The little sister to the original Azuma restaurant in Chifley Square, this cosy restaurant in Regent Place (underneath Lumiere Apartments on George Street) specialises in kushiyaki (grilled) skewers and bento sets which are perfect for a luxurious lunch. On the mission to eat a “Let’s Do Lunch” special a week during the Sydney International Food Festival, this was my first one for the month.

In line with its specialities, the offering from Azuma Kushiyaki was a bento with kushiyaki skewers, Azuma’s signature seared tuna salad and a seared Wagyu steak with soy garlic sauce. An expensive weekday lunch by any means at $35 per person (as it is with all the SIFF lunches), but well worth it and I will definitely be back for lunch or dinner whenever I feel like something special.

Azuma Kushiyaki Bento

Miso Soup

A bento box isn’t complete without a bowl of hot miso soup!

Kushiyaki (Grilled) Skewers

Kushiyaki are grilled skewers popular as snacks in Japan and for this bento, we were given a shitake mushroom skewer and a prawn skewer. The shitake mushrooms were tender but not overcooked and thoroughly embodied the savoury umami flavour which is considered among Japanese as being the fifth flavour – that is, it’s not sweet, salty, sour or bitter.  The prawn skewer was grilled to perfection and eaten up quickly – shells and all.

Azuma’s Famous Seared Tuna Salad

This was my favourite part of the bento. The shredded radish in the salad gave the dish a nice mellow flavour which nicely complemented against the tangy sauce and the lightly seasoned tuna.

Slice Premium Wagyu Sirloin Steak served with Soy Garlic Sauce

The steak was cooked was a perfect medium rare and was nice and tender while the sauce had just the right amount of garlic and salt. So nice that I wanted to have the next mouthful as soon as one was finished. Absolutely delish!

Azuma Kushiyaki

Ground Floor, Regent Place Shopping Centre, 501 George Street, Sydney, Australia

P: 612 9267 7775 F: 612 9267 7776

www.azuma.com.au/kushiyaki