Following C's Japan adventure, he's been constantly craving good Japanese food, so when we heard that a new yakitori restaurant was opening on the North Shore, we were keen to check it out.
Yakitori Yurippi has been making yakitori at various markets for some time and has now opened up their own restaurant/bar on Falcon Street in Crows Nest. There are many Japanese restaurants in Sydney but few specialise in yakitori (and are located close to home).
As you walk into the restaurant, you can tell that the chef and owner, Tin Jung has a deep love for Japan and the restaurant is decorated with various Japanese artworks and posters. We were also told by Tin Jung that he put together many of the furniture pieces himself - dedication!
The food is delicious and has a real home-made style to it and the atmosphere is chilled and friendly. It's the sort of place you come to with friends only to make more friends with the waiters/waitresses or the people sitting at the tables next to you.
We ordered quite a number of dishes for the two of us, so we'll let the photos do the talking. In terms of highlights,
we'd recommend: the chicken soft bone, tsukune (chicken mince skewer with 63 degree egg), cherry tomato with salt, shiitake mushrooms, chicken tight with shallots and the pork jowl. But to be honest, we enjoyed every dish - the way the skewers are cooked over hot coal creates such a great smokey charcoal flavour that you can't otherwise achieve.
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| Spinach with sesame dressing |
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Japanese omelette -
The egg must've been cooked in some intense dashi broth because it had such a deep dashi/bonito flavour to it - very moreish. |
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| Miso sake black cod |
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| Chicken Soft Bone - so crunchy it's like a beer snack! |
Tsukune - Japanese chicken meatballs with 63 degree onsen egg -
This was one of C's favourites for the night - check out that gooey onsen egg!
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| Wagyu beef |
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Okra with bonito flakes and ponzu vinegar -
This was a very interesting dish and we have never had okra in this way. The bonito flakes really accentuate the flavour of the okra. |
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| Chicken wings |
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| Shiitake mushroom with sweet soy |
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| Chicken liver |
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| Gyoza |
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| Cheese kransky (a pork sausage with cheese inside) |
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| Pork jowl with a ponzu garnish |
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| Pork Belly |
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| Cherry tomato with salt |
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| Chicken thigh with shallots |
Being a yakitori restaurant/bar - the dishes are small which makes for great variety. Yurippi allows you to order one skewer per order so if you're coming alone or in a small group, you can still try out a wide variety of dishes. They also have a good selection of Japanese beers (and apparently whisky is in the pipeline) so it's a great place for a beer and some snacks if you have dinner plans elsewhere.
Tip - if you're coming in a small group, ask to be seated at the counter (apparently a single one ton slab of concrete) when making a booking. You get to see more of the kitchen action plus make friends with the staff.
Unfortunately Yurippi is still in their soft opening phase so the full menu is not on offer yet. We're definitely keen to re-visit when this happens - the "mochi wrapped in bacon" in particular on their website sounds awesome and we can't wait to go back!
