Kanade

Jackie McMillan
20th May 2023

Kanade has positioned its raw bar under a striking red timber cage reminiscent of a torii gate that marks the entrance to a Shinto shrine. Watch the action from a ringside bar stool, or nestle into more intimate tables set at the edges between floor length red drapes. To my palate, the stars of this show come from the restaurant’s regular kitchen and a team of chefs who have spent time in Sydney venues including Lumi Dining. They use their skills to unite Japanese and Italian culinary traditions in tasty, accessible ways. Solo diners should skip straight to the menu hero—wagyu beef steak with yakiniku sauce ($45). Slices of tender, tasty steak cooked sous vide for beautifully set pink interiors, sit on rocket and tomato chutney-spiked beef jus under a hat of the world’s thinnest enoki French fries. 

With an overflowing sake box of Mutsu-Hassen Tokubetsu junmai red label sake ($45/180ml) showing both sourness and mellowness in equal measure, that’s your post-work Wednesday night dinner taken care of. There’s also a decent selection of wines from quality winemakers including those at Onannon and Scotchmans Hill that’d suit the roasted duck breast ($28). In this one, artfully presented pink slices of duck meat with blackened corn salad are dragged through a smear of black sesame and yuzu glaze, offering up great bite-through and flavour. Follow it with a bowl of mentaiko spaghetti ($22) where spicy cod roe clings to well-cooked spaghetti alongside shredded egg (kinshi), crisp nori and shiso. 

If you dine with colleagues or friends, bust out shots from a sake cask ($45). Loaded up with coconut rum, pineapple rum, Cointreau and absinthe, it’s more Japanese tiki than elegant sake-based cocktail, but I rate it as a drink. Thick-cut tuna, salmon, scallop and kingfish sashimi in a sinking cloud of dry ice gives the premium sushi selection ($38) a bit of a wow-factor, though I preferred eating the spicy volcano roll ($19). Arranged around salad, this easily shareable collection of crab salad sushi with torched salmon toppers sit under a thick, spicy orange mayonnaise. Some wasabi provides excellent cut-through. With Japanese-Italian fusion tempura joining the menu in the next few weeks, Kanade is worth adding to your future dining agenda. 

kanade.com.au/