Azuma Kushiyaki in three words: fried chicken skin

It’s been a while since I’ve returned to Azuma Kushiyaki in Regent Place as I so often get tempted instead by Ton Ton Ramen just before reaching the restaurant, especially when a movie is involved.

Not a great deal has changed it seems, although the crowd on a weeknight is decidedly corporate, and in some cases, Japanese businessmen. It’s beers all round, despite the prominent positioning of many a wine bottle. But a lot of the menu at Azuma Kushiyaki is actually ideal beer food, so Sapporo it was for me.

Tsukemono – assorted homemade Japanese pickles from Azuma Kushiyaki, Regent
Place, George Street, Sydney

For starters, it doesn’t sound like the match made in heaven that it is but beer and pickles together are really quite the pairing. My favourite was the fluorescent yellow daikon; crunchy and just a bit tart – a standard that’s even sold vacuum-sealed in Asian supermarkets here.

Tsukemono pickles

The diced takana Japanese mustard greens pickles weren’t as exciting as they looked while the squashed-looking, completely black eggplant pickle was mostly just salty.

Yaki Nasu – grilled eggplant with ginger, bonito flakes and soy

We moved on to subtlety with the eggplant, grilled with delicate flavours of ginger and soy sauce, topped off with katsuobushi bonito flakes. The pure and relatively healthy flavours in this are almost enough to make you feel enlightened.

Ninniku Butter – oven roasted garlic cloves with butter

The garlic butter dish is just that: whole cloves of garlic cooked in a cute cast iron pot with lots of butter, which I’ve also seen at Korean barbeques. The completely soft garlic loses all its pungency and becomes sweet nubs of mush – ideal for first dates even.

Tori Kawa deep-fried crispy chicken skin seasoned with salt

And here’s what you’ve been waiting for – the deep-fried crispy chicken skin. Its presence on the menu was a little surprising even, and its arrival at the table deserved fanfare, even for the couple seconds before we dug in.

With the option of fresh lemon juice squeezed over for additional flavour and some good nutrients, the golden fried chips of glorious chicken skin are crispy with a slight chew and that unmistakeable flavour of well-cooked skin. Watch out pork crackling, you have serious competition.

Kushiyaki – platter of a dozen mixed skewers at the chef’s choice

To round out the meal, we opted for the namesake platter of kushiyaki – things cooked on skewers. The chef’s choice offers 12 skewers: three each of chicken, beef, seafood and vegetables.

(From top) Salmon, sea perch and prawn kushiyaki

Starting on the seafood, the sea perch marinated in soy, sake and mirin was actually a little uninteresting while the Atlantic salmon fillet with soy could have used more soy.

The paradise prawn with salt was so spot-on I quickly ordered another. Like the happiest savoury lollipop ever invented, the prawn was sweetly fresh with a nice coating of salt cooked into the shell which is intended to be eaten.

Chicken breast (middle) and chicken thigh kushiyaki

The classic chicken thigh fillet kushiyaki with quite the traditional soy-based yakitori sauce was comfort on a stick. With beers and good company, it scares me to think how many of these I could eat.

The chicken breast, was a little less interesting as a result of its less fatty and flavoursome flesh, despite the efforts of the pickled plum mayo.

Wagyu beef (top two) and ox tongue kushiyaki

The wagyu beef tenderloin with yuzu citrus pepper was overcooked for my liking, although the green squiggle of yuzu sauce was a perfect match.

The grain-fed ox tongue covered in sliced shallots was chewy with a slight metallic note and almost unnoticeable curry salt. On this occasion I managed to chew and swallow before having cow-kissing thoughts – just.

(From top) Okra, zucchini and asparagus kushiyaki

The asparagus dressed with soy and butter was a delight, as were the okra segments seasoned with dried shiso leaf flakes giving it an interesting flavour. Less enthralling was the zucchini with the same seasoning.

(Bottom) Chicken tsukune kushiyaki

We ordered a few additional skewers, being a little greedy and peckish still. The tsukune homemade chicken meatballs were a bit of a revelation and unlike any kind of minced chicken I’ve come across. Almost fluffy, in a good way, and fragrant with ginger, they were spiked onto the tiniest skewers I’ve ever seen.

Shitake mushroom with prawn kushiyaki

The fresh shiitake mushroom stuffed with minced prawn needed a little more colour and seasoning, though I probably would have been happy enough with the mushrooms alone.

As the businessmen drank on civilly still, we took our leave after just a couple of beers and a whole lot of great beer food. Now if only they did takeaway packets of that fried chicken skin for home or the movies next door.

Stick it

I normally try to maintain my expectations at reasonable levels, knowing full well that high expectations easily lead to disappointment. But that’s not to say I don’t get very excited about certain things and fill days with childish anticipation.

A trip to Azuma Kushiyaki was certainly one of these excitable moments. Hello chicken skin skewer and of course, the tuna salad as featured on Food Safari. I'd seen the exterior of the restaurant but hadn’t expected the interior to be quite so casual and hence, chattery; although the booths looked nice and cosy.

Our menu request was met quickly with a table-filling laminated main menu, specials menu and drinks menu. Given the style of dining, with lots of shared bits and pieces to start, there’s a lot to choose from and we take our time with careful consideration. The decided must-haves include the chicken skin, grilled pork jowl, a grilled eggplant dish, scallop skewers (or kushiyaki) and the tuna salad – the first three choices of which are disappointingly unavailable this early Friday night. I’m momentarily speechless and order-less: no chicken skin; no pork jowl skewer; no yaki nasu.

Wild scallop with soy and home-made garlic oil from Azuma Kushiyaki, Regent Place, George Street, Sydney

We make alternative menu choices which end up going some way in appeasing prior disappointment. The scallops for starters are a surprise: squarely rectangular in shape, the wild scallops mustn’t conform to circular standards. Their unbridled freshness is managed well with the simple grilling with simple flavours of soy and garlic.

Paradise prawn with salt

The prawns are stunning specimens – headless, grilled with salt adhered to their bright orange shells, and as such, so tasty that it’s impossible to resist a few chews and crunches of the shell. The skewers are so simple and fresh, and leave one wanting more – but there’s much else on the menu that beckon the palate and stomach.

Soft shell crab tempura

The soft shell crab order is admittedly pedestrian, but the perfect comparative tool between restaurants – of all cuisines, it appears. While the actual crab here is quite large, it’s also smothered in an atypically thick coating of batter – somewhat unlike tempura traditionally. The sweet dipping sauce and lemon help to cut through the batter and sweeten the crab's already sweet flavour.

Seared tuna salad with ponzu vinaigrette

Those expecting anything remotely like the gigantic serve of seared tuna in the salad as seen on Food Safari will be left a little wanting with the harsh slap of reality. No, you dont get an entire rectangular block of a fillet, but rather a few slices beneath grated daikon, fried garlic slices, and raw Spanish and green onions. I find the garlic a little overpowering and think I would have preferred the sprightly ponzu vinaigrette and daikon garlic-free. Nonetheless, the tuna is firm and full of flavour, soaking in the dressing and the dish is cleaned up momentarily.

Karaage pork jowl

The pork jowl grilled on a skewer wasn't available, yet in karaage style it was. Odd, but we dig in anyway into the crisp coated bits of pork flesh from about the pig's cheeks. Perhaps the very different style to guanciale as I'm familiar with, the jowl itself is rather crunchy with tendons, cartilage and other meat-and-bone-joining bits. What it lacks it flavour, it makes up for double in texture.

Free range spatchcock platter

The spatchcock platter takes awhile, but its arrival is well worth the wait. Served on a stone plate four ways, it was difficult to know where to start. My nose wanted the deep fried karaage mini drumstick; my mouth lusted the seriously caramelised grilled thigh skewer; my fingers wanted to pick and nibble at the tiny grilled wings; and the brain recommended the grilled breast fillet skewer to start.

Ultimately, the brain conquers all with its logical reasoning that the breast would have the most subtle flavour and hence, should be eaten first. It was surprisingly soft and delicate - in taste and texture, and subtle indeed - it definitely needed its mayonnaise partnering.

Yakitori grilled spatchcock thigh

The thigh, on the other leg, needed nothing. The sweet and sticky marinade made the juicy and lucious meat even better, to the point that the few morsels on the skewer left us wanting more. A gastronomical lesson in contrast, I think.

Grilled spatchcock wing

The tiny wings were a little tricky to eat elegantly, especially trying to get the flesh between the mid-wing. But the charred flavour and crunchy skin made for just rewards for all the hard work.

Nasu miso - stir-fried eggplant and minced chicken in miso

There wasn't yaki nasu - grilled eggplant - but there was the miso eggplant dish. Probably better served with rice, this dish was unexpectedly and richly sweet. A range of green and yellow beans and my favourite sugar snaps were crunchy and bathing in the quite powerful white miso sauce. Eggplant and tofu provided the soft and silky textures for a dish that may well have been a vegetarian's delight - but a little slope for the end of our omnivorous appetites.

Desserts didn't even register with me - a combination of satiety and my gradual leaning away from my sweet tooth. The night hadn't exactly been as expected but it was solidly good. Now they've probably got me for a return visit so I can try that chicken skin skewer - I'm still excited.