World-class and well awarded Tetsuya’s is a benchmark of the Australia fine dining culture. Once reaching number 4 on Restaurant magazine’s list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurant, Tetsuya’s has been on my list for some time and a conveniently timed work trip to Sydney allowed me to finally visit. Known to be difficult to get a reservation at, I surprisingly managed to secure a table with less than a weeks notice.
Tetsuya’s is housed in an ornate, heritage-listed bungalow-style building nestled amongst the concrete jungle of the inner CBD. Set back from the street level by a small driveway, garden path and concrete fence, you could almost walk past without noticing, and I nearly did whilst actually looking for it. Once inside, you are transformed from the bustling city life to a peaceful, serene dining atmosphere. The dining spaces are separated into a series of rooms split across two levels, giving the feel of being inside someone’s house. Many of the rooms have a large window view to the outside Japanese-styled garden and fish pond. The rooms are decorated with colourful contemporary Japanese artwork.
The food menu consists of a single choice – the full ten-course degustation. However, in an interesting twist, and unlike many other fine dining restaurants, the courses of the degustation are not revealed beforehand and tailored from some initial questions by the waitstaff, leaving an element of surprise. Matched wines are also available.
Kicking off the dinner was a choice of whole wheat bread or a whole grain roll, both served with a rich and creamy truffled butter. This was followed by an appetiser of a thickened pea soup with bitter chocolate sorbet. An intriguing but complimenting flavour combination and a great start to the courses.
Next was a dish of soy poached tuna with roasted eggplant and coastal succulents. The poached tuna was served both as a fillet and a thinly sliced roll, bringing out the full range of textures of the fish.
This was followed by a New Zealand scampi tail with scampi oil and chicken liver parfait. Chicken liver and seafood sounds like an interesting combination, but it works.
The next dish was the famed confit petuna ocean trout with fennel salad and unpasteurised ocean trout roe. It is clear why this is Tetsuya’s signature dish, the tender and bouncy trout fillet combined with a nice “zing” from the parsley, fennel, caper and salt topping and the roe adding a juicy flavour explosion.
This was followed by grilled Murray cod with mushroom ragu. A great flavour combination, however it may have been better to have served this dish before the confit trout.
Straying from the seafood, the next dish was the tea smoked quail breast with parsnip and calamari. The calamari was thinly sliced into a ribbon and had a texture similar to rice noodle that melted in your mouth. The smoked quail was full of flavour but the portion size was a little on the small side and left me wanting more.
The final savoury dish was a seared veal tenderloin with smoked bone marrow and peas. The tenderloin was tender and juicy with some rich, smokey flavours from the marrow and the peas provided a gentle contrast. Once again, the portion size could have been a bit larger.
After a palette cleanser of a refreshing ginger ice cream and lychee granita, the first of two dessert dishes came out; poached cherries with yuzu and coconut sorbet. This was presented in a cocktail glass with layers of cherries, cream, a thin wafer and topped with chocolate soil with the sorbet scoop on top. The cherries were full of rich but not too sweet flavours with the chocolate, yuzu and coconut complimenting well.
The final dish was the famed Tetsuya’s chocolate cake. On first glance, the shiny chocolate glaze covering the whole surface might give indication to a death by sickly rich chocolate experience but you’d be wrong. Beneath the glazed shroud are hidden layers of light, airy chocolate mousse, vanilla and macadamia. A fantastic conclusion to the dining experience.
Service was impeccable throughout with waitstaff explain the components and cooking techniques of each dish and offering wine pairing suggestions to my taste.
Although dropping in its rankings, Tetsuya’s has proven it is still relevant as ever in today’s fine dining scene, however there is a need for some more variety and creativity in the menu. Otherwise, a fantastic dining experience in a world class restaurant.