Akachochin; South Wharf.
Akachochin
33 Dukes Walk
South Wharf
I’ve been meaning to drop by Paul Mathis’ new ventures Akachochin and The Sharing House since our lovely encounter at Henry & the Fox. Navigating our way to South Wharf was slightly tricky, but it gets easier and I’m keen to head back. Red lanterns are strung along outside the restaurant, making me feel like I was in Tokyo again. 
Sharing the same entrance as the Sharing House (punny), you can’t help but be drawn to the whimsicality of the multi-colored Lego blocks.
Akachochin is quite different to its neighbour. It’s modern with its gorgeous sleek marble tops, high ceilings, backlighting behind the wooden panelling and black lacquered wooden floors, yet traditional with from the red lanterns outside, to the layout behind the benchtop.
They have two choices of green tea, the one with roasted rice (genmaicha) and the one without.
A little appetiser of chicken mayo.
Hiramasa Namerou with Rice Crackers - Chopped Kingfish with Spring Onion, Moromiso, Kizami-Wasabi, Olive Oil served with Rice Crackers ($15)
The Japanese style tartare is ridiculously flavourful with wasabi scallion and miso. You don’t get too much of the kingfish because of all the flavours coming through but it’s a great sharing plate with wafer thin flavoursome rice crisps.
Crumbed Sanma Roll with Yukari - Shiso & Cheese Rolled in Sanma (Pacific Saury) Deep Fried in Panko served with Yukari Salt ($15)
Crisp crunchy panko, the sanma is quite strong in flavour, there isn’t much cheese within so it’s not too rich. The lemon cut through nicely.
Butterfish Nitsuke with Kinpira Gobo - Simmered Butterfish in Ginger, Soy Sauce with Pan-Fried Burdock ($15)
The butterfish was fresh but a little inconsistent, it could be silky in your mouth, but a little rough at times, in a light soy.
Shake Aburi Sushi - Sweet Soy Marinated Seared Salmon with Onion Salsa ($16)
The salmon is so fresh and silky with a gorgeous fragrant sear. The sushi rice might have fallen short.
Suishin Bunanoshizuku - Hiroshima ($22)
Having had a rich fragrant suishin at Tempura Hajime, we were naturally drawn to this, but it was on the stronger side.
Miso Soup - Dashi Stock Base with Fish & Soy Bean Paste ($6)
Hot, light and fragrant.
Unagi Dashi Chazuke - Chopped Eel on Rice, served with Hot Clear Soup, Kizami-Nori, Wasabi, Sesame Seeds, Spring Onion & Oshinko ($15)
I have made no secret of how much I adore the ochazukes at Shoya, and I was pleased to discover they have a choice of fish and unagi. Light fluffy rice in a light clear broth, with soft sticky bits of unagi with scallion and these delicious sticks of pickled radishes.
Mushi Ebi-Shinjou Negi Oil - Steamed Tofu & Minced Prawn served with Onion Oil ($15)
A firm steamed eggy tofu with bits of mushroom and prawn.
Grilled Eggplant, Oyster & Cheese - 2 Oyster on Deep Fried Eggplant with Grilled Cheese & Den-Miso ($13)
Piping hot well cooked whole eggplant with two fresh creamy oysters and a layer of rich cheese with a thin miso coating. A cheesy nasu dengaku, but where the miso can often be too salty, this was quite light.
The lighting is the best at the bar, and who can resist the gorgeous wide marble counter top. Perfect for a party of two. Akachochin is a sleek setup with Japanese food with a twist, in dainty and delicious portions. Hands down my favourites of the night were the Hiramasa tartare and the Salmon Aburi Sushi, but the Unagi Chazuke comes close.
What appeals most to me are the small portions of everything, I love having a little bit of everything.
