Sokyo at The Star, Pyrmont

My trip to Japan earlier this year just about ruined me. Leaving a land where every single piece of sushi was just perfection pretty much left me cynical and cold on the inside. But then came the most epic meal I’ve ever had in Sydney at Sokyo (Level G, The Darling at The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont)!

Helen and I chose to sit at the sushi bar so we could watch chef Chase Kojima work his magic. We start with a carafe of Bishonen “Beautiful Boy” sake ($21) which is smooth, fruity but not overly sweet and then the fireworks begin.

We begin with ruby red slices of Tuna with mountain potato, shiso leaf and umeboshi (pickled ume plum). The julienned mountain potato has a bit of a sticky mouthfeel but the sweetness of the umeboshi is perfect with the tuna. Hay smoked bonito with minced ginger and chives has a smoky meatiness to it which I loved. The Mackerel with chilli oil, soy and ginger is delicate and sings a zingy song to my tastebuds and the Alfonsino kinmedai is sweet with a delicate texture.


We are lucky to catch the truffle menu before it ended and just had to order the ChaseToroToro ($15/piece), bluefin tuna belly with white sea urchin, black truffle and wrapped in crisp seaweed. MIND BLOWN!!! Not to sound dirty but this was seriously the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. The buttery flavour of tuna with the briny goodness of sea urchin and the incredible aroma of truffles… be still my heart!


Short Rib Beef Skewers ($17) grilled Robata-style just melts in the mouth, the cubes of beef so freakishly tender with caramelised eschallots alternating in between to provide some crunch and relief from the richness.


Cuttlefish Tempura ($16) has an ethereally light batter and only needed the briefest of dips in the chilli, tarragon and ponzu sauce.


We are treated to an off the menu special of Scampi and Foie gras which was just bloody amazing. The scampi was lightly seared and wonderously sweet and the foie gras brought a level of rich umami happiness that had us closing our eyes in bliss. Paper thin slices of radish and apple refreshed the palate and I would’ve been happy if our meal ended there.


But it didn’t end because what did Chase have in store? TUNA! That there is part of the 133kg tuna he’d purchased that very morning!


He normally ages the tuna for a week but we are treated to slices of chutoro and kotoro. I’d not heard of kotoro before but Chase told us it was his favourite part of the tuna and we watched in awe as he carefully sliced away with such precision and scored the kotoro.


And then there was the Otoro which is the reason why life is worth living. Seriously just look at that beauty! The otoro is fatty and unctuous and just so damn perfect I could weep with joy.


Also from the truffle menu was the 150g Wagyu Oyster Blade ($62) with a marble score of +5. The medium rare slices of Wagyu are beautifully seared and served with a salad dressed with a black truffle champagne vinaigrette, a handful of crispy garlic chips and blanketed with black gold.


And then Chase came around and MADE IT RAIN TRUFFLES! YESSSSSSSS the fragrance! The heady aroma! Oh how life is grand!


We were starting to fill up but salmon is my favourite fish in all the lands (in case you’re interested, tuna is my next fave followed by butterfish and then cod) and so both fresh Salmon belly ($6 each) and Seared salmon nigiri were ordered and they were buttery, fatty and just glorious.


Helen chose to have her Scallop nigiri ($4.50 each) fresh but I have texture issues and wanted mine Scallop aburi (mmm burning).


I had reached explodey point but somehow found the room to fit in an Eel nigiri ($6). I loved the lime which awoke my food comatosed brain whose only thought was that it was eel-licious (hurhur sorrynotsorry).


Jean-Baptiste, the general manager of Sokyo swung by to have a chat and next thing we knew we are trying the most amazing sake- a 10 year old bottle of Dewazakura sake. It was smooth and ridiculously easy to drink. Too easy.


We’d decided we would share just one dessert buuuut out came a dessert platter ($26) and golly, what a dessert platter!


Donatsu are fat and fluffy donuts with a creamy pineapple mascarpone filling and a silky smooth creme fraiche ice cream.


The wedge of Tofu Cheesecake is a winner, tasting like sweet tofu-fa! I could’ve happily polished off an entire cheesecake 😛


The Yuzu Souffle had quite an impressive height but uh by the time we took pics it deflated. My bad! But hey it was still tasty! The tangy yuzu was the perfect match with the accompanying creme fraiche ice cream and didn’t really need the cubes of passionfruit jelly.


Goma Street is a tower of dark chocolate discs with layers of caramelised white chocolate in between and knobbly chunks of black sesame crumble. It felt like such a crime smashing the tower! The black sesame ice cream is a perfect way to round off our meal.


Like seriously guys, Sokyo is now my fave restaurant in Sydney! Obvs it’s not the place to come weekly unless you’re loaded but it’s definitely the place for a treat yo’self occasion.

ChocolateSuze dined at Sokyo with a $100 gift voucher that was used to partially fund the cost of this meal. The remainder was personally paid for