IN FOCUS // Kuon
Piece by piece The art of omakase is on display at Tempura Kuon. WORDS Annabelle Cloros THE JAPANESE WORD omakase means ‘I leave it up to you’. When you step into most restaurants, you’re given plenty of
choice, but oftentimes, it’s best to leave the decision-making to the professionals for a dining experience that’s crafted with care from start to finish.
Japanese-born Chef Hideaki Fukada is behind Sydney’s Kuon
concept, which will soon encompass three restaurants: Kuon
omakase, Tempura Kuon and Irori, a wood-fired, yakitori-ish venue that will launch later this year. “At first, it was just sushi, and then we opened tempura because I love it,” says Fukada. “I wanted to
eat tempura, but there was nothing in Australia. Tempura is really hard; it takes a long time [to learn].”
Kuon’s footprints are found throughout the Darling Square
precinct, and each venue is pocket-sized, with around 10 seats
allocated per service. And there’s a very good reason for that: “I
only have two hands,” says Fukada. “I want to serve high-quality food, so I decided on very small restaurants. Quality control is really hard, particularly for the Japanese.”
Tempura Kuon is the middle sibling in the Kuon portfolio and is
the first tempura-centric restaurant the city has seen. Chefs work behind a wooden counter while diners watch the majority of Fukada’s multi-course menu come to life.
The omakase begins with sunomono, a cucumber salad that sees
abalone and ark shell combined with sugar snap peas, sea grapes
and wakame. It’s a light, refreshing start to the multi-course meal
before chawanmushi is served. Fukada’s version of the classic egg custard includes scallop, snow crab and lily flower root, resulting in a silky, savoury dish.
Two copper-clad vats are front and (almost) centre behind the bar
and are filled with cold-pressed sesame oil imported from Japan. It’s changed before every service and is a costly purchase, with the oil retailing as high as $420, but the result is well worth it.
Tempura courses naturally comprise the bulk of the dining
experience and each is given a salt recommendation (curry, green tea, regular). Potato mochi with crème fraiche and Osetra caviar set the
bar for what’s to come. Paradise prawn head from New Caledonia is
followed by the rest of the prawn before the first block is rounded out 8 | Hospitality
with cuttlefish and shiso and miso-marinated toothfish.
