabi is a good Japanese place with a wide menu. I'd return for the chicken wings and sashimi.
The best was the black sesame ice cream. The green tea creme brulee was more like green tea mousse which is not necessarily a bad thing but I didn't like the red bean addition. The green tea ice cream could have had a stronger hit of flavour.
Overall Wabi Sabi is a good Japanese place with a wide menu. I'd return for the chicken wings and sashimi.
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