A fusion of concepts and flavours is what you’ll discover at Chuuka. Set in the heritage-listed former home of Flying Fish at the end of Jones Bay Wharf, the restaurant brings together the talents of two marquee chefs who have lit up Australia’s Asian food scene: Sokyo’s Chase Kojima and Melbourne’s Victor Liong, of modern Chinese diner Lee Ho Fook. The duo riffs on one another, combining Japanese and Chinese ingredients in traditional dishes with intriguing twists. (Chuka cuisine, after all, is a canon of Sino-Japanese cooking; as for the extra ‘u’, we’re not sure what it means.)
“A taste of something new” is the philosophy here, but there’s also a hefty dose of nostalgia thrown into the mix. Bring your preconceptions of both cuisines and be prepared to have them stretched, challenged and subverted. What otherwise looks like classic lemon chicken owes its plucky sweet-and-sour sauce to yuzu, with dried chilli giving the dish an undercurrent of heat and spice to match the crisp batter. King brown mushrooms with rolled rice noodles drenched in sesame oil and dark soy, meanwhile, recall the fried-to-order version often found on a rickety trolley at yum cha. Crisp-fried ebi prawns come with a viscous butter-rich sauce ready to be mopped up by soft, warm milk buns, somehow both sweet and savoury and similar to those on display at Asian bakery chains.
There are also splashy flourishes that speak of Sydney dining today: fancy roe service to start, a comprehensive cellar stocked with big names from near and far, and yes, a $38 frozen yoghurt dessert for two that’s ready for its social media close-up. Expect the unexpected, and be sure to snag a windowside table to make the most of those dazzling panoramic harbour views.