Yoshii Omakase – Sydney, Australia

Located in Crown Sydney, Yoshii has an omakase that serves both otsumami and nigiri. I don’t see many reviews of places in Sydney, so I thought I would do one. Yoshii is a great conversationalist and created a great atmosphere for the night (and offered recommendations of his favourite places near his hometown in Nagasaki and Fukuoka).

In terms of the otsumami, the courses were a bit course dependent, with some being well balanced but some being a bit too salty for my palate. However, the nigiri were consistently at a high level, showing the quality of the ingredients. The chef has a unique approach to the nigiri, resulting in some nice flavours I haven’t tried before (in a good way).

Standouts were the kingfish and anago nigiri, along with the kagoshima a5 wagyu from the otsumami.

Full Course

Otsumami

1. Hokkaido sea urchin chawanmushi with dry mushroom dashi
2. Plate of sashimi (mackerel, daikon radish, kingfish, akami tuna, bonito, uni-wrapped squid, avocado with blue spanner crab)
3. Duck breast soup with eggplant and foie gras (found this a bit too salty)
4. Kyo grape palate cleanser

Nigiri

1. Bar cod from NZ with okinawa sea salt – found this a bit salty
2. Kingfish from South Australia – very soft and fatty, almost like chutoro and loved it
3. Bonito with ume (japanese plum sauce)
4. Chutoro from Tasmania
5. Otoro from Tasmania
6. Squid from Western Australia with perilla leaf
7. Pearl meat (adductor muscle of oyster)
8. Miso soup (red, white, country miso)

Ending
12. Onigiri to wipe up the Anago sauce – could pick how much rice across three sizes

1. Tamagoyaki with snapper and prawn paste

2. Japanese crown melon from Shizuoka and caramel pudding daifuku

Overall, the vibe for the night was very good in one of the best locations in Sydney. The otsumami was a bit hit or miss for me but the nigiri was at a consistently high level (I enjoyed most pieces) and highlighted the ingredients well. Base course price is $380 AUD and with drinks it was a bit over $400 so definitely on the pricier end of Sydney. While the quality of ingredients was high, there is still a difference to the best spots in Japan (ie. the meal at Inomata I had a few years ago). Keen to see how it stacks up against the places I have lined up for my upcoming Japan trip.