Izy.Aki — Attraction in Sydney

Intimacy and connection is what you buy with your spend at Izy.Aki. An omakase is more than just a meal, it’s a chance to meet the people who put their knowledge, training and culinary influences onto your plate and into your glass, and observe the mechanisms of a restaurant. Taking over the former site of Saint Peter, you can see the restaurant journey of owner/chef Darren Templeman in the set-up: it has all led to this.

Eighteen guests are arranged in comfortable backed stools along a restaurant-length counter that is at once bar, raw bar and kitchen. A $210/10 course spend buys you a leisurely front row seat to watch four industry stars at work. You can also slip in for $125/6 courses but you’re going to miss out on some magic. Aurélien Jeffredo seats you and guides your drinking journey. He peppers it with snippets about the sake brewer who makes the mushroomy Urakasumi junmai shu sake ($98/720ml) we settle upon. His wingman, Jimmy, will mix up a perfectly balanced wasave ($23) to keep you occupied while your sake dispenser is set up.

Head chef Bonnie Daseul is the backbone of the team, lovingly ministering to Misty Valley mushrooms on the hibachi that make the 5-day aged WA Nannygai into a masterpiece. Topped with a creamy hat of shaved foie gras, her Abrolhos Island scallop with shiitake cream is another standout.

And Darren… well I’ve been eating his dishes for nearly two decades, so I believe me when I say the free-range egg (formerly called ‘duck egg Atelier’) with foie gras, smoked eel and trout roe is his best ever. Texture is a highlight in his pretty puddle of Campwin Beach prawns and pickled mushrooms. But it’s the bravery and balance playing with hamachi sashimi and polarising flavours like kimchi-pickled persimmon, daikon and bottarga that renewed my obsession. Well, that and the Hokkaido matcha soufflé, a version of which has been on his menus...

the best escape in life is good food

A solo dinner is something I love. To celebrate my personal life wins with a well deserved date with awesome food sounds like bliss to me 🥰

After hearing of this place from a fellow foodie, my stomach was already rumbling. This omakase is not your usual dinner… Romantically lit 🔥 served in an izakaya style environment perfectly paired with laid back vibes and the exceptional service from the chef Darren and bartender Aurelien! 😇

The food was something I’d never forget, it was definitely a full star restaurant for me and that is RARE. For $180pp, you’re treated with a 10 course menu that will for sure leave you absolutely stuffed. 🤯 The ingredients are insanely fresh and the skill conveyed through the dishes is impeccable.

On this night, I was treated with dishes such as foie gras in hen egg (my favourite; i want to eat this again 😭), potato mochi, delicious sashimi, beautiful grilled fish, scampi, 3 cuts of meat with 3 different wasabis and you can’t forget that hojicha flan with donut ice cream. (I still need that recipe 🤪)

Not only was everything presented with class but it was perfectly cooked with love and care. A special note to Aurelien for making me feel so warm and welcome with our conversations, tossing up drinks like second nature. The wasabi cocktail was an interesting and spicy mix; warming up your tastebuds for what’s next.

It was a treat and I’m so glad to have dined here. It’s 5 stars on google for a reason. I’ll be back… but with a date next time 😘

Thank you for the feed 😍

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/6

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My family and I visited Izy Aki twice on Nov and I must say we were very surprised by the food every time 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

When I came to Izy Aki, literally, I recognized Izy Aki’s design takes its inspiration in form from 🇯🇵Japandi style and Izy Aki’s service have been developed in the concept of omakase, a form of Japanese dining in which guests leave themselves in the hands with full of culinary skills of a chef and receive a personalized meal which is artistic made with the finest seasonal ingredients available 🌱🐠🦐That why you should not be surprised when setting down at Izy Aki’s food bar without the food menus. There is a truth of a term omakase lied in the word itself meaning you leave it up to the chef 👨‍🍳

It can be said that every piece is formed by hands of the talent Chef Darren Templeman, who created perfected dishes on the beautiful of ingredients in a range of styles and delivered to us the impression encompassing the quality and flavorings and the way he plated them 🤩😻

My words and photos cannot describe enough what a fantastic meal 😋Thus, do your attempt to enjoy a meal at Izy Aki suffused in a sense of adventure and service satisfaction with Templeman, is a decent man, warm and good-humored, which I appreciated, as I did his enthusiasm for his career 👏

Behind the name Izzy Aki, the owner committed to deliver an extraordinary experience modern food cuisine. Now that I have done it, food quickly disappeared from the mouth, but the experience of it remains alive in my memory 😉So, ‘never underestimate the power of good food, eating delicious food can be a life-changing...