Sugar Hit 2011 - Azuma Kushiyaki Bar & Grill

It was a bit hard finding Azuma on the sugar hit 2011 list as it is listed under Kushiyaki Bar and Grill. Knowing it will be one of the popular ones, we booked in advance and chose a monday night which indeed was quieter.

On the website it merely says:
"East meets West dessert tasting plate: a selection of Eastern and Western-influenced desserts and sweets, created daily"

So we arrived with no expectation until we saw the menu. The whole sugar hit consisted of:

1.Anmitsu - assorted seasonal fruits, tapioka pearls, shiratama rice dumplings covered in kinako powder served with Japanese brown sugar syrup

2.Home made white sesame ice cream

3.Sake sample

4.Japanese green tea tiramisu - shochu soaked sponge fingers layered with mascarpone, fresh cream and matcha powder

5.Handcrafted chocolate - dark & milk chocolate praline with caramel ganache, enrobed in dark chocolate with an explosive finish; and

6.Sake spone bites - bite sized morsels of butter cake soaked in fine Japanese sake



I opted for the brown brothers orange muscat rather than the hot green tea as its been a while since i tasted the orange muscat.



My companion jumped in excitement knowing she will be served her favourite anmitsu. Anmitsu is a traditional jap dessert with fruit, red bean (anko, which is the 'an' of anmitsu) and syrup (mitsu). It is basically a syrupy fruit dessert. Our one was also served with tiny tapioca balls and soft delicate mochi covered in kinako powder (soy bean powder).

The white sesame ice cream had a subtle sesame flavour. I personally would prefer black sesame ice cream but the robust flavours would not compliment the anmitsu.



The sake was one of the sweeter varieties, served in a petit glass. The green tea tiramisu was definitely a winner in my eyes! It was creamy and luscious, perfectly balanced with rich matcha powder. I literally scraped the whole cup clean, getting into every nook and cranny.



The handmade chocolate praline was extremely rich and chocolatey. Amazingly there is no explosion until the end when you are savouring the last bits. The promised explosive finish isn't that explosive, depending on who's chocolate you ate. My companion's didn't explode at all whereas mine exploded like crazy. Guess it comes down to luck with the amount of pop rock you get.



The bite sized sake soaked sponges were skewed with a decorative toothpick. Nothing too exciting but it was nice. After drinking the wine and sake i couldn't really taste the sake in the sponges, but i was sure it wasn't soaked enough or the sake is too weak because the sponge wasn't soft and moist.




Kushiyaki - Bar & Grill
Regent Place,
501 George Street
Sydney
Tel - 02 9267 7775
www.azuma.com.au