Sokyo at The Star, Pyrmont

So everyone knows that the best sushi is the freshest, right? Not always. Ageing some types of fish - especially tuna - is a desired process that enhances its taste and texture, just like beef. It's a practice they carry out with pride at Sokyo, overseen by Executive Chef Chase Kojima.


Executive Chef Chase Kojima

Sydneysiders didn't know much about Chef Chase Kojima when he first opened Sokyo -- a portmanteau of Sydney and Tokyo -- in November 2011. He arrived with impressive credentials, the son of San Francisco sushi chef Sachio Kojima and a CV of stints at Nobu restaurants from all over the world, including Dubai, London, Los Angeles and the Bahamas.


Sokyo dining room

Although Sokyo can seat up to 116 diners, it still maintains a sense of intimacy, helped by dark walls and floorboards offset by warm lights overhead. The scalloped wall at the far end reminds me of fish scales, and there's a harmonious sense of repetition with the curved wooden chairs grouped around each table.


Kingfish miso ceviche $20
Green chilli, crisp potato and miso ceviche

Today I'm dining with several other bloggers as a guest of Sokyo, an intimate lunch in one of their private dining rooms. We're plied with Ruinart champagne to start and then treated to a seemingly non-stop parade of dishes matched with sakes and wine.

The kingfish miso ceviche sets the tone for the meal, simple but sophisticated, served in reassuringly heavy stone bowls. The kingfish is plump and sweet, doused in a miso dressing and finished with fine tendrils of deep fried potato strings and thin slices of green chilli.


Maguro tuna tataki $28
Seared tuna, carbonised leek aioli, pickled mushrooms, asparagus and smoked ponzu

If there was a beauty pageant for food, the maguro tuna tataki would be a surefire finalist. The tuna has been aged for a week so the flesh has taken on a melting softness, seared ever-so-briefly on each side. It rests on a bed of carbonised leek aioli - where carbonised means burnt, we presume - surrounded by a garden of edibles flowers marked with shimmering pebbles of ginger gel that burst in the mouth.


Chase Toro Toro $15 each
Bluefin tuna belly, white sea urchin and black truffle sushi

It's a shame that the Australia truffle season has since ended because the Chase Toro Toro is truly worth pursuing. An assembly of the finest bling in gastronomic luxury - that's bluefin tuna belly, white sea urchin and black truffle - it's all piled onto a mound of sushi rice riding a magic carpet of crisp nori. There's the buttery richness of sea urchin, the gentle softness of tuna and the musky aroma of truffle against the briny brittleness of toasted nori. How do you say awesome in Japanese? Sugoi.


Snapper and spanner crab spicy soy $20
Dried shiso, capers and spicy white soy

Snapper and spanner crab are dressed in this season's favourite overcoat: microplaned radish. Deep fried shallots add a textural crunch. The spicy white soy is mild in flavour, but baby capers provide gentle pops of saltiness.


Moreton Bay Bug $26
Green papaya pomelo salad with sambal mayo and black pepper amazu

The Moreton Bay Bug tempura is the most popular tempura variation ordered by customers, says Sokyo General Manager, Jean-Baptiste Robert. The tempura batter is impressively light and crunchy, achieved by the use of cold water within the batter. The water explodes when the batter hits the hot oil, creating pockets of air that translate to a feather-light crunch.

Dip the tempura morsels in either the mayonnaise spiced up with sambal or the black pepper amazu sauce made with rice vinegar and sugar. I preferred the lightness of the amazu, although the green papaya pomelo salad does a great job as a palate cleanser too.


Tempura jamon $28
Tempura cauliflower, premium Iberico jamon, yuzu hollandaise and black truffles

Tempura cauliflower gets upstaged by a flashy support cast that includes shavings of Iberico jamon and truffle. It sounds completely over the top in theory, but somehow it works altogether, even if the cauliflower ends up in the background.


Kurobuta pork belly $14 for two skewers
Daikon, sansho and mustard aioli

The kurobuta pork belly skewers are cooked on a robata grill. That means slow grilling over charcoal so the smoke permeates the meat.


Kurobuta pork belly 

The skewers are trimmed so each edge is precisely flush, an alternating pattern of succulent pork belly - rendered so the fat has soaked through the meat - and the juicy sweetness of daikon.


Dengakuman $39
Caramelised miso cod, Japanese salsa and cucumber salad

Caramelised miso cod isn't cheap but the dainty mouthful is so darn good you'll want to savour it in tiny bites. The miso glaze is sweet and sticky, clinging to the tender flakes of buttery soft cod.


Executive Chef Chase Kojima shaving Tasmanian black truffles over wagyu

Executive Chef Chase Kojima pops in and out of our private room throughout lunch. He shaves a generous amount of truffles over the wagyu oyster blade, filling the room with the aroma of truffles. The truffles were dug up only the week prior in Tasmania, attended by Kojima himself.


Wagyu truffle $62
Wagyu oyster blade MBS 5+ 150grams, medium rare, served with garlic chips, black truffles, fresh salad and black truffle vinaigrette

The wafer thin shavings of truffle fall like autumn leaves on the thick slices of wagyu oyster blade. It's a killer combo, the beef lush with fat, broken up by the welcome addition of bitter radicchio leaves.


Sushi: chu-toro, kingfish belly, salmon belly, scampi and spicy tuna on crispy rice

We're all taken aback when we each receive our sushi platter bearing five types of onigiri sushi. We start from the front, revelling in the plump luxury of chu-toro tuna belly before progressing through the kingfish belly, salmon belly, scampi and spicy tuna, the last one served on a gold brick of deep-fried rice.


Strawberry meringue (off-the-menu special)
Sheep's milk burnt butter sorbet, caramelised milk powder, salad burnet, pineapple sage and shiso salad

Desserts are a trio of temptations. The strawberry meringue is off-the-menu but here's hoping they'll add it soon. It's a light and refreshing conclusion of sheep's milk burnt butter sorbet garnished with shiso micro leaves and shards of meringue.


Goma Street $13
Caramelised white chocolate with sesame ice cream

I'd quite happily live on Goma Street if I could. Discs of dark chocolate are sandwiched with black sesame mousse, standing tall beside a quenelle of the smooth black sesame ice cream on a rubble of caramelised white chocolate.


Sokyo Mont Blanc $19
Black truffle Mont Blanc, chestnut, chocolate and black truffle ice cream

And if you could please a Mont Blanc fan any further, shavings of black truffle should do it. The sides of the Mont Blanc terrine are plastered with black truffle but it's the black truffle ice cream that commands our intention. The flavour of black truffle is so intense, I want to close my eyes so I can quietly appreciate the moment.


Stools at the sushi counter

Our media gift bags had included a $100 gift voucher, so Chocolatesuze and I return a few weeks later for dinner. Sitting at the sushi counter gives us the best view of all the action in the kitchen, but we're a little taken aback when we realise that Chef Chase Kojima himself will be preparing all of our sushi tonight.


Chef Chase Kojima preparing sashimi

It takes me a while to realise there's a panel of glass separating us from the sushi. There are no reflections, fingerprints or markings on the single curved sheet of glass.


Sokyo chef making onigiri sushi

An army of sushi chefs work with quiet speed behind the counter. The restaurant quickly reaches capacity, and plates of sushi and sashimi fly out thick and fast.


South Australian tuna sashimi $5.50 per piece
With mountain potato, shiso and pickled ume plum

Chef Chase Kojima warns us that the mountain potato will be sticky to the touch. I've had mountain potato before in Japan, but it's the first time I've had it in Sydney. Chef Chase Kojima says he's found a grower who supplies him with all types of traditional Japanese produce.

The spears of mountain potato have a oozing stickiness much like okra, matched well with the pickled ume plum and triangle of shiso against the softness of raw South Australian tuna.


Hay-smoked bonito (market price) 

Hay-smoked bonito is a surprise dish but one we both love immediately. The bonito is infused with an incredible smokiness, enhanced with ginger and a sprinkle of finely chopped chives.


Chase Toro Toro $15 each
Bluefin tuna belly, white sea urchin and black truffle sushi

The Chase Toro Toro is still on the menu, and it's every bit as good as we remembered, a two-bite explosion of tuna belly, white sea urchin and aromatic black truffle.


Sushi chef adding the finishing touches to another order of Chase Toro Toro 


Mackerel sushi (market price) 
with chilli oil and soy ginger

There's a great sense of dramatics when each piece of sushi is prepared and laid before you, one by one so you can eat them as fresh as possible. The mackerel sushi glistens with its glaze of chilli oil and soy sauce, firm and succulent on its pillow of sushi rice.


Scampi and foie gras (off-the-menu special)

We're treated to Chef Chase Kojima's favourite dish, an off-the-menu special of scampi and foie gras. We both fall quiet at first bite, the sweetness of seared scampi lifted by the rich decadence of foie gras. It's a ridiculously sexy dish, pepped up with matchsticks of green apple, shavings of radish and echoes of white miso with soy.


Beef robata $17
Short rib, caramelised eschallots and barbecue teriyaki

From the robata menu we order the beef short rib, a carnivore's paddle pop of fatty rib interspersed with caramelised eschallots glazed with sweet teriyaki sauce.


Cuttlefish tempura $16
Chilli de arbol and tarragon ponzu sauce

The cuttlefish tempura is another success of tempura lightness. A squeeze of lime is all that's needed for the tender curl of cuttlefish encased in a cloud of batter.


Chef Chase Kojima with the tail of his recently purchased 133kg tuna

Chef Chase Kojima normally ages his tuna for a week but he's keen to share part of the prime 133kg tuna he'd successfully won at the Sydney Fish Market auction only a few days before. After some considered inspection, he declares that the tuna tail is ready for eating right now, giving us a quick lesson in tuna biology as he fillets the fish.


Tuna love


Chef Chase Kojima preparing the tuna


Chef Chase Kojima slicing the chu-toro sashimi


Chu-toro tuna sashimi (market price)

Chu-toro is the medium fatty section of the tuna belly, easily distinguished by its deep pink appearance. It's soft and yielding, easily slipping down the throat with a sigh.


Kotoro tuna sashimi (market price)

Kotoro, we're told, is only found in larger-sized tuna. It's Chef Chase Kojima's favourite part but where others usually mash it with a spoon to create a tuna tataki, he prefers to score it. "If you go in the right direction and make lots of fine cuts, it becomes so tender and tasty," he tells us. He's right. It's a collision of flavour with pillow-like softness and one of my highlights of the night.

Chef Chase Kojima adding wasabi oil with the ootoro


Ootoro sushi (market price)

The ootoro is the prime part of the tuna belly, the fattiest part and almost white in appearance. This part of the tuna is so lush with fat it's almost buttery.


Chef Chase Kojima shaving truffles onto the wagyu oyster blade

It's the last few weeks of truffle season so we order the truffle wagyu oyster blade while it's still on the menu. Chef Chase Kojima comes out of the kitchen so he can shave the truffles right next to us. Watching them float down is a magical sight.


Wagyu truffle $62
Wagyu oyster blade MBS 5+ 150grams, medium rare, served with garlic chips, black truffles, fresh salad and black truffle vinaigrette

There's an eiderdown of truffles draped over the thick slices of seared wagyu steak. We revel in it one last time while we can.


Chef Chase Kojima slicing the alfonsino kinmedai

We switch back to sushi mode as Chef Chase Kojima prepares the alfonsino kinmedai. I'd chosen this as I'd hadn't tried this as sashimi before. Alfonsino kinmedai also goes by the name of imperador, red bream and Tasmanian snapper.


Alfonsino kinmedai (NZ) $5.50 per piece

There's a gentle sweetness to the alfonsino kinmedai, brushed with the lightest glaze of soy.


[front] Salmon belly sushi (Tasmania) $6 per piece and
[rear] Seared salmon sushi (Tasmania) $4 per piece

We move onto the Tasmanian salmon. Salmon belly slices are rich and fatty, sprinkled with lime zest, sancho pepper and kelp. The seared salmon is scattered with yukari, flakes of dried red shiso leaves, and crowned with a dollop of spicy aged daikon.


[left] Raw scallop (Japan) $4 per piece and
[right] Seared scallop (Japan) $4 per piece

I'm a huge fan of raw scallop, relishing their sweetness, but Suze and Chase both prefer theirs seared. Suze is so full I end up scoring half of hers anyway, flamed with a blowtorch so the edges have a smoky kiss.


BBQ freshwater eel (Taiwan) $6 per piece

The barbecue freshwater eel comes from Taiwan. Chef Chase Kojima confesses he's not a fan of the strong flavour of eel and tempers it with lime zest. The rich fattiness has been reduced, but it's actually a pity as that's why I love it so much.


Chef Chase Kojima making my chu-toro and sea urchin roe hand roll

"Is there any more sushi you want?" Chef Chase Kojima asks. I can't resist ordering a hand roll to finish, looking forward to the crackle of nori against warm rice.


Chu-toro and uni sea urchin hand roll (market price)

I can't decide what I want and let Chef Chase Kojima choose. He says he usually likes vegetables in his temaki, or hand roll, but he quickly picks me as a devotee of chu-toro. It's one helluva temaki with chu-toro and sea urchin roe rolled up with rice in two sheets of nori.


Chef's dessert sampler $26
[from top] Goma Street; tofu cheesecake; yuzu souffle and donatsu with pinapple mascarpone filling

We order the chef's dessert sampler to share, a quartet of sweetness that includes the Goma Street we'd tried before, tofu cheesecake, yuzu souffle and two donatsu donuts perched on silver spoons.

The donatsu Japanese donuts hide a surprise filling of pineapple mascarpone. Their fluffiness is the perfect bedfellow for the accompanying scoop of creme fraiche ice cream.


Tofu cheesecake with thyme sugar and strawberry consomme

The yuzu souffle is deliriously good, rising tall from the ramekin but sinking quickly as we took photos. The souffle is gracefully airy, zingy with yuzu citrus and so tasty I end up scraping the ramekin clean.

But the surprise of the night is the tofu cheesecake, our initial nervous trepidation allayed at first bite. The square of cheesecake is whisper light, perched on a trail of strawberries, thyme sugar and passionfruit jelly.

It's familiar but sophisticated, much like the overall experience at Sokyo. I'd definitely recommend sitting at the sushi counter - that way you get a free theatre show thrown in as well.






Grab Your Fork dined for lunch as a guest of Sokyo. The dinner above was partially funded by a $100 voucher received from Sokyo - the remainder was paid for personally.

Sokyo Japanese Restaurant
Level G, The Darling at The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9657 9161

Opening hours:
Breakfast daily 7am-10.30am
Lunch Thursday to Saturday 12pm-2.30pm
Dinner 7 nights 5.30pm-9.30pm (til 10.30pm Thursday to Saturday)


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