Deb Carr
4 min
There's a fabulous Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills that I would like to share with you. RK San is a Japanese restaurant with a modern twist serving delectable dishes created by Executive Chef RK Tamang. This was a special night for me, I had travelled down from The Mid North Coast NSW, my guests with me were my sister-in-law, who had come down from the Central Coast with her mum who was visiting Australia from Japan for the very first time. It was also the first time I had the pleasure of meeting her so what better place than a Japanese restaurant? Perfect!
The first dish we had was Spicy Edamame - Seasoning shichimi and soy. The seasoning had quite a kick with Japanese 7 spice, soy and served with dancing bonito.
My sister-in-law and mum enjoyed the dishes of RK San, and being Japanese they know a thing or two about Japan's food.
Carpaccio - Kingfish with char garlic dressing, seedless chilli stick and micro coriander. The fish was fresh, and the dressing a perfect match.
Sashimi - Chef's selection of sashimi of the day: kingfish, salmon, tuna, snapper, kingfish belly with pickled ginger and wasabi. My guest from Japan was very impressed with our Australian fish. The presentation of this dish was stunning and we really didn't want to destroy it. I'm glad we did though, because it was very nice.
The restaurant has a nice feel to it with an open kitchen so you can see what Chef is doing. In fact the restaurant became quite busy, and Chef RK Tamang was cooking on his own. I said to Mayu how impressed I was that chef was keeping up with all the orders and she said "he must be a Ninja". I think he he is!
Next up was a special dish combo. Cigar - Sashimi grade diced salmon in a pastry shell, nori and malto ash with spicy mayo accompanied with sake shot. The sake was Kiku Masmamume. As Mayu mentioned this dish was made with delicate pastry and with great skill to put together. The routine is you dip and mix the cigar in the ash, eat then sip the sake. A really nice dish and the sake enables a range of flavours to linger.
Maguru Hana - Crispy sushi rice, floral shaped tuna, spicy mayo an micro shiso. My Japanese guests never had crispy rice before with Mayu's mum saying "I learnt something creative". We thought the beautiful richness in the tuna, combined with sauce and texture of rice was superb with Mayu noting it was "Dancing in Mouth"
Snapper Ceviche - Snapper with Tiradito and house made crispy chips. Mayu told me that lots of Japanese people had a dream to live in Peru and they began cooking Japanese food with the local ingredients that were available to them especially fish and herbs and ceviche dishes were developed.
The ceviche was delicious, and the delicate crispy chips made a great combination.
Seared Salmon Roll - Poached king prawns, cucumber, seared salmon, crispy eschalot micro shiso. This was probably the nicest salmon roll I've ever had.
King Brawn Mushroom Robata - with truffle soy dressing, coriander and chilli threads. With the meaty texture this type of mushroom makes a great dish for vegetarians. The flavours were amazing and the common mushroom turned into a gourmet dish.
Kuro Buta (Black Port Belly) 36 hour sous vide pork belly with carrot puree, dashi ginger glaze crispy pork skin. As you can imagine pork slow cooked fo 36 hours is going to be tender. In fact it was so tender the pieces actually fell apart on the chopsticks. As well as the wonderful flavours Chef was creating his presentation was also impressive.
Nigiri - Seared salmon belly with seared seafood oil. We were sharing all these dishes but by now all three of us were struggling to get through. Luckily the Nigiri was too delicious not to eat.
Then came the finale! Raspberry espuma with vanilla anglaise and fresh mint. Despite we were full there was room for this delightful dish. The espuma was light, tasty and a fabulous way to end this amazing night.
Meet the Executive Chef, RK Tamang
Executive Chef RK Tamang looks to create an inspired Japanese dining experience in a Surry Hills. With a career in working in some of the top restaurants, RK Tamang certainly has the experience to create the amazing dishes on offer at RK San. RK Tamang has worked as chef at One & Only Reethi Rah Maldives, Sokyo The Star Sydney, Head Sushi at Flying Fish One Hat Restaurant, Executive Chef at some of Sydney’s finest institutions including Sake restaurant, Geisha Haus and Sabu Parramatta. RK Tamang brings his passion for fine dining with a meticulously crafted menu.
Sydney Chic would like to thank RK San for having us as guests. Please read our full Disclaimer on our policies for publishing reviews.