Happy 11th birthday to Kobe Jones

If there was a comparison, I think restaurant years would comprise more time than dog years. So the fact that King Street Wharf's Kobe Jones is celebrating 11 years at the waterside site this year, I think is more like celebrating a 90th birthday - completely commendable and worthy of respect in the Sydney dining game.

Miyamizu sake at Kobe Jones, Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney

To celebrate Kobe Jones' entry to restaurant tween-hood (or nonagenerians) earlier this year, we were invited to indulge in an 11-course kaiseki set course meal featuring menu favourites from across the last 11 years. Indeed, a lot of these favourites remain on the menu today; a testament to the staying power of customer favourites.

We commenced with a celebratory "kanpai" before sipping the delectable chilled Miyamizu sake from the Nada region in Kobe.

Number One special

We started with one from the many of Kobe Jones' signature maki sushi rolls, the Number One Special, which arrives in a torched cloak of the restaurant's secret creamy sauce.

The large, at-least-two-bite sushi pieces comprise Hiramasa kingfish rolled with nori seaweed sheets, filled with creamy threads of a crab salad and avocado, and topped with smelt roe.

It was a full-on mouthful of seafood and creaminess; the latter a characteristic of the fusion Californian-Japanese style Kobe Jones is known and loved for. As a starter, this was matched with Wild River Sparkling Brut NV.

Seared salmon carpaccio (left) and tuna tataki Kobe Jones style

Sashimi took on a new form with slight searing of both the raw salmon and tuna slices in the next combined offering.

The salmon carpaccio, seared with extra virgin olive oil, was dressed with a mildly spicy wasabi and pepper sauce, garnished with microherbs; while the tuna, also seasoned with pepper, was topped with a special cream sauce.

The platter was completed with steamed mushrooms and poached asparagus spears, and matched with the sweet 2009 Xanadu Next of Kin Rose.

Yellow Submarine roll

With modern Japanese restaurants now doing all sorts of things to the traditional sushi forms, I was interested to sample Kobe Jones' Yellow Submarine Roll which is wrapped in a soybean "sheath" rather than nori seaweed.

Soft and smooth, the yellow soybean sheet loosely held rice and a filling of prawn, julienned cucumber and crunchy pops of bright orange fish roe, garnished with more salmon roe.

Calamari salad

Next, a not-so-healthy salad featuring thickly crumbed squid pieces dressed with Kobe Jones' own mayonnaise dressing.

The salad comprised mixed leaves, carrot, shallots and more fish roe and was an appropriate break from sushi and sashimi, although the heavily battered calamari was disappointing, albeit crunchy.

These two dishes were matched with the 2013 Peter Lehmann Pinot Grigio; one of my favourite drops of the evening.

Yuzu soy scallop

In another modern Japanese favourite, plump sashimi style scallops appeared beneath a tumble of microherbs; the molluscs marinated in yuzu and soy. I adore the sea-sweet flavour of scallops and these were no exception; absolutely highlighted by the well-rounded, citrusy dressing.

Lobster roll

The celebration of Kobe Jones' special creamy sauce continued with the lobster roll, which was barely distinguishable beneath the cavalcade of sauce, smelt roe, shallots. sesame seeds and soy glaze.

There was slipper lobster meat to be found under the sauce, and further in, crab and avocado rolls in another rendition of classic Kobe Jones contemporary sushi style.

Tempura prawn

Crunchy tempura fried tiger prawns didn't surprise anyone but they were done very well with an airy and crisp batter, perhaps a tad oily but still a satisfying few mouthfuls dipped into tempura sauce. These were paired with the 2011 Yangarra Estate Viogner.

Alaskan crab

The dish of the night for me was undoubtedly the Alaskan king crab legs, cooked on the robata grill and served simply in its shell with fresh lime.

Just cooked with a slight char flavour, the simple cooking process allowed the sweet crab flesh to truly shine. There was no greater pleasure than pulling out whole strips of crab leg and savouring each sweet bite slowly.

Wafu style grilled wagyu

Nine courses down and I was struggling to look at the wagyu steak; also cooked on the robata to a slightly more than medium point. Pre-sliced and served with a balsamic teriyaki sauce, a round of grilled onion, baby corn and mushrooms, it was a heavy, slightly chewy end to the savoury courses.

The steak was matched with the not-too-heavy 2009 Logan Cabernet Merlot.

Flaming anko

Having left the table for a short moment, I missed the flaming of the green tea crème brûlée which was designed to brûlée the toffee top. In addition to the well-flavoured custard, there was sweet mashed azuki red bean within the pot in a classic Japanese pairing.

We finished with delectable glasses of 2010 Peter Lehmann Botrytis Semillon, deliciously decadent and entirely appropriate for a birthday celebration. Happy birthday to Kobe Jones - here's to many more happy restaurant years.

Food, booze and shoes dined as at Kobe Jones as a guest, with thanks to The PR Partnership.

Keeping up with Kobe Jones for Good Food Month

I haven't been keeping up with Kobe Jones and the Californian-style Japanese restaurant's progress since the many years ago I first visited, so it was nice to see it recently for its Good Food Month dining offer as part of the Food, Art and Films events on King Street Wharf.

During October Kobe Jones is offering a multi-course dinner special with a complimentary drink for $36 per person (two or more people; Sunday to Thursday; glass of house wine, beer or soft drink).

Asahi beer and Mangalo drink from Kobe Jones, Lime Street, King Street Wharf

On a balmy spring night with party season kicking off, King Street Wharf was abuzz with revellers, tourists and foodies alike. Seated on the outer edge of the restaurant facing the water, the evening heat continued to seep into the venue, calling for extra cold drinks to start our dinner.

Asahi is the only Japanese beer on the menu with a plethora of other, non-Japanese imported options. More than perfect for a refreshing chill was the iced mango drink featuring lots of blitzed mango flesh, pineapple and orange juices, and a retro dash of grenadine.

Edamame

Our meal commenced with an appetiser of simply salted edamame soy beans which were soft and warm.

Sashimi salad

Next up was a bountiful sashimi salad which featured, in prime position and perhaps just a bit strangely, a ball of imitation crab. I don't have anything against processed crab meat and indeed, it could be a hallmark of Californian-style Japanese cuisine – it just seemed an odd feature of a sashimi salad.

Nonetheless, it was enjoyed with seasoned seaweed; thin slices of raw salmon, tuna and kingfish as well as a butterflied, cooked prawn and tobiko flying fish roe; and an abundance of mixed lettuce leaves in well-balanced, zingy dressing.

Volcano roll at Kobe Jones, Lime Street, King Street Wharf

One menu item I remember quite fondly from my past visit was the mayonnaise smothered and blowtorched sushi options, in true fusion style.

The Volcano Roll features two big pieces of "crab" and avocado uramaki inside-out sushi roll pimped up with oven-baked diced scallops. The sushi comes doused with Kobe Jones' special mayonnaise and cream sauce which was then torched till tanned, and joined by more tobiko, sesame seeds, shallots and a drizzles of a sweet soy glaze.

Vegetable tempura

Ever the crowd pleaser, the vegetable tempura offering was two slices of each pumpkin and carrot – the latter not commonly seen and probably a late replacement from the menu's advertised asparagus.

The batter was crisp, if not a little thick and oily, but hit the spot with the tempura dipping sauce.

Mushroom medley tobanyaki

I was most interested in the hot mushroom dish, cooked in a cast iron dish tobanyaki style. Propped up with white rice, the medley of button, enoki and some other mushrooms was covered liberally with the special mayonnaise cream sauce and baked.

What ensued was about the richest, creamiest dish I've eaten in years, complementing the earthy mushroom flavours well, but in all, a little heavy with the rice and copious amount of mayonnaise.

Chicken tempura

The last dish – comprising chicken teriyaki to share, and individual miso soup and steamed rice bowls – was the main; the filler if you will.

Chicken thigh pieces, marinated and cooked in a candy-sweet teriyaki sauce, came alongside simply steamed broccoli and capsicum, and baked baby potatoes in a rather Westernised, meat-and-veg take on chicken teriyaki.

Filled to the brim even without dessert, the dinner deal at Kobe Jones is a great way to get reacquainted with the restaurant. And as for the restaurant itself, Kobe Jones is comfortable enough in its own Cali-Japanese skin to do its own thing, without regard for what the Jones of modern Japanese cuisine are doing.

Food, booze and shoes dined at Kobe Jones as a guest, with thanks to The PR Partnership.