Posted by KB on November 11, 2010
Arriving at the bar of Surry Hills’ Uchi Lounge, the first thing I did was kick myself. As a long-time Darlinghurst resident I’d heard plenty about the place, but had never quite made it there – now it’s painfully clear I’ve been missing out. But with the new head chef Wataru Ohuchi joining brother and owner Takashi in the kitchen, what better time to mend my ways.
The downstairs bar is not really like anything else around: unrenovated and unpretentious with ambience filling every mood-lit corner. And, most importantly, a sake cocktail list. Upstairs is lighter and brighter; a room of wooden tables separated by light-filled curtains, and while it lacks some of the cool of downstairs, it’s probably a much more appropriate environment for dinner.
Faced with a long a la carte menu and a list of specials we defer to the waiter for suggestions on both food and drinks. First to arrive is the Crunchy Tiger cocktail, shaken and poured at the table by the bartender we spotted downstairs. It’s a mix of passionfruit sake, vodka, Cointreau and mango juice, with passionfruit seeds giving it the “crunch”. He also points out the grilled eggplant with miso as the restaurant’s most popular dish.
For the rest, we set about choosing bits and pieces from the small tsumami menu (which also features as the bar food menu), the larger tsumami menu and the list of specials. My date doesn’t eat meat, raw fish or soft cheeses; normally a nightmare restaurant situation, but tonight we have more than enough to choose from.
The tofu and nira (a kind of garlic chive) spring rolls are longer than what you’d expect, almost resembling grissini, but that classic crunch of the crispy wrapper is there, giving way to a crumbly filling. Tempura snapper (from the specials menu) is perfectly cooked, while the bite-sized prawn and prawn balls served with a green tea salt would make a great bar snack. The squares of agedashi tofu are perhaps a little to big to take on that bubbly surface that normally goes with the dish, but it’s a small gripe with an otherwise very successful order.
To our surprise, the grilled eggplant with miso and parmesan (served rather sweetly in a half-eggplant skin) does indeed turn out to be the star of the show. On paper it doesn’t look much, but its characteristics are a lexicon of lovely: salty, smoky, creamy and tangy all at once.
With such an inviting space downstairs (and a more than sufficient bar menu) it would be easy enough to while away a night without ascending the stairs, but it really would be a shame to miss out on such wonderful dishes. Besides, you can still get cocktails upstairs.
Uchi Lounge
15 Brisbane Street
Surry Hills
Ph: 02 9261 3524
uchi lounge, restaurants, surry hills, japanese, wataru ohuchi, takashi ohuchi