Address: 29 Lime Street Sydney
Telephone: (02) 9299 5290
Email: info.syd@kobejones.com.au
Website: http://www.kobejones.com.au/sydney/kobe-jones-sydney
Opening hours:
Lunch: Monday to Friday 12 noon to 3pm
Open for lunch Christmas Day and Mother’s Day
(closed for lunch on other public holidays)
Dinner: Every night from 6pm (365 days a year)
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Last night one of my best friends and I tried out Kobe Jones at KSW. The rainy and windy weather meant we had to run to the restaurant and ended up looking like a bit of a mess, but the staff soon had us seated under a heater on the balcony which, despite the rain, was quite warm.
The restaurant itself is decorated in gorgeous red and black patterns, in line with an exotic Asian-inspired theme, and has a warm and cosy feel to it.
The restaurant (not a very good picture, I know!)
The staff were extremely friendly and helpful throughout the night and we were well looked after.
We had the “Spring Sensation” menu which started off with the Kobe Jones Signature Special, “crab salad with avocado, wrapped in Hiramasa kingfish and baked with a secret sauce, before being topped with bitter-sweet soy glaze, smelt roe and alfalfa sprouts.” It was delicious and as we were very hungry after work, we quickly ate it all up within a few minutes.
The Signature Special
Next we had a Tasting Plate which consisted of a sushi “lollipop” (which was basically sushi on a stick), a shucked akuma oyster (topped with citrus ponzu, shallots and freshly-made mild chilli sauce), crispy calamari panko, a crunchy soft shell crab saffron spider roll with avocado and some sort of raw fish in a chilli sauce. The chilli was a little too spicy for my friend who isn’t a fan of hot food, and at first I also found it a little too hot. However, my second piece of fish tasted less spicy, perhaps because I was getting used to the flavours.
Tasting Plate
The delicious tasting plate was followed by Wagyu Tenderloin Tataki which was “seared and chilled wagyu beef served with garlic, ginger and ponzu sauce.” Again my friend was a little reluctant to try it as she does not like chilli and the meat was a little on the rare side. However, we did try it and it turned out to be so deliciously soft and tender that we finished the whole dish.
Wagyu Tenderloin Tataki
The Sizzling Scallop Carpaccio which followed consisted of scallops sizzled with heated extra virgin olive oil and wasabi pepper sauce. It was a bit of a disappointment as the scallop was basically uncooked and tasted slimy and slippery. We tried a scallop each and had to quickly wash it down with some water as we couldn’t handle the taste. The marinade of some soy-based dressing contributed to the slimy feel and we wished the scallops had come out hot and cooked instead.
Sizzled Scallop Carpaccio
Next we tried a sushi roll with crab meat and a creamy sauce which was quite tasty (especially after the raw scallops) but looked like a bit of a hot mess. It was a warm dish and the prawns and crab meat were well-cooked. The one thing I didn’t like about the dish was the sauce on top which tasted too eggy and creamy. After eating so much we were starting to get full and the creamy dressing did not help! We would have liked at least one dish to be a regular sushi roll dish with no dressing.
Creamy sushi roll
The next dish was Tempura Agedashi Tofu which was fried tofu with seaweed. This dish came out hot. The crispy fried outer layer of the tofu was delicious and golden brown and I enjoyed the crunchy texture. Not being big tofu fans, we each only ate half of our tofu (the portions were very large!). Tempura vegetables would have been a better alternative.
Tempura Agedashi Tofu
We were then served the Wagyu Tenderloin on a Hot Rock which was exciting as we were able to cook our own meat the way we liked it (medium well!). The excitement of cooking the strips of beef on a hot rock and adding our own salt, dressing, greens and mushrooms was a lot of fun and really added to our overall dining experience.
Wagyu Tenderloin on a Hot Rock
Our final dish was lobster in a creamy sauce: Lobster Motoyaki Mornay. While the dish tasted alright, we did find that there was not enough lobster in the dish, and it was a little too creamy.
Lobster Motoyaki Mornay
We finished the meal on a high with a choice of a Kobe Jones Green Tea Tiramisu (green tea and sake infused, served semi-fredo and topped with fresh strawberries) or a Flaming Anko (Japanese sweet red bean and green tea brûlée, served with flaming vanilla liquor). We both chose the green tea creme brulee which was the best dish of the evening. We received a generous serving of dessert, and the creme brulee had a crunchy golden sugar topping with soft and creamy brulee underneath. The green tea flavour wasn’t too strong, and it was the perfect ending to our meal.
Flaming Anko
Cost
Overall we paid $69.00 each for the meals plus $6.00 each for drinks (diet cokes and water) = $75.00. Kobe Jones is at the mid to high end of the scale. The meal cost us $69.00 as we used a Spreets deal voucher.
Rating
Overall I would rate my dining experience (out of 10):
- Service- 8.5
- Food- 7
- Ambience- 7
- Value – 7
The service was fantastic and the ambience was great. For a Thursday night the side of the restaurant we were on was basically packed but we still had excellent service from our waitress.
In terms of food, there were a lot of things we didnt like (chilli, raw fish being some of the things which my friend wasn’t keen on eating -but tried anyway!), and there was a lot of creamy food which made us feel very full, although this is better than being hungry after your meal! Ultimately, we were hoping for a little more high end sushi-styled food food and although we enjoyed most of the dishes we would have liked the scallops to be cooked, the tofu to be replaced with tempura vegetables, and the creamy roll to not be creamy! However these are all matters of preference and it was overall a very enjoyable meal and a delightful evening. I would definitely recommend Kobe Jones for a great Asian-inspired meal.
The Casual Food Blogger 