Zushi, Surry Hills

Zushi - Surry Hills

Zushi was established back in 2005 in Darlinghurst and in 2010 they opened up a branch on Crown Street in Surry Hills, located right next to The Winery by Gazebo and Thomas Dux.

I've never been to the original in Darlinghurst so I was looking forward to dining here for a friend's birthday lunch :)

Since there is 12 of us dining, we had to go for the set menu.

Upstairs Dining Area

The restaurant is much smaller than I imagined , as you stepped in, the open kitchen is to your right and there were a few tables downstairs and in the outdoor seating area.

Our group was seated upstairs and boy......that was torturous.

Where we seated was right on top of the hot kitchen, there is no window nor air conditioning upstairs, and not to mention it was a stinking hot day in January.

Luckily there was the paper menu that we can use to fan ourselves -____-;

Sake Sangria $25.00
sake, lychees, lime, green apple, mint, sprite, soda

Some of us ordered a jug of sake sangria - had a sip and it was very refreshing (anything icy at that point would tasted so damn refreshing anyway). It would have tasted better if the lime, mint, green apple and lychee flavours had time to infuse, the sake flavour was quite prominent.

Ceiling Decor

Edamame

We start of the banquet with a big bowl of fresh blanched and salted edamame. The serving was surprisingly generous - we got a big bowl to share between 2 people !

The amount in the bowl is enough to nibble on by 4 people. 

Gyoza

The plate of 5 gyoza was to be shared between 2 as well, it was a pretty good gyoza, crispy bottom and the pork filling was juicy. 

Chef's Selection of Assorted Sashimi

If only this was for 2 people, I would be extremely happy LOL 

The plate of chef's daily selection of sashimi is for 4 people and we had kingfish, snapper, scallop, tuna, salmon. They were super fresh and delicious !

My favourite would have to be the snapper and of course the scallop.

Snapper Sashimi Rosette

Tiger Roll
tempura prawn, cucumber, prawn, avocado, mustard mayo

The next course were 2 types of sushi rolls, to share between 4 again, so we got about 2 pieces of each.

The rolls were quite ordinary, nice but that's pretty much it. The rice was also too mushy for my liking. 

Spider Roll
soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, wasabi mayo

Whiting Tempura
lightly battered whiting fillets, ponzu chilli dipping sauce

The whiting tempura would have to be the best dish of the set menu we had. The tempura was done perfectly, the crumbs were delicate and the fish was still silky and soft. The ponzu dipping sauce is super sour, so just a quick dip and that is all you need. 

I believe it was to be shared between 3 - 4 people, by this time we were quite full so we end up passing the plates around anyway hehehehe :P

Teriyaki Chicken 

The teriyaki chicken was ordinary, it was a tad too salty and not sweet enough.

Zushi BBQ Beef

The beef slices was cooked in a special Zushi BBQ sauce, it had a lovely sesame flavour, sweet and caramelized.

The beef was a bit dry perhaps, but then again, that is always the case when you order dishes like teriyaki beef, bbq beef, etc. That's why I never order them if I had a choice :P

Brown & White Rice

To accompany the chicken and beef dishes, we had an option for either brown or white rice. Almost all of us opted for brown and it was delicious. The brown rice was nicely cooked, fluffy and al dente. 

Zushi has 2 set menu for group dining, a $40 (which we had) and a more premium $60 per person menu.

There is a also a 10% surcharge on group bookings, so we end up spending $45 p.p. plus drinks. 

It is a pretty good deal considering the generous serving size, we left full and satisfied. 

It's a pity that dessert is not included in any of the set menu. 

The strawberry tempura sounded delicious but we were too full to fit anything else in - next time :)

The birthday girl has just returned from Japan a few days earlier, so we got some (edible) souvenirs - jumbo matcha pocky and houjicha kit kat - nom nom nom ^_^

Omiyage \^o^/