Luc-San — Restaurant in Sydney

Went here for my partner and I’s anniversary dinner. Had a lovely experience here. We ordered the 6 course menu for $80pp. Sashimi (7/10): very fresh and light dish. flavour combinations were good except for the wasabi smear on every fish :( that really ruined the dish for the both of us (very punch in the face) so I would recommend it without the wasabi. Steak tartare (7.5/10): Good flavours, but we were upset that our rice wasn’t crispy :( We did like the fusion twist to it with the wasabi leaf. Pork skewers (8.5/10): Was cooked perfectly with a delicious char. !!! Highly recommend !!! I would want to try their other skewers next time i’m here. The ginger apple sauce was unique and paired well with the pork. Confit duck (8.5/10): Duck was cooked very well and the meat was very juicy. Wished our duck skin was crispier that’s our only fault. Loved that they gave us different parks of the duck. Their sauce paired with the burnt orange juice was a delicious and unique flavour combo. !!! Highly recommend !!! Soba Noodle salad (9/10): Came out with the duck. The salad was really good and fresh. Gave us a good palate cleanser to cut the richness and fullness of the duck. Only small complaint is that it was slightly too oily but it didn’t ruin the dish. I Recommend this for a greens dish !! Soft meringue and yuzu curd (5/10): Flavours were simple and can’t go wrong with it but we both found the texture to be off putting even tho that’s the whole point of the dish hahah. The yuzu curd was delicious. Vanilla soft serve with miso caramel syrup (9/10): They gave this to us in celebration of our anniversary which was very kind !! The syrup was to die for i loved it :))

Service was great and attentive,, and staff were very friendly, we exchange many laughs :) They were great in explaining each dish and giving us recommendations on how to eat it to get the best out of the dish.

The 6 course meal is good for first timers cuz it gives a good overview of the entire menu and signature...

A DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE Having wanted to check out Luc-San for a while, we were interested in their “Social Hour” [4pm -6pm] which offers a small number of cocktails, other drinks and various snacks at more competitive prices than otherwise. Table booked, we arrived five minutes late, but we were still the first customers to arrive. We had an open pick of tables and sat down by a far window and we were pleasantly surprised by the spaciousness of the venue; we also enjoyed the simple, clean design of brown and kakhi and the Japanese-style curtains: very cool and comfy. The gentleman who greeted us on arrival soon came over with several menus: one for two banquets, the a la carte and a drinks menu (the last presented with a comment, “this is where all the fun is”, or something to that effect.) When I opened this one there was nothing inside! Not a good start. We joked it away and we were then brought what seemed to be the very substantive and interesting full drinks menu. We explained that we had come to try out the “Social Hour” drinks and food menu. The guy went off to look for it but returned quickly stating that he could not find that specific menu; he did his best to remember which parts of the menu were on the “Social Hour” menu (not all as it turned out when we were able to check on the website later.) Some of what we ordered turned out to be from that menu; some of it was not. At this point we were unable to know either way. After our first cocktail we wanted to try another one and asked for the drinks menu. Our waiter brought us the same drinks list that we had initially ordered from -- it appeared that looking for the “Social Hour” specific menu had been dropped by the staff or perhaps the menu only existed on the internet. If there is no “Social Hour” menu it would have been nice to know. Unfortunately, my initial feeling of comfort at the overall ambience of the venue dropped to uncomfortability when we had such a lack of information regarding menu, prices and...

Luc-San, aptly named, for Luc Mangan has open a Japanese / French style izakya in Potts Point.

It’s unlikely you’d find it if you weren’t looking for it, for it is down a side lane up behind the old coke sign. The expansive 90 seat restaurant has a huge bar, bar height seating, banquette seating and plenty of tables. The aesthetic sees red roofs, grey walls and a huge mural of a lady with bright red lips. Scattered with some Japanese postcards, and dim lighting, the venue seems intimate despite the size and it also judging in the crowd, is suited to an older demographic like ourselves.

Being a izakaya style place, dishes an are smallish and designed to share; have things by the bite, like beer tartare morsels, oysters and robata skewers. But there’s larger dishes and sides too.

For the smaller dishes, we enjoyed their Dengaku Eggplant, Black garlic, Sauce Vierge

We had the Dijon Honey House Salad, which states Macadamias, though not sure if they’re there. I think this was a bit bland and probably could have done with some Parmesan for flavour. The Pomme Paille, or shaved crops has a Togarashi Spice but we both feel might have been better as a thicker shoestring style chip. The seasoning was good, but the way they are, are not particularly filling.

We loved their confit duck with burnt orange and ume, and this was a decent portion with a very tasty sauce and perfectly cooked duck.

There’s a great cocktail menu with a Japanese twist, many featuring yuzu and there’s plenty of sake too. The wine menu is also decent and the barman is happy to offer advice. He’s a ball of fun and a bit...