Amuro — Restaurant in Sydney

Lily and I came here for our monthsary to celebrate 73rd month together ❤️ (we visit a japanese place every month on the 8th and have done so since we got together in 2017, but only very special places get a review) My wife had organised us to visit this quaint sake bar "Amuro", and i had no idea what a treat this would end up being.

Now ladies and gentlemen, a prewarning. If you want cheap comfort food, i implore you - go somewhere else. This place oozes the type of vibe where you feel comfortable relaxing in as soon as you sit down, esp if you sit at the bar. EXPECT to be pampered by very friendly staff.  If you are a sake noob like me, the owner Kei is very open and knowledgeable in sharing his insights and expertise on different sake with you.  The dishes served are also top notch, and I'll go through them one by one (we ate so much...)

We were given otoshi as an apetitzer side, which is a marinated daikon with a slight chilli kick. We were then recommended a light fruity sake, a pineapple flavour and a kiwifruit one. They were light and easy to down. Now, wifey and I aren't huge drinkers, so we were cautious.  They went down a treat and soon i felt myself being curious about the next sake. Kei introduced me to a ume sake, and as soon as my lips touched it, i knew i could drink this all night, it was sweet with no overpowering alcoholic "metho" feel, but you know that alcohol is strong.

We ordered Rock oysters, which was topped with diced apple or pear, with a salted vinegar, Ama Ebi so fresh and chilled, Amuro pickles, Mentaiko Potato, Kingfish with orange kosho, the best is having sweet orange sauce mixed with fresh kingfish and popping fingerlimes as you chew down on the sashimi. Takowasa is always a favourite bar side, the Mushroom tempura is well seasoned, didnt need the traditional dashi dipping sauce and you can eat all of the grilled Shishamo fish, bones and all.  As these as small "tapas" style dishes, and given the quality of food, of course we had to order more. But first, back to drinks. By this time we had finished the umesake & Kei recommended a fiery sake. This went down really well with the next lot of food we ordered, which was the corn & miso butter, mentaiko rice and duck breast.  The miso butter and grilled corn was a match made in heaven, as was the duck breast with a sweet sour plum sauce and leek. The best thing was that the duck breast was super tender and as you chew you can taste the marinated star anise flavours fed into the duck beforehand.  The mentaiko rice arrived at our table just in time. It was a whole fat piece of mentaiko topped with a generous serving of finely sliced shallots on hot rice. A carb lover's dream.

One of the lovely chefs, Kei's business partner Joy asked us if we liked congee.  Apparently she had made a couple of off menu items that night, one of which was scallop congee, and as by then we then had another type of ume sake (a sweet and a more natural version), i convinced myself i must have this congee, so we ordered that too. Mental note and protip: if you go there, ask what the off meni items are for the night before ordering. (I saw many envious eyes on our congee from other diners lol)

Soon it was dessert time. We ordered both desserts as one of them was a coffee jelly, and the other was advertised as a Monaka "One bite". The coffee jelly was super easy to eat topped with cream and a dallop of thick coffee cream as well. The monako one bite was even more of a surprise, will keep that a secret for you to try.

The coolest drink was served to us, to end the night.  I thought Kei was kidding when he said bubble tea and put yet another sake in front of us.

As soon as wifey and I took a sip, we realised he wasnt kidding, it tasted exactly like alcoholic milk bubble tea.

I think we went in and expected a cute dining experience eating tapas style food, but what we ended up was creating a full degustation for ourselves with great sake pairing recommendation from the owner Kei!

Thank you again for our wonderful 73rd monthsary...

Unique and rare sake and other curated drinks served with a variety of tasty dishes. Service here is deliberately personal even by Japanese standards, so if you want to get wasted and chug everything, not here you don't. Drinks are selected for you, to educate your palate whether these notes go well with the next dish or the next pour builds on top of the last pour so that you can pick up similarities and contrasts between different styles and methods for brewing. But even the non sake selection is surprising, intense earl grey or shiso liquers that are exceptional by any standard. Be ready to have a conversation, even as an antisocial type I can be drawn out of my shell here, bonded by a love of Japanese culture and appreciation of the excellent, super tasty and ever evolving menu. Simple ingredients like pablano peppers grilled over fire, japanese bar staples like mentaiko potato, secret recipes for a pickled tomato, perfectly grilled quail or fish collars or wagyu, a bit of tempura, rice with unagi, some raw ebi or wasabi dressed tako, playful desserts, there's just many many things for your palate to enjoy here. Kei is host at the counter as a product of many years in the hospitality industry in different hats and a deep love for nostalgia and Japanese design and hospitality concepts and this is something truly unique in Sydney. If you have time to experience a laid back pacing then you might find yourself enchanted by the cosy, lively, friendly mood here. Walk ins are the way to go for first timers, there might be a short queue on some nights and since they are not a fast and high turnover bar it might have a wait attached but...

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