Jazushi, Devonshire St, Surry Hills

Jazushi, Devonshire St, Surry Hills
Wednesday 7 February, 2007

I remember when Jazushi first opened - several years ago - and a music buddy of mine dragged me along to try out this Japanese restaurant that offers live jazz on the weekends. What an interesting mix. Needless to say, I became a firm fan.

Their website describes the experience as,

"Jazushi" a combination of fine food, Japanese and Eurasian fusion, coupled with a well sought after funky, groovy typical Jazz bar offering live acts and recorded well known Jazz musicians with a line up of events to come. Try the food before or after the company b, Belvoir Theatre. Just 1 minutes walk to the Belvoir theatre Clisdell St. Prominently placed in Surry Hills near Strawberry Hills Pub and 4 minutes walk Central station off Elizabeth Street. Spacious casual with Jazz sophistication. Function area available. Out door garden area covered in with Live Bamboo in Oriental setting and heated.

Tonight my theatre buddy and I were off to see 'Hedwig and the angry inch' at the Tom Mann Theatre, so needed somewhere close by to dine beforehand. Jazushi!

We arrived and were greeted like old friends. At 6pm the front dining space was barely full but by 7pm it was almost a packed house. I love the look and feel of Jazushi - it has exposed brick and long share tables at the front, a stark white dining space at the rear and outdoor garden. It's such a intriguing place - the decor doesn't fit the environment but it works.

After ordering drinks we were delivered a bowl of beans to eat - this comes complimentary to each table. When Jazushi first opened they were serving roasted peanuts as a complimentary starter but the beans are a nice touch.

The idea behind the menu is to order plates to share. So we decided on the following dishes:

- Beef Tataki sliced seared beef roll with marinated onion in balsamic
- Camembert Tempura with teriyaki crème sauce
- JFC Jazushi fried Chicken with yuzu citrus sauce on bed of tartare

The beef tataki was sensational - the rolled beef was rare and it was stuffed with onion slices. This provided a slightly zingy flavour and even though there were 8 rolls on the plate we polished them off in record time.

The camembert was deliciously decadent - lightly crisp on the outside and wonderfully soft and creamy on the inside. We shared with our waiter that it was one of the best dishes we had ever tasted and he responded that they have several regulars that return time after time just for the camembert.

The chicken was fantastic - presented in a tall stack each piece was tender and had a great coating of Jazushi fried skin. The citrus sauce added a lovely tart taste.

We were enjoying the food so much and the atmosphere.......our entire share table started talking about our meals and suggesting dishes to try - it was like one big happy family. On a high we decided to order dessert. Without hesitation we chose the dessert platter thinking we would have a taste of 3-4 different desserts.

Oh, how wrong we were. What was delivered to the table was 4 full size desserts on an enormous platter. Clearly, our eyes were way too big for our bellies but we had a great laugh among ourselves and with our friendly neighbours. The four desserts were:

- Chocolate brulee (the absolute stand out)
- Green tea ice cream served with red beans
- Coffee pudding
- Vanilla and chocolate ice cream

We were in heaven. I'll be back within a month.

Jazushi - 145 Devonshire St, Surry Hills - (02) 9699-8977

http://www.jazushi.com.au/