Osaka Bar

I strongly recommend this place! After having the omakase at Osaka bar, i don’t know how can i ever eat a normal sushi ever again! Ingredients were fresh and service was top notch! It was a great experience and I’m glad choosing this place to celebrate my new job offer! I will definitely come back for more!

Thank you to Chef Kazu, his sweet wife Mari and his cheerful crew for a truely delightful experience on their opening night. Each course was decadent and unique in its own way. Spiritual journeys are not something you can describe, but something you have to experience for yourself. We were fans of Osaka bar omakase and Osaka bar kaiseki was just as good. We will definitely be back

My first omakase and it did not disappoint! Small little restaurant run by husband and wife who were so lovely. Food was delicious, great atmosphere, and good hospitality.

An amazing sushi experience with beautifully presented, fresh, artfully and tasty sushi pieces. Fun night out with delicious sushi, an entertaining and welcoming sushi chef - will definitely be back!

The food here was excellent--we had salmon sushi, hand rolls, and tried a Japanese specialty, a sort of Japanese pancake omelet thing, called Okonomiaki. Very nice! Wish we'd been in Sydney longer to try more Japanese specialties that are probably hard to find outside of Japan. One other great thing about this place is its location in an alley in Kings Cross. It's filled with open-air eateries, colorful lights, and has such a festive atmosphere! Highly recommend this place for food, service, and atmosphere.

This “hole in the wall” restaurant only sits a maximum of six people per sitting...and only serves an “omakase” style menu leaving it to the Chef to serve up the dishes. For a truly authentic omakase experience buckle up for a culinary experience with the freshest seafood and creative sushi/sashimi experience with Chef Kazu Nakatani. Not only does he serves some of the best sushi/sashimi in Sydney, he also has a small but truly excellent sake selection for the connoisseurs.

Sushi to die for. Upon arrival, the waitress kindly explained how the menu works. We ordered the omakase and each piece is an artwork itself - the ingredients matched with the perfectly crafted sauces. Each bite is an exciting experience. They have a nice selection of sake, and you can ask for recommendations based on your sweetness/dryness preference. Highly recommended :

Omakase shimasu. I must say, this set up reminds me my experience in Osaka. Typical 5-8 setup, very warm and dedicated food experience that one can enjoy alone, or with small group. Guided by one of the best Sushi Chef Kazu. Funny and expert in his sushi creations. Each delicacy matched with flavoursome Sake that compliments each and every bite. 8pcs and then extended to 12pcs sushi bonanza. 3 different Sake. It was an experience for a King. The experience is not just the food. It’s like meeting an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

After carefully unwrapping it, Chef Kazu Nakatani shows us a marbled lump of tuna belly with a wide grin. He’s being a bit cheeky, showing us the nigiri sushi finale we’re missing out on by bailing on his Sushi Omakase Menu 8-pieces $65/head in, rather than going all the way to the 12-piece $80/head option. Nigiri sushi is the main event in his five-course meal that kicks off with market fresh sashimi, gathered each day at 7am when Kazu-san visits his suppliers at Sydney Fish Market. Today it’s salmon and mild, almost sweet Imperador alfonsino from New Zealand, that suits the layered rice notes of the full-flavoured Black Bull Junmai Ginjo $16/120ml sake that I’ve chosen from their eight-strong list. Each day Kazu-san makes a simmered or cooked dish. Today it’s a wobbly square of goma dofu, that looks and has a texture like tofu, but isn’t made from coagulated soy milk. This creamy block is made from ground sesame paste, arrowroot starch and water, and it’s served with an egg yolk-coated prawn and frilly, green kale, in a mirin-based broth. While Kazu-san gets busy preparing his grilled dish, I take in the tiny restaurant. Arranged around his counter there are five stools. That number hasn’t been chosen at random. In Japan it is customary, especially in high-end Japanese cuisine, to have one itamae cook/chef in front of the board for every five diners. This tiny spot which opened last November, is a big change from Kazu-san’s former 50-seater restaurant on the other side of Llankelly Place. The smaller number of guests better enables the communication of culture with the cuisine. So, along with your tender, rare slices of grilled duck served on an orange slice with Kazu-san’s own sauce creation and nicely dressed watercress, you’ll grow to understand more about Osaka cuisine; Kazu-san’s relationship his wife is on the floor taking care of dishes and drinks; seasonality and cooking techniques. Our soy sauce is taken away directly after the sashimi course. This places responsibility for seasoning of each fish firmly into the hands of the expert - your itamae – and ensures you fully appreciate the beauty of the red scorpionfish dressed only in sudachi Japanese lime and French salt. A perfectly-formed gleaming ruby boat of yellowfin tuna is made into a fish-on-fish double decker, with dried tuna powder sprinkled on top. The delicate mound of yellow snow sitting on our yellowtail is kinako or roasted soybean flour, made from yellow soybeans. For those who hate using chopsticks, you’ll be pleased to note at Osaka Bar you’re presented with a sealed cloth handwipe, and all nigiri sushi made here is designed to taken in your clean hand and placed into your mouth in one bite. Kazu-san does cut the green king prawns into two pieces, which gives you two opportunities to appreciate his three-way prawn creation, made using his own home-made prawn soy sauce and prawn flakes. Next, the same tuna we ate earlier returns as akami zuké. Cuttlefish is presented as a tender, delicately creamy arc adorned with volcano salt. Peeking out from underneath you can see the sushi rice. Kazu-san has chosen Haenuki rice from the Yamagata prefecture because it is still good when it gets cold – something that's important in a tiny, less fast-paced restaurant. This sushi rice is particularly great under uni, the roe of long-spined sea urchin that has been given a blast of heat with yuzukoshō, a paste made from chillis, yuzu peel and salt. Finishing at the eighth piece mark means we end on hiramasa kingfish topped with dried kombu seaweed. With visible disappointment Kazu-san concludes our meal with a dessert of tamago egg omelette and a bowl of Kyoto-style miso. The dark red-brown miso uses the bones of the sushi fishes, neatly ensuring nothing goes to waste. If you’re comparing sushi omakase experiences, what sets Osaka Bar apart from others I’ve been to is Kazu-san's communication with diners.

Went for an omakase and it is very much worth it. Run by a husband and wife team who are both very hospitable. Each dish has its own unique flavours created by the chef. Will go again